Do you want your kids to enjoy gardening as well? If you do, the best method is to have them grow their own plants. However, it’s not advisable to have them pick any random plant to grow. After all, some plants are harder to take care of than others. Thus, we’ve come up with a handy list of 8 easy plants to grow with children.

1) Sweet Peas

Apart from the fact that kids are familiar with sweet peas, this plant is also great for enticing bees to visit your garden. Likewise, the flowers of this plant have a lovely scent. Once they have bloomed, the children can pick them up and place them individually in vases.

Sweet peas can be grown in small pots during autumn and use a cold frame throughout the winter. Remember to put compost in the pots to ensure optimal growth. Also, spring is a good time to grow them either in pots or directly into the soil.

2) Marigolds

One of the best things about marigolds is that the flowers are not only beautiful but also edible. They can be grown in small pots or directly into the soil. Furthermore, marigolds attract pees while also serving as a natural deterrent to pests. Place them around your potatoes, beans, and tomatoes to keep them from being infested.

Advise your children to plant the marigold seeds with a one-inch gap between each other to ensure enough space for growth. If the weather is adequately warm, the marigolds will sprout within days and they will bloom in more or less two months.

3) Sunflowers

There is perhaps no other flower symbolizing happiness and positivity than the sunflower. With this plant, children can have a friendly competition on who gets to grow the biggest flowers. Moreover, birds will come to visit your garden during autumn and winter to feed on the sunflower seeds.

If the last spring frost has yet to arrive, it would be best to grow them indoors. Otherwise, grow them in well-draining soil. The gap between each seed must be around six inches. With a bit of fertilizer application, the sunflower will have a firmly established root system.

Here is a video of growing sunflowers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BTN9UEdeKc

4) Onions

Apart from flowers, your kids will surely enjoy growing vegetables. For one, onions can be grown during spring as long as the temperature doesn’t dip into the minuses. In addition, they are better grown in areas that receive full sunlight.

Furthermore, onions should be planted in well-draining and nitrogen-rich soil. To improve the nitrogen content, you can use fertilizer. When you fertilize onions, you ensure that they will produce huge bulbs for harvesting in the near future. However, discontinue fertilizer application once they have begun to form bulbs.

5) Carrots

Did you know that not all carrots are orange in colour? There are white carrots, yellow carrots, and even maroon carrots. Some are very small while others can grow to one foot in length. No matter which carrot you grow, they should be planted in loose, well-draining, and moist soil.

Ideally, carrots should be grown in raised garden beds. Also, the soil pH must hover only between 6.0 and 6.8. A highly acidic soil will affect the growth of carrots. Grow them when the weather is cool, and don’t apply too much of a nitrogen-based fertilizer to keep the roots growing well.

6) Beets

Similar to carrots, beets are primarily grown for the roots. They also come in various colours: red, pink, white, and orange, among others. Even better is the fact that the leaves can be safely consumed. Children don’t have to worry too much when growing beets since they are unlikely to succumb to plant diseases and pest infestations. Simply sow the seeds and harvest the roots after at least six weeks or so.

7) Radish

Radishes can be grown no matter the size of your garden. They come in various colours such as red, yellow, and white. Plant the seeds in fertile and moist soil. Radishes undergo germination in as early as three days from sowing. In just a month, children can already harvest them and put them in a delicious and healthy salad.

8) Cucumbers

Once the last spring frost is over, you and your kids can plant the cucumber seeds directly in the soil. A wonderful thing about them is that they will grow whether they receive full or partial sunlight. Of course, the best option is to provide them will full sunlight and grow them in soil rich in organic matter. While you can let cucumbers spread on the ground, you can grow them around a trellis if you lack space.

As you can see, there are many plants for your kids to grow. As long as you guide them, they will undoubtedly enjoy the process of watching various plants transform from mere seeds to mature plants. We hope that this guide proved useful, and feel free to send us a comment if you have any questions.

Are you planning on doing some gardening now that Spring is here? Which plants or vegetables are you planning on growing? Do share in a comment below.

Author bio: Ann has dedicated most of my life to gardening and has been a fan of flowers and plants ever since. she was a child. You can find her at Sumo Gardener and follow her on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.