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You are here: Home / RV Modifications / Mobile Gardening Ideas for Full Time RVers
Mobile Gardening Ideas for Full Time RVers

Mobile Gardening Ideas for Full Time RVers

May 10, 2017 by Ashley Mann 4 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links.

Living in a camper or motorhome doesn't mean you have to give up your love of gardening! Here are some ideas for growing herbs, vegetables, and other plants while living in an RV!

Full time RVing doesn't mean you have to give up your love of gardening! Here are some ideas for growing herbs, vegetables, and other plants while living and traveling in a camper or motorhome!

Soil-free gardening

Some states regulate the transportation of plants and require that you declare any plants you bring across their borders to prevent plant pests and diseases from being spread to the state.  For example, California's rules are particularly strict.  Additionally, if you travel between the U.S. and Canada, you will need to declare any plants you bring into each country and potentially pay to have the soil inspected and declared free of pests.

Although you may still be subject to border control scrutiny, you can avoid the risk of soil contamination altogether by growing plants hydroponically.

AeroGarden hydroponic planters include built-in grow lights and come in a variety of colors and sizes.  There are also several alternative brands available that offer a similar concept.

Aeroponic Indoor Garden

This Environet Hydroponic Kit is specifically for growing herbs.

See on Amazon.com

You could even try making something similar yourself, as shown in this tutorial.  To keep jars from falling over while your RV is moving, maybe a shelf with holes like this one for sale on Etsy could be mounted somewhere secure.

Mason Jar Herb Garden
via Etsy.com

Container Gardens

If you travel in climates where the temperatures stay above freezing and are not frequently traveling between states with strict plant transportation rules, you can easily grow plants outdoors in containers, like the RV owner who brings this thriving herb garden with her wherever she goes and sets it outside in a sunny spot outdoors at each location.  Small pots or planters can be stored in a truck bed or in the shower during transport.  Self-watering containers are a good choice for transporting with less mess.

by Carolyn Allemand

Growing Plants Inside an RV

For RV owners who want or need to keep their plants indoors, a shelf like this one can provide a place to set plants next to a sunny window where they can get plenty of natural light.  This shelf was made from a 1″x6″ piece of lumber painted and mounted using drywall anchors and shelf brackets.

via instagram.com/ourrvadventure
via instagram.com/ourrvadventure

A similar garden shelf, with the added great idea of using ribbon to keep mason jars from sliding off during travel:

by Jona Gottlieb

Adding Plant Shelves to Windows

A suction cup shelf is an option that wouldn't require drilling holes in the wall and would allow plants to be moved to a different window depending on the direction of the sun.  If you're skeptical that it will hold, you can even add extra support.

Suction cup shelf for plants in RV
via Amazon.com

You could also accomplish the same thing with a planter that sticks directly to the window.

Okidome window suction planter
via okidome.com

Hanging Plants in the Shower

A shower with a skylight is an excellent place to grow some types of plants.  In this RV, a shower caddy hung with these Command hooks is used as a planter.

plants in RV shower
via instagram.com/ourrvadventure

Hanging Plants on Walls

The owners of this RV replaced their wall-mounted TV with plants.  (Check out their blog to follow their adventures traveling the country with 5 cats, a dog, and a chicken!)

by Hayden Hamilton Hall

I love how RV owner Caley Crawford incorporated plants into her decor:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by RVinspiration.com (@rvinspiration)

Kevin and Mandy of the blog 188sqft had a whole wall of cacti and succulents in their first camper:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kevin & Mandy (@188sqft)

Setting Plants on a Motorhome Dash

In a motorhome, the dashboard makes a wonderful sunny place to set plants while the vehicle is parked.  You can see more pictures of this dashboard display on the owner's blog.

by Stephanie via rvthereyet.org

If you're finding it hard to provide indoor plants with a spot next to a window, you might supplement natural light with a small LED grow light, or stick to growing herbs, vegetables, and houseplants that don't require as much light.  You can find a list of vegetables that will grow in partial shade here and here, and this article as well as this one suggests some easy-to-care-for houseplants that are ideal for low light conditions.

Growing Vegetables

Perhaps one of these ideas can help solve the problems of weight and ease of transportation RV owners face when trying to grow larger quantities of plants or vegetables while moving from place to place.

This summer I decided to try one of these as-seen-on-TV “Topsy Turvy” tomato planters.  I'll have to update this post later to report on how well it works, but I do already have one green tomato!  Update 7/30/2018: Unfortunately, I think it's been too hot for this – or I've not been watering it enough.  My tomato plant is looking pretty sad, and the 3 tomatoes I've had so far grew no bigger than golf balls.  I think next year I'll try growing something different this planter instead – acorn squash perhaps?  Hmmmm….

Hanging upside down planter for growing vegetables
via Amazon.com

A few grow bags might be a good idea for someone who plans to stay in the same place for several months, as they can be moved if needed and don't take up much space when not in use.  I have also purchased cheap reusable shopping bags to use as planters.

Grow bags are a good option for growing vegetables while living in an RV.
via Amazon.com

A styrofoam ice chest (preferably up-cycled!) can be converted into a cheap and lightweight self-watering planter using this DIY method.  (Wondering if polystyrene is safe to grow food in? Read one perspective here.)

by Roman & Jana via spurtopia.com

The wheels on this self-watering planter might make it more convenient to transport.

Home Depot City Pickers planter on wheels
via homedepot.com

For RV owners who are very serious about growing their own food, a garden tower might be a good option.  As an added bonus, it has a built-in system for composting food waste which provides direct nutrients to the plants. There's also a much cheaper version on Amazon, though it doesn't have all of the features of the Garden Tower.

Garden Tower from Amazon.com – See it here

Here's one RV owner's mobile gardening idea:

If the idea seems messy or if you're wondering if you would have to keep the door open all the time, maybe a shoe organizer herb garden could be hung on the outside of the RV and moved to the shower during transportation?

Note: Many cheap shoe organizers are made with backing of that type of non-woven fabric reusable shopping bags are made from, which can break down over a summer of exposure to sunlight and water.  Here's one made entirely of PVC plastic that might be more ideal for filling with wet soil if some drainage holes were poked in the bottom of each pocket.

Traveling Herb Gardens

Perhaps the most ambitious of mobile gardeners, one couple grows food in this planter on the back of their RV.  Read about their experience here.

by Russ and Tiña via rvtravel.com

Although it doesn't sound like this trailer travels much, the idea of pots set inside shelves mounted on the back of a camper might provide inspiration for other RV gardens:

teardrop camper
via genomicgastronomy.com

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Ashley Mann in front of window
Ashley Mann

Ashley Mann lives in a 38-foot, 5th-wheel RV with her husband and their cat, Professor Theodore. She enjoys the challenge of finding the perfect way to organize a space, and she loves seeing all the creative and clever ways people come up with to customize their RVs.

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Filed Under: Full Time RVing, RV Decor, RV Life, RV Modifications Tagged With: Full-Time RVing, RV life

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sonya says

    January 24, 2023 at 8:32 pm

    Hello, I am in the process of moving out of a 1200 sq ft apartment, and moving into a 30 ft motor home. I love my house plants and would love to learn how I can still have them in my new home.
    For the next few years I’ll keep working here in Washington. But, after that I’d like to travel this beautiful country and work on the go.
    I’d sincerely appreciate any advice you can give and show me.
    Thank you!!
    Sonya

    Reply
    • Jean says

      January 28, 2023 at 1:35 pm

      We have been full time for years. I have a plastic window box that I grow lettuce and celery. I have a tomato plant in a container and also have hanging spider plants and a pothos. What I have done is in our Class A is put plant hooks on the side of the TV cabinet over the dashboard. When we are stationary, we hang our plants and cover the dashboard with flowering plants. When traveling we secure them in the shower. When the plants get too big, I keep a cutting or two and sell the large plants on Facebook marketplace. Happy gardening.

      Reply
      • Alyssa Padgett says

        January 30, 2023 at 11:31 am

        That looks awesome, Jean!

        Reply

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