How To Grow Your Indoor Herb Garden

There are many benefits to growing an indoor herb garden. It can be a rewarding first experience for beginning gardeners, or an excellent solution for any gardener with limited planting space. It is also a fun and efficient way for home cooks to keep fresh herbs at their fingertips.

There are lots of points to have in mind should you wish to try your hand at developing an indoor garden. One key consideration is picking the correct location. You’ll wish to find a spot that receives at least eight hours of direct sunlight every day. If the stems and leaves get overly lengthy, or if the leaves start to fade or fall off, a lack of sunlight is the likely culprit. It’s feasible to supplement natural light, if essential, with grow lights or florescent work lights hung 4 to six inches above the plants.

When you have decided on a location for your garden, figure out which particular herbs you would like to grow. You can study nursery catalogs, or ask your local nursery staff, or you can just select the herbs you like the most. Your best bets are oregano, chives, mint, rosemary, basil, parsley, and thyme. These all frequently appear in popular recipes and they are all attractive and fragrant. They are also fairly hearty, and are relatively easy to successfully transplant outside later.

Some gardeners and cooks have such a fondness for Italian cooking that they grow an indoor or outdoor Italian herb garden. You could specialize in a national cuisine as well, if that suits your interests and tastes.

Your garden center staff can help you pick the right type of containers. You will need 6 to 8 inches across, and at least 6 to 8 inches deep. You could also choose to use a larger container and group the plants into 6 to 8 inches apart. Drainage is an extremely important consideration. Place screen mesh across the drainage holes on the container, and place containers inside a tray gravel-filled tray. The nursery staff can also help you select a potting mix that drains well and is approved for use with edible plants.

Layer potting mix into the bottom of the containers. Carefully set the plants into the potting mix at the depth they were growing in the nursery pots, and water them. It is essential that you do not over water your herbs. A thorough watering no more them twice a week should be plenty. If you like, you can supplement the potting mix once or twice a month with a fertilizer approved for use with edibles.

Clip the outer leaves as you require them, leaving lots of healthy growth on the stems. That way, the herbs will continue to create usable leaves and sprigs for quite some time.

You might encounter a couple of pitfalls with your indoor garden. Indoor air lacks the humidity of outdoor air and you might have to supply the herbs with added moisture by misting the leaves or adding water to the gravel-line drainage tray. You also might encounter an issue with insects. If so, fill a spray bottle with tepid, soapy water and spray the leaves and stems. The soapy solution will kill off the intruders without having harming the plants.

Otherwise, all you have to do is appreciate the flavors and fragrances of your fresh herbal that can serve as herbal home remedies, and bask within the pride of successfully developing an indoor herb garden. No matter what your  level as a gardener or a house cook, you’ll no doubt be pleased with the outcome.