Starting an Indoor Herb Garden

Starting an Indoor Herb Garden

So you’re all ready to get started on an indoor herb garden? We’ll show you which supplies you’ll need, how to plan your garden, and give you some recommendations on which herbs to grow. Let’s get going!

Which herbs do you want to grow?

This is a fun part of the planning! Decide what kind of herbs you want to grow. A few cooking herbs that do especially well indoors are thyme, parsley, oregano (requires lots of light), chives, and sage.

Mint also does extremely well indoors, but be careful, it will overtake other herbs if it’s planted in the same container.

Garlic lovers will love planting garlic chives. Cut the tops off and chop them up into your food for a mild garlic flavor.

Tip: Separate the perennial herbs from the annuals. This makes maintaining and replanting easier.

Seeds or Plants

Nearly all herbs can be grown from seed. This is the least expensive option, but it also requires the most babysitting and work.

If you want to go with young plants, your local nursery should have anything you want. You can also order plants online, but a nursery has the benefit of a knowledgeable staff that can answer your questions.

Very few diseases or insects attack herbs so you should be okay no matter if you chose seeds or plants.

Containers

There are several approaches to setting up your indoor herb garden. The first way is using one large container. This allows for an interesting container that looks nice, but can also cause problems with herbs getting tangled up with each other and taking on wrong flavors. If you choose this route, be sure to leave 6-8 inches across for each plant.

The most practical approach would probably be individual six-inch pots. You can plant multiple seeds in of the same herb in each pot. Depending on the pot, these might not look as nice as one container. However, the different shapes and colors of the herbs will nonetheless make your garden very attractive.

Soil and aeration

Use a soilless potting mix to avoid soil born diseases. Be sure the mix is light and will drain well. Some herb gardeners also have success with mixing two parts sterilized potting soil and one part coarse sand or perlite.

Add stones and bark chips to the bottom of your container or pots to provide aeration.

Planting Instructions

If you’re planting seeds or small bulbs, tuck them into the soil at the specified depth which you will find on the seed packet.

Nursery bought plants can be removed from their containers and placed in holes dug into the potting soil. Some gardeners just plant the herb along with its plastic container into the pot. This is a great method if more than one type of herb is sharing a container.

After planting, firm the soil around the edge of the plant gently gently. Leave about an inch at the top of the container for watering. Mist with water immediately.

Keep the information tag that comes with each herb. Stick it into the dirt in front of the plant so that it's easy to identify each herb.

Location

Your herb garden is going to need lots of light. A sunny windowsill facing south works the best. Try to chose a spot that gets at least four hours of direct sunlight a day.

If it’s hard to find a sunny spot where you are, you can augment what light you have with fluorescent lights. These can come in especially handy during the winter months.

Care and feeding

Once a week, feed your herbs a diluted, organic fertilizer; fish emulsion or seaweed extract is a great option. Since you’re going to be eating the herbs, don’t feed them anything nasty like pesticides.

Be careful not to overwater. Herbs don’t like wet soil. The soil should be moist but not saturated. If you’re in an excessively humid or dry location adjust to compensate.