01/27/2025
Growing Herbs Indoors
Winter months can makes us all get cabin fever with the bone chilling cold weather keeping us indoors. Don’t fret, Spring is on its way! Just because it’s cold outside doesn’t mean we can’t garden and have fresh herbs for our warm stews, soups or breads.
With minimal space and a southwest facing window for lighting, a winter indoor herb garden could provide plenty of fresh fare. When purchasing herbs for indoor growing, it’s best to purchase plants that haven’t been grown outdoors. There are 7 herbs that grow best indoors, with the easiest growing requirements that are all excellent ingredients to add to any stew, soup or bread for flavor. They are;
Spicy Globe Basil or African Blue Basil are the best varieties to grow of the basils
Chives are one of the easiest herb to grow indoors, they don’t require much light and are prolific in their production.
Coriander (the seeds of Cilantro) Vietnamese Coriander is easier to grow than the regular
Lemon grass and it doesn’t need soil, just a few inches of water in glass and it will grow
Parsley doesn’t require much light or maintenance but it is a slow grower
Peppermint is the easiest of the mints to grow indoors and doesn’t like direct sunlight
Rosemary a must have in an herb garden, Tuscan Blue or the Blue Spiral will remain compact, preferring the soil to remain on the dry side and does not need rich soils making them a better choice to grow indoors.
A common mistake that most make is planting all herbs in one container, each herb needs it’s own container. Crowding herbs only will inhibit healthy growth. Containers should be no smaller then 6 inch diameter with ample drainage holes. Soils containing vermiculite or perlite for adequate drainage, DON'T use soil from outside as it contains organisms that are controlled by the outdoor environment. Herbs are grown for their leaves not for their flowers, so any fertilizer you use to feed them should promote leaf growth. 1 tablespoon of fish emulsion to a gallon of water, and use this mixture every time to water your herbs will promote leaf growth. Herbs need less water then indoor house plants but only water the herbs at the base where the stem meets the soil. Never water the leaves.
Clipping regularly will promote healthy growth. So clip, clip, clip your cabin fever away, happily gardening through the winter months indoors.
