Growing Herbs In Pots: A Great Alternative To The Outdoor Garden
For those small spaces or by preference, growing herbs in pots is an excellent alternative to the outdoor garden. Window boxes, hanging baskets, and pots can be used for your indoor herb garden. Since indoor herb gardens have the same growing needs as outdoor plants, it shouldn’t be any more difficult planning, planting, and caring for your indoor herb garden.
The basic needs of all plants are: soil, water, and sunlight. This holds true for herbs as well. Soil and water are straight forward and easy to accommodate. Sunlight is key, however, and orienting your indoor herb garden to take advantage of natural sunlight should be an important consideration when locating your plants in your indoor space. To get the best and most sunlight, using your west or south facing windows will be the most appropriate setup.
Another thing to consider is that different types of herbs will have different light needs, but most will love a sunny spot. If you don’t have a good, sunny window, there are ways to supplement natural light, with fluorescent or “grow” lamps.
To provide the best growing soil for your herbs, you will need rich but well drained soil. For container herbs, use two parts sterilized potting soil to one part perlite or coarse sand. For good drainage, before placing the soil in the growing pots, add an inch of gravel to the bottom of each pot. To improve to the sweetness of the soil, be sure to also add one teaspoon of lime for each 5-inch container.
Watering with care is an important factor of growing an indoor herb garden. Add plenty of water, since plants in containers need more water than those growing outside, but be sure not to overwater or drench the roots. Also use a spray bottle to mist the plants.
During the summer, indoor plants can be taken outside for that natural light – maybe on a balcony or in the garden. Annuals can be kept inside even during the summer; for perennials, spending some time outdoors during the summer is an added bonus, if feasible for your location. Having the plants in containers allows one to easily move them around as needed. By the time of the first frost of the fall, all the plants should be brought back inside.
Think how much fun it would be to walk over to your windowsill herb garden and pick fresh mint, for instance. A lot of plants are suited for growing in pots. Some herbs, like mint, can take over a garden and will do really well in an indoor herb garden, where it will be well contained to the pot. To keep your plants healthy, use some light feeding periodically. Repotting your herbs yearly will also help ensure they stay health.
Keeping an indoor herb garden will allow you to enjoy fresh herbs any time, plus have the convenience of having herbs handy for your cooking. Be sure to harvest them as need, use them liberally in your cooking, and share them with friends. With a little care, growing herbs in pots is fun and easy!
