Growing Kitchen Herbs In Pots

Herbs are wonder plants that are well worth the gardener's effort to include them in a home garden. One of the many good things about herbs is that most of them can be grown in pots or similar containers with great success. So in addition to supplying ample supplies of succulent fresh food flavorings for the kitchen potted herbs can be also become an attractive component of a landscape plan. In pots they are mobile so they can be arranged along borders of patios, balconies, walks, porches, walks and drives and add their unique beauty and color to many different areas.

Growing herbs in containers require no extraordinary effort and is no more demanding than growing vegetables in containers. The three basics of culturing herbs in containers is soil, light and water. Simply stated herbs in pots need plenty of sunlight (at least ten hours per day), well drained soil and enough water to just keep the soil damp.

Getting started growing herbs in pots is easy. All that is needed is a few six inch pots (a good size for herbs). Herb plants are not very demanding but they are insistent about one thing. They don't like wet feet and they will demonstrate their dislike by either not producing a product or by just merely dying. Well drained soil to live in is an easy request to satisfy. Place a layer of pea gravel size stone material in the bottom of the pot then fill it with a mixture of two parts potting soil and one part coarse sand. Doing this will insure that the plants receive adequate moisture while excess water drains out through the gravel. Add a teaspoon of lime for sweetness and you are ready for planting.

Adequate lighting is another important consideration. To prosper and provide the most delectable fresh herbs for the home chef the plants need ten to twelve hours of light every day. Sunlight is the best but if that is not possible then "grow lights" will get the job done. Grow lights are nothing more than a small florescent light fixture with the word grow appended to the name. They are readily available at any number of places including big box stores, garden shops, nurseries or hardware stores. Place the lights about eighteen inches above the plants and have them on ten to twelve hours per day to coincide with the amount of time in the sunlight they would normally receive. Sunlight is better for the plants, it's free and you don't have to plug it into a wall socket. A quick survey of where the sun shines into or around the house will indicate where the potted herbs should be located. Wherever they are located they should be rotated at least weekly.

To get the herb plants started in the prepared pots the gardener can choose to begin with seed, bulbs or seedlings. With seed or bulbs it is possible to grow more than one herb per pot but that depends on the herb. Seedlings are a good way to get a fast start by just transferring the established seedling into the prepared pot. Annuals are replanted each year and perennials should be replanted in the pot each year in new potting soil or transferred to the outdoor garden.

Growing herb plants in pots is easy and rewarding. It is a great way to get started in outdoor herb gardening or a practical to cultivate herbs on an extended basis.

By: Sonny Chenoweth

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SONNY CHENOWETH is a herb expert. For more information on growing kitchen herbs, visit www.herbgardenreport.com