How to Start an Indoor Herb Garden

Everyone needs fresh vegetables and herbs in their menu, but the limited spaces we live in do not allow us to have a large plantation. However, we can always have a small garden within our property to harvest the herbs we envy. Here are a few tips to help you on how to start an indoor herb garden successfully.

Choose Your Plant

The significant factors that will determine the herb you pick are your taste preferences and their ability to grow indoors. Indoor herbs are not flowers for decoration, so when making this decision, pick something that you can harvest once in a while and put it in your menus.

It is also important to note that indoor conditions are unique and won’t accommodate some plants. So when going to shop for seeds or cuttings from your nearby garden shop, be specific and pick one that will do well indoors. The plants that do well under indoor conditions include basil, mint, oregano thyme, rosemary, and chives.

Find The Pots And Herbs

Growing your herbs indoors will require a few things, including a spray bottle, a watering can and planting pots. When it comes to the pots, you need some creativity and style. Remember that this project will impact the general theme in your house. So pick the right color and design that won’t be off with whatever you already have.

You also need to consider something like size so that when shifting houses to a distant place, the long distance mover you hire won’t have problems carrying your garden. The container you pick should have enough drainage not to waterlog your plant. You will also need something to place them on, like a saucer or a plastic protector, which you can buy from any garden center. If you are using nontraditional pots like mason jars, ensure that you give them a layer of pebbles at the bottom to trap the excess moisture.

Get the Right Soil Composition

Indoor herbs need oxygen, moisture, and nutrients, and this can only come from quality soil. You can hire a garden professional to help you with a quality potting mix that will allow adequate airflow, proper drainage, and moisture retention. If you start your garden after moving in from a different location, the long distance movers you hired could recommend the best soil experts in your new area.

Alternatively, you could grow your herbs hydroponically –without using soil. Here you will use other media like growing directly in water, coir (coconut fiber), clay pebbles, or perlite. With this method, your plants absorb the nutrient you supply them with straight into the roots. Plants grown in hydroponics grow faster and yield better harvest than those in traditional gardening.

Pick Your Indoor Garden Spot

The standard requirement is that plants get at least 8 hours of sunlight per day. You can maximize the exposure to the sun by placing your garden on the highest possible window. The perfect sport is the southern facing windows that allow extended hours of sunlight. We recommend that you avoid having your window in the middle of your house or a north-facing window as these places have the least exposure of all.

Environmental and climatic factors will also affect the exposure. For example, there is not much sunlight in winter to invest in a standby plan. You can put your plants under a grow light or red light during such seasons until the climate becomes favorable.

Always Water Your Herbs

The precipitation in indoor conditions is low, so your herbs will not take that much water. The herbs in an indoor garden are not that gigantic, so they will need only enough water to keep them going.

You will only be watering the plant to keep the soil moist, so do not waterlog the plant. Excess water could lower the quality of your plant and cause the leaves to wilt or turn yellow. When this happens, scale down the quantity you give to the required level.

Harvest in Right Proportions and Transplant When Appropriate

Give your plants time to grow and harvest with kitchen shears or by pinching a few leaves off. It is the same as pruning as it allows new, fresh leaves to grow. We recommend that you only remove less than a quarter of the plants at a go.

After some time, your plant will outgrow the pot, and it will be necessary to transplant them to a larger space. You will notice this as roots start coming out of them out of the pot and overlapping.