Nothing can beat the flavor of fresh culinary herbs in cooking. While you can purchase them from groceries, adding home grown herbs makes a whole lot of difference in cooking tasty dishes. That is why people who reside in apartments still prefer growing herbs indoors to enjoy the flavor of just-picked herbs. Maintaining a culinary herb garden will not only supply your culinary requirements, but also create a cooling effect to the room interiors.
Proper planning, some gardening basics and a little patience are all that are required for growing an indoor herb garden. While almost all plants require direct sunlight for optimal growth, majority of the herbaceous cultivars perform well in indoor condition with less maintenance. Thus, avid gardeners prefer to grow herbs indoors in the winter, when environmental conditions become unfavorable for maintaining an outdoor herb garden. The following info deals with the step-by-step-guide on how to grow a herb garden indoors.
Choose the Location
The first step for growing herb indoors is deciding the location. Preferred area to start an indoor herb garden is a windowsill, or areas near the door or window, where the plants can receive indirect sunlight. In case your kitchen window faces south and receives some amount of sunlight, you can start a kitchen garden near to that window. That way, irrigating the herbs and harvesting the leaves (whenever you need) will become easy for you.
Gather some Containers
Using the correct size pots is a mandatory step for container gardening herbs. The ideal pot size varies according to the herb that you want to grow. The logic behind this is that the plants should get adequate space for spreading. Say for instance, parsley and sage require a larger pot, while scallion planting can be done in smaller pots. Also, to ensure good drainage, selecting pots with drainage holes is a must. So, while using spare plastic buckets, you need to make holes at the bottom.
Prepare Potting Media
The potting soil plays a major role in maintaining a healthy indoor herb garden. It serves as a medium for supplying water and nutrients to the plants. If you are using heavy garden soil, amend it with sand, vermiculite and lime components for solving water drainage issues. And before you fill soil in the containers, lay, gravel, small rocks and brick pieces at the bottom. Then, add soil to about three-fourth of the pot height.
Select the Best Herbs
Choose the best herbs to grow indoors with care. Start with local herbs that adapt well in your area, and you can include other exotic herb species afterward. Some of the cultivars that remain all-time favorites for gardeners are coriander, chives, dill, basil, oregano, mint, sage, bay, chamomile, rosemary, lavender and parsley. Of these, dill and coriander are annual plants, while bay and parsley are perennial herbs.
Decide Propagation Mode
Purchasing healthy plantlets is the best choice for beginners. Or, if you already have a herb garden outdoors, make cuttings out of the plants and root them. You can also start your indoor winter gardening from seeds. But, this requires additional effort for seeding, germinating seeds and transplanting the seedlings to individual containers. So, decide which one is a better option for you, and proceed accordingly.
Plantation of Herbs
This step depends on which propagation mode you have finalized. If you are purchasing young plants, planting can be done directly. Take a pot and make a planting hole, such that the root ball size matches with the hole dimension. Place the young plant, and fill soil. Follow the same planting tips for remaining herbs. Likewise, you can transplant seedlings and rooted cuttings in the original pots, as per your plan.
Indoor Herb Care
Providing sufficient water to indoor herbs is of utmost importance for your plants to grow luxuriantly. Over watering is a common problem of winter gardening that concerns first time growers. Excess soil moisture reduces air circulation to the underground parts, resulting in leaf yellowing and root rotting. Ideally, one time watering in every two weeks is ideal for moisturizing the soil and maintaining indoor grown herbs.
When the outdoor temperature becomes warm, place your potted plants in direct sun for some time in the morning. This will boost their growth and promote production of new leaves. You can supplement organic matter to supply nutrients, but refrain from using chemical fertilizers in your indoor gardening project. A plus point for growing herbs indoors is easy control over pests and unwanted weeds.
