Growing Herbs in Pots

When you don’t have a lot of room and you want to start herb gardening, then growing herbs in pots is a great alternative. It is no more difficult than growing them in a garden, in fact can be quite beneficial as it does contain them. Also consider other types of containers such as window boxes and hanging baskets. Whatever you choose as a container the growing method will be the same.

Whether you are growing herbs, vegetables or flowers all plants need the same requirements – sun, water and good soil. The number one priority is sunlight regardless if your plants are indoors or outdoors this means that for indoor herbs they need to be placed near the window that has the most sunlight. Even though some herbs differ with others to the degree of light, all need to be in a sunny spot. An alternative, if you don’t have enough sunlight is to use an extra source, for example "grow lamps" or fluorescent lights. The soil you use shouldn’t be too rich and it also needs to be well drained. If you put in about an inch of gravel (perlite is good) at the bottom of the pot this will help with the drainage, then have a good sterile potting mix with coarse sand – about two parts soil/one part sand. To sweeten the soil you will need to add lime, one teaspoon to each 5 inch pot. The herbs will love you for it. Herbs indoors will need more water than those in the garden. However, you don’t want to get the roots too wet, so use a mist spray which will keep the herbs in a more humid condition.

Annual and perennial herbs do differ when it comes to being indoors. Annuals can stay indoors the whole time, but perennials do like to go outside during the summer months. This is one of the benefits of having them in pots as you can move them about to suit their needs. Bring them inside before the first frosts this is to stop them losing their foliage. However for mint, chives and tarragon they actually do better after a light frost due to the fact that they have a resting period then the new growth is firm and fresh.

Now, getting back to the indoor garden. All herbs can be grown this way and with the tips we’ve just discussed you will get wonderful, healthy herbs and very handy to the kitchen so there’s no excuse not to add them to the cooking. You will need to feed them periodically and once a year repot them, this will keep them in good health. Obviously you will have to plant new annuals each year and put the perennials outside when you need to. Just like other plants herbs need pruning, so you need to be harvesting them regularly this will encourage new growth. So use them in your cooking, maybe dry them or treat your friends to fresh herbs from your pots.