Growing Herbs

Growing Herbs Indoors
All Winter

A Look at Window Gardens

Love fresh spaghetti sauce or pesto? Growing herbs indoors lets you have fresh basil and other herbs all year round! Sure, a nice 1 X 4 window garden getting at least 4 or 5 hours of direct light from a sunny window will give you something to pinch here and there. Gardens with mint, rosemary, bay leaf, savory, oregano, chervil, and thyme are some of the easiest to grow this way.

But what if you really need your basil...lots and lots of it? Basil and cilantro need just a bit more light, and really prefer 8 hours or more of direct light each day. In addition to this if you want fresh pesto, just a pinch here and there is not going to cut it. Here's what you can do about it.

Add Light when Growing Herbs Indoors During the Winter

The goal for growing herbs indoors is to use a vegetative light cycle (18 hours on), with at least eight or more of those hours being direct sun or bright artificial light. Whenever the light levels are low, give them a boost. Two or three fluorescent lights above your plants will greatly increase their growth rate and yield. You can grow enough basil for a few servings of pesto now and then, and still have enough fresh herb always at your fingertips.

Conflicting Advise on Feeding Herbs

It has been said that some herbs grow better, or should be grown in, poor soil. The oils in herbs make them special. Very fast growing herbs often grow plain leaves and stems more quickly than they can produce tasty essential oils. Often you will hear "basil grows better in poor soil" or "your basil will taste better if you don't fertilize". What these people really mean is "don't grow your basil too fast" (sorry to pick on basil).

Growing herbs indoors in a container, it is a little different. The plant still needs some food to grow, and when that food runs out you will need to fertilize. However, as you will see in the next two sections, this is all taken into consideration together with the growth habits of your herbs.

 Soil Mix for Growing Indoor Herbs

To keep initial growth rates under control when growing herbs indoors, I use a soil mix with just enough nutrients to keep things looking healthy. Having a mix with too many nutrients can make vegetative growth difficult to keep up with. Mix 2 parts sphagnum peat to 1 part perlite, then add 20 percent worm castings to the mix

Watering and Fertilizing

If you feel the top of the soil and it is dry, than you need to water. Another way is to pick up the container and check how heavy it is. When growing herbs indoors you need to have containers with holes in the bottom, and you need to add an inch or so of perlite or gravel to the bottom of each container. Your herbs prefer a quick draining soil. It is best to water thoroughly, but less often. Water the container until some water comes out the bottom.

 

 

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