How to Grow an Herb Garden Indoors
- 1). Choose a spot that gets at least 4 hours of direct sunlight a day. (Augment the supply with fluorescent lights if necessary.) Most herbs like some ventilation but no direct drafts and no great fluctuations in temperature.
- 2). Decide what herbs you want to grow. Study books about herbs and peruse catalogs, and think about what you want to do with your herbs: cook with them, make potpourri or simply enjoy their foliage and fragrance.
- 3). Buy your plants at a nursery that specializes in herbs. Your selection will be much bigger than it will at a general nursery, and the staff is almost guaranteed to be enthusiastic and knowledgeable.
- 4). Use containers that are at least 8 inches deep and 6 to 8 inches across for each plant. To group multiple plants in a larger container, simply allow 6 to 8 inches between plants.
- 5). Lay pieces of screen mesh over the containers' drainage holes and add a premium-quality, well-draining potting soil mixed with coarse sand and mushroom compost. (Nurseries sell it in small bags.) Further ensure good drainage by setting the pots on a tray filled with gravel.
- 6). Set the plants into their new quarters at the same depth they were growing in their nursery pots and water them well.
- 7). Be careful not to overwater. A good soaking once or twice a week will keep most herbs happy. Stand each pot in about an inch of tepid water until the soil is moist but not saturated.
- 8). Feed the plants once a week when they're actively growing, using seaweed extract or fish emulsion.
- 9). Harvest indoor herbs with care. Clip outer leaves or sprigs as you need them, but always leave plenty of vigorous growth on the plant.
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