Basil, thyme, sage.
These are indispensable herbs, and they grew in abundance on our front stoop all summer. We don't like paying $2.50 per packet for herbs at the supermarket, so when it gets cold, we have another plan.
Fortunately it's not difficult to grow these herbs indoors — even in a tiny kitchen.
One big pot, some potting soil, and a few herb plants are all you need. You should also have a sunny spot; the herbs will need plenty of direct sunshine...
Some of you already have your container garden moved inside, and new plant projects going for the winter. This project is not for you, already gifted with a green thumb! This project is for those of us who just need a little push to get anything green in our house at all in the winter! Any advice on growing herbs indoors? Please share below!
1. Pot and tray - Buy a large, deep plant pot. This one is at least 7 gallons. Make sure there is at least one small hole in the bottom for drainage. If you have easy access to some stones or gravel, put a few inches of stones at the bottom of the pot to promote drainage.
Also make sure you buy a plastic or ceramic tray for under the pot to keep drained water from dripping on the floor.
2. Hardy herbs - Choose a variety of herbs for this pot. We chose cooking herbs - sage, sweet basil, and caraway thyme. We liked the different sizes and heights; sage grows tall, while basil is more bushy. The thyme is a creeper, growing flat to the ground. It has a tendency to take over its environment, so we will trim it back regularly.
Choosing herbs: We had a hard time finding herbs until we went to a nursery. They had just a few hardy specimens left, including the sage and thyme. Sometimes Trader Joe's has basil, too. We used three small basil plants, one tall and leggy sage, and a small thyme creeper. This may have been too much; if they start crowding each other and pruning doesn't help we'll pull out a basil.
3. Soil and water - Fill the pot up with soil, stopping about 3 inches from the top. Moisten the soil lightly but thoroughly with water and mix it until evenly wet. It shouldn't be dripping wet - just loosely muddy.
Dig a small hole, deep down. Remove one of the plants from its nursery container. Gently loosen the soil around its roots. You don't want to tear the roots apart - just loosen them up a bit. Put in the hole and pack about an inch of dirt over top of the root ball. Repeat for the other plants, giving them several inches of room between each other. Water again when finished.
4. Water and sun - Put the pot on its drainage tray. Place anywhere it can get full sun. You'll need as much weak winter sun as you can get. Don't overwater; pour in a cup of water wherever and whenever leaves look droopy.
For cooking, cut leaves and stems off the tops first - not the sides.
Time, not including shopping: 20 minutes
Cost: $35-$50, depending on the cost of the pot and amount of plants
Related Links
• Grow Your Own Medicinal Herb Garden
• What's This Herb? Use Flickr For Garden Reference
• The Easiest Herbs To Grow Indoors
• How To: Store Fresh Herbs So They Last
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I guess this isn't necessarily "green", but in NYC (for those interested) you can get a substantial discount on fresh herbs at the big Manhattan Produce outlet in Chelsea Market. For under $1 you get a nice clump the size of those plastic-encased bunches that run $2.50 at Whole Foods. No plastic packaging, either.
view the opoponax's profile
You can fit even more herbs into the pot if you do it with a strawberry pot. That's why I have for most of my herbs at my apartment.
view bohemiangirlpdx's profile
Is there a suitable substitute for sunlight? Darkness permeates my hovel, but I'd like to grow strawberries. They aren't evil, but I'm willing to give a little for free tasty treats!
view Lord Kakabel's profile
i love your post.
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view Jaco Viljoen's profile
I love your post! You have inspired me to try the herb garden in my house. I am going to use a strawberry pot and a variety of herbs. Thanks
view pumpkinpatch's profile
Lord Kakabel, get one or two fluorescent lights from Home Depot and then give your plants about 14 hours of artificial light per day. For about $15, I picked up two 15(-ish) inch tubes that helped me germinate seeds and grow basil. I bought a shoe rack from Target for another $10 to hook the lights onto. It's a nice set-up!
view MeghanD's profile
It's been my experience with herbs that woody herbs like sage, thyme and rosemary don't like the same soil conditions as soft herbs like basil. Basil doesn't like to be dry, but sage does. It's hard to regulate that in one pot. You might be better with several pots. Just a thought.
view Carol K's profile
Love your post. I was looking for herbs other than Basil every time I stop by Union Sq farm market but I guess I'd have to wait for spring? I just moved into a very sunny apartment with a spacious kitchen window sill so I can't wait to try this!
I have a rectangle pot the size of 2 dozen egg cartons stacked. would that be too small?
view purplepops's profile
You could also reuse an old round cake pan or pie pan on the bottom instead of gravel or in addition to the gravel. I hammer a good number of holes in the pan and place it upside down in the bottom of the planter. I've done it with some old fishing pals and it worked really well.
view sugarm0mma's profile
Hi. Is it possible to do this in the back dash of a car? The thyme at least. I live in a virtually sunless apartment, and whenever I do get a plant going, my cat eyes it and then eats the leaves once they get nice and big. Never realized how much he loves bell peppers... My car is in the sun all day when Iâm at work, and itâs only cold here for about a month out of the year; itâs very hot and humid otherwise. Any advice for car plants is welcome.
*^_^*
view schatze's profile
Thought I'd share a Garden Stacker The Indoor Culinary Herb Garden that is convenient and nice looking:
http://www.herbkits.com/product/K5-1SG
It doesn't take much space, and the kit comes with everything you need, including assortment of 12 herb seeds.
view nyc102872's profile
Schatze
view deirdre's profile
Schatze (sorry for the dbl post)
Winter is still too cold in most places for having plants in your car (any time it gets below freezing will ruin most things) and in summer or warm climates will virtually cook most any plants. It would be awesome to harvest all that sun energy that gets into your car, but I doubt that would work with plants :(
view deirdre's profile
Schatze,
Why not try it??? I would love to know if it works. That is what gardening is all about. Try it, if it doesn't work, try something else. Just know that a car during the summer will get super hot and dry out your plants.
Do you have a blog? If so, email me at jayme@ahamodernliving.com. I think it would be a great experiment to journal about. Give your fellow apartment dwellers something to learn from!
Best of Luck!
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view aHaModernLiving.com's profile
Perfect. I've been thinking about having herbs in the apartment and was wondering if it would work. I might do it in separate pots, as one of the comments mentioned. However, what you created looks really nice.
view luluinthesky's profile
It is a general misconception that placing stones or gravel at the BOTTOM of the pot will speed up drainage through the soil. Its true it will speed up drainage, but it won't do so until the water goes through the soil and reaches the bottom of the pot and even then it will merely send it through the gravel and onto the tray (something the water would have done anyways).
The best way to speed up drainage THROUGH the soil would be to disperse the gravel on the top and down through the soil, almost in a v shape. That way the water will speed through the gravel into the soil and make itself available to the roots. This will eliminate any standing water on the surface of the soil.
view Sumhope's profile
Thank you!
Any advice (in a future article) on caring for herbs during the colder months? Mine always seem to die when I bring them inside after the weather turns.
view suby's profile
When growing many herbs in pots, it's easier if the herbs have similar requirements: amount of sun, water, etc.
@ suby, you should introduce your outdoors herbs gradually to the indoor environment. this process is called acclimation, where you place your herbs in a shady area for a few hours everyday to get them used to less sun and colder temperature bit by bit.
http://growherbsinfo.com/
view novaperson's profile