Herb-a-licious: Grow an Indoor Herb Garden

Lending their scents to everything from candles to shampoo, their flavors to foods and their medicinal properties to soothing remedies, herbs have a whole lot of benefits, and the fresher, the better. If you don’t have the space to grow your own outdoor herb garden, don’t fret; herbs love sunny windowsills too. Here’s how to grow them indoors.

Gather your herb plants from a good garden nursery. For materials, you’ll only need a small digging garden tool, garden gloves, organic fertilizer and several small containers that are at least 6- to 12-inches deep.

The most important element to growing herbs indoors is the soil. Only use top-grade potting soil with an organic fertilizer mixed in, and add a little organic liquid fertilizer to the water if your plants are not growing quickly enough.

Before transplanting the herb, go one inch up in the size of the container. For example, if the plant is in a two-inch pot, go to a three-inch pot. Leave the roots alone and be very careful with the delicate stem.

To keep the drain hole from getting clogged, place a small piece of wire screening over it.

Allow time for the herbs to become accustomed to being indoors. Once you see growth, snip and use them frequently to encourage more growth.

Most herbs need four to six hours of sunlight a day on your windowsill, but keep them shaded during the hottest periods of the day.

You don’t want to drown your herbs; they don’t like to sit in wet soil. But you don’t want to them dry out, either. Also, use room temperature water so you don’t shock the plants’ roots.

Grow Up: Another great way to grow herbs despite a small (or non-existent yard) is with the Tower Garden. In a tiny amount of space, you can grow a huge amount of herbs, as well as veggies and fruits.