With Fall and winter approaching, thoughts naturally turn towards capturing some of the beauty of spring and summer and keeping it inside for the cold months. Growing herbs inside can help keep you in touch with life and nature as well as provide favorite fresh tastes to meals.
First, some pre-planning must be done. What types of herbs do you want to have indoors? Which ones can you dig up from the garden, and what additional herbs do you need to buy?
1. Space
2. Lighting
3. Pots or Containers
4. Herbs
5. Soil
6. Acclimation to Indoors
7. Water
8. Fertilizer
9. Pests
1. Space
Where will you place your indoor garden? This will be the big factor for how many plants you can bring indoors. The area must have room for pots as well as lighting requirements (natural light and supplemental lighting).
2. Lighting
Try to find a spot in the house where your herbs will get at least 6-8 hours of direct sun a day. If this is not possible, it is advisable to obtain a grow light. An inexpensive system can be set up by going to your local home improvement store and purchasing a fluorescent shop light with slots for two light tubes. The grow light tubes can usually be found in the same area as the light fixtures. For a two foot shop light and two grow light tubes, the pricing should be around $20-$30. Hang it close to the tops of the plants.
3. Pots or Containers
Choosing pots or containers is the fun part. This is where your creativity comes in. There are many beautifully decorated pots out there, but herbs also look great in traditional clay pots too. Thyme would look great tumbling out of an old teapot, or rosemary clipped into a topiary is a favorite.
4. Herbs
Examples of herbs that do well indoors are chives, rosemary, oregano, sage, fernleaf dill, tarragon, globe basil, many dwarf versions of regular herbs. It is suggested that well-rooted pieces of plants be taken from the garden or purchased rather than starting from seed for the indoors. A plant started indoors from seed will probably never attain the maturity and leaf production that is desired. Plants can be purchased from local nurseries or by mail order in the fall as well.
5. Soil
It's very important to make sure the soil for use indoors is well-draining. Use a potting soil which contains a good amount of perlite, or buy perlite separately and add to potting soil. One of the possible pitfalls of taking a plant indoors is fungus growth, which could eventually kill the plant. With well draining soil, the chances for fungus to grow are lessened.
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