Indoor Herb Garden

While an indoor garden is something that almost everyone is aware of, many people are ignorant that even herbs can be grown inside the house. All you have to do is select the proper location for them and you can be sure that your herbs will grow indoors almost as well as a regular houseplant, without involving any additional time or effort on your part. Apart from adding to the overall look of your house, an indoor herb garden also provides you easy access to fresh herbs. In case you want to know more about growing your favorite herbs indoors, the following information will come handy.

Growing Indoor Herb Garden

Supplies Needed

Instructions

Deciding the Location
First of all, you have to choose a location in your house, for the garden. Make sure that it gets a minimum of 4 hours of direct sunlight, on a daily basis. If you want, you can further augment by the lighting, by resorting to fluorescent lights. At the same time, there should be sufficient ventilation, but no direct drafts and no extreme fluctuations in temperature.

Choosing the Herbs
After you have arrived on a decision, regarding the location of your garden, it is the time to choose the herbs that you want to grow therein. The herbs that are most popular for an indoor garden include Basil, Oregano, Mint, Parsley, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Angelica, Chamomile, Dill, Fennel, Lavender, Geranium and Chives. Before choosing the herbs, keep in mind their very purpose - cooking, potpourri or ornamental.

Buying the Herbs
Following the selection of herbs for your indoor garden, you will be required to visit a nursery and buy them. As far as possible, you should prefer a nursery that specializes in herbs. It will not only offer much more choice, in terms of the herbs, but will also be able to provide you with enough guidance and knowledge, on how to go about planning and growing the garden.

Planting the Herbs
The next step will comprise of getting the containers for your herbs, preparing the soil and planting them. It is advisable to go for such containers that are somewhere around 8 inches deep and 6 to 8 inches across, for a single plant. In case you plan to grow a number of herb plants in the same container, make sure to allow 6 to 8 inches of space between each of the plants.

You will need to cover the drainage hole of the container with pieces of screen mesh and then put in premium-quality, well-draining potting soil, after mixing it with coarse sand and mushroom compost. Now, all you have to do is set the herb plants in the soil, at the same depth in which they were growing in their nursery pots. Placing pots on a gravel-filled tray will ensure better drainage.

Watering, Feeding & Harvesting
Once you have planted the herbs in their respective containers, you need to keep track of three things - watering, feeding and harvesting. Talking about watering needs, keep it limited to a good soaking once or twice a week. Make sure that you let each of the containers stand in an inch of tepid water until the soil becomes moist, but is not completely saturated.

While they are still in the growing stage, you need to feed the herb plants once a week. For the purpose, seaweed extract or fish emulsion will be the best bet. When it is the time for harvesting the herbs, you will have to exercise some care and caution. While you can clip outer leaves or sprigs as and when you need them, making sure to leave plenty of vigorous growth on the plant.