How To Grow Herbs Indoors?

LIGHT

I want to grow my own herbs indoors during the winter. I will have to have a lot of light. In most areas, sunlight  is not enough for your herb plants, other than keep your well-grown plants alive.

I am going to grow allot of different herbs.  I will buy a four foot long fixture of fluorescent tubes. Keep the tops of my plants five inches from the  tubes. Herb plants need to be put on individual  blocks or bricks, so they can be move closer or farther away from the light as necessary.

ANNUAL

Planning Your Indoor Garden

I am going to grow herbs that are annuals, you can start your indoor garden by using  seeds. Some of the annual herbs  that you can start this way is dill, summer savory, basil, cilantro, and chervil by planting the seeds in mid-to-late August.

Plant about ten seeds around a ten to twelve inch pot. After they germinate, you will then need to thin to four or five plants. For the first few weeks you can leave them outside. To get them use to their winter quarters, you will need to move them  into shade one week before you move them indoors for good. Basil and other tender annuals need to be moved indoors long before frost hits where you live.

Annual plants that are grown indoors, even using artificial light, will not remain vigorous for as long as if they are grown in your outside garden. To have a constant supply of different herbs, you will need to do the planting every four to six weeks, from October through February.

Perennial herbs

Perennial herbs can be potted up well before frost and bring them indoors, and this is the way to have them  to snip during all winter.. Some of the perennial herbs are tarragon, thyme, mint, oregano, and winter savory  when you or I will divide them up in the spring. Leave the pots out all summer and through the early part of winter. All of these plants need the rest that you   or I  can give them a period of dormancy. In January, bring them into a slightly warmer area which could be a garage or basement for about a week. After this, I will need to bring them inside. Once the growth has started, this is when I will need to put them under lights.



Chives

Chives has to experience a winter rest. In the fall, plant them in pots about twelve inches deep. Leave them outside until January. Next, they need to be move inside into a heated area. Chives will not remain productive all winter, so I will need to make several pots to last me through out the winter.

Parsley

This herb is demanding when you bring it inside. The best way to do this particular herb is to seed it  directly into a pot in late June. Each pot needs to be at least twelve inches deep by twelve inches wide. Keep all the pots outside all summer, remembering to give it ample water and monthly feedings with compost solutions. Put the pot into the shade that is filtered about a week before it  going to frost where you live at.

More herbs to Overwinter Indoors

Some herbs can not take wintertime in most regions of the United States. If you want to keep your herbs from year to year like I do, I bring them inside during the winter, and put them in a well-lit window or under a plant light. Each pot needs to be brought inside during the cold months. If they are planted in the ground, they will need to be dug  up and planted into pots. Each pot needs to be two inches wider than the root ball.

In most region, the following plants should be indoors during winter. These herbs are lemongrass,  lemon verbena, aloe, lavender, french scented geraniums, pineapple sage, lemon thyme, rosemary [hardly from zone 8 south]. These herbs will be happy to be growing on any body's windowsill.