I have been using trail and error for growing herbs in my kitchen window but thought I would ask for advice. So far I have had success with chives but not much else. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Which herbs will do well for indoor growing?
Tell us a little bit more about your conditions. Do you have a south-facing window? East, west? Does the light come in several feet or is there an overhang and the sun only comes in a few inches?
I'd like to start this thread up again, and see if we can get any more info. I would dearly love to grow some herbs inside, for I love my herb garden in the summer. I have a west facing kitchen window. It doesn't have an overhang, but there is a large maple tree that although leafless in the winter seems to difuse the light. I haven't had success with any herbs yet. What kind of pot should I be using, I used plastic the last few times, and am wondering if I should use clay pots. I have a rosemary plant I definitely want to bring in this winter, but also have Italian parsley, oregano, and basil I'd love to bring in. I have thyme and tarragon, but don't know if I could get a start from their woody branches. Any helps would be appreciated.
Hi-
I grow several herbs inside, though not as many as I'd like! I definitely recommend clay pots; my herbs never seem to do well in plastic. The other option is self-watering pots that allow you to monitor the water level. Gardeners Supply (gardeners.com) sells a kit that allows you to "make" a self-watering pot out of any round pot you have, and I like them very much.
As far as the actual plants, basil of course is an annual so no point in bringing it in. But it does grow very well inside my house, so if you want to get some new plants for the winter months, go for it! Parsley and oregano both can be brought in, as long as you do it carefully--they don't like a sudden change. Mints are another great indoor plant. Thyme does not like to have its roots disturbed AT ALL, so don't move it! Mulch it well, it should be fine. I have no idea about the tarragon, but I would think, given its height, that it wouldn't make a great indoor plant. Rosemary is supposed to grow well inside; I can't speak to that, as it is the one plant I simply cannot grow! I kill it every time.
The trick with herbs is that while they don't want to be overwatered, they don't particularly love dry climate-controlled air, especially if they've been quite happy in outdoor humidity. So move them slowly--pot them up a few weeks before you want to move them inside. Let them spend a week in the pots in their original outdoor location, then move them--still outdoors--to the side of the house with the window you're going to put them in for another week. Then move them into a semi-indoor place, like a garage or a covered balcony, for about a week before finally bringing them in to your window. Your west-facing window should be fine, though you can always add a grow light if you think they need it. Mine do fine in west, southwest, and east facing windows. Also, you want to mist them every so often--mist, not wet or drench. It will help counteract dry indoor air as well as bugs. If you see bugs, your herbs are too dry. Diseases usually indicate too much water!
Let me know how it goes--indoor herbs can be so tricky, so I'd love to hear how yours do!
Thanks, marsinger. I was just thinking about the pottery question, so put my rosemary in a clay pot this year. I hadn't thought about the misting, that is an excellent suggestion. I'll keep you posted.
I experimented for the first time this past winter by bringing in some herbs and putting them under my grow lights I use for starting seeds. I successfully overwintered a container of mint, one with rosemary, thyme, oregano and basil (started from seed), and one with lemongrass. The only thing that didn't make it was my parsley. I used large self-watering containers, and kept the light on 16 hours/day. I use a lot of herbs in cooking so the cost of the electricity was offset by not having to buy those little expensive packages of herbs at the grocery store. I potted everything up about 3 weeks before bringing it inside. I did have one short battle with whitefly (managed to get it under control pretty quickly), so this year I will make sure to sterilize the potting mix I plan to use. Also am going to try to overwinter a lemon verbena plant this year--I think someone told me it will basically go dormant, then leaf out again in the spring. Anyone have any experience with this?
I successfully overwintered a lemon verbena once... and failed once... it was the same plant I tried to bring in twice... and I think the fault was lack of water the 2nd time... even though it was dormant.. I think letting the soil completely dry out was a bad thing... it was nice though that the leaves dried out on the plant and once in a while I would take some and crush them up to remind me of summer
I have a lemon verbena plant that I have brought in for 3 winters now. It needs to be re-potted and is currently outside in partial shade where it has been since May. The plant winters in an east facing room that gets good light but is not very warm though it never gets below 50 degrees. The verbena does lose most of it's leaves by March or April. Sometimes it gets whiteflies but didn't last year. I'm in zone 5 or 6 and we have cold, usually snowy winters but with lots of sun. Potted rosemary goes in to an unheated room but gets put outside during the day for extra sun when it's above 35 degrees or so. Does well. Thyme stays in the ground with mulch and is problematic. Tarragon stays out and returns, sage, mint and so on. I tried over-wintering lemon grass indoors but was not successful.
I have had good success with over wintering lemon verbena and bay leaf tree.
I grow basil in a south facing window. Down here, basil is not an annual. A plant can live for a couple years or so. I keep mine indoors away from the snails and heavy rain in the summer can bring on fungus. You can grow basil year round indoors!