10 questions about indoor herb gardens - Kotona Living

1. How can I create my own indoor herb garden on a tight budget?

Creativity goes a long way. You can assemble a tabletop garden using tin cans, for example. Grow lights aren’t necessary if your home has good windowsills and west or south-facing windows.

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2. Who is a ready-made tabletop garden ideal for?

It’s worth the investment if you want fresh herbs year-round since the best models include not only a watering system but also grow lights. A stylish design is a nice bonus, and the latest luxury models can even send you care reminders via smartphone apps.

3. Which herbs grow indoors year-round?

Rosemary, bay laurel, lavender, and sage thrive on the windowsill as long as they get to spend the winter in cool conditions—no warmer than 17 degrees Celsius. With the help of grow lights, basil, oregano, thyme, parsley, coriander, spearmint, and chives can flourish year-round. They can produce a harvest even in a simple herb pot with a watering system, but only once during the darker months, as the herbs cannot produce new leaves without sufficient light. In the summer, they may resume growing.

4. How do I care for herbs?

Check the specific needs of each herb. Basil requires the most consistent watering, and you shouldn’t let the others dry out completely either. The frequency of watering depends on the size of the pot and the temperature of the room: the cooler it is, the less often you need to water. As a general rule, let the surface soil dry out between waterings. You can also mist the herbs with water several times a week.

Some herbs, such as coriander, are short-lived and don’t yield a continuous harvest. Conversely, thyme, mint, rosemary, sage, and oregano produce abundant new shoots and actually thrive when harvested—that is, when you cut the topmost shoots and largest leaves.

From March to October, herbs thrive in natural light. Delicate-leaved herbs may need shading on the windowsill during intense spring sunshine. Herbs love fresh air, so if you can’t move them onto a balcony for the summer, open a window for them.

Between October and March, herbs need as much light as possible, preferably five to six hours a day. Place them near a window or use a grow light to help.

5. Should I buy seedlings from a garden center or cultivate potted herbs from the grocery store?

If you’re starting a herb garden with store-bought potted herbs, select the most vigorous ones with healthy white roots. Brownish roots or dry leaves suggest the herb won’t have a long life.

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Transfer the herbs to a new pot right away; don’t let them wilt on the kitchen counter. Handle the roots gently: carefully cut the plastic pot if the root ball doesn’t come out easily. The best soil is an airy, sandy herb or cactus mix. Plant them at the same depth as in the original pot.

Seedlings from garden centers have usually been hardened off and are therefore sturdier. Hardening off means they have been kept in cool conditions to prepare them for planting outdoors.

6. Can I root a cutting from a plant?

With some species, it’s quite easy: mint varieties, rosemary, and sage root readily from their stems. Parsley, coriander, and chives, on the other hand, cannot be propagated from cuttings. Cut a ten-centimeter piece off the plant, half a centimeter below a leaf node. Remove the lowest leaves and place the cuttings either in a glass of water to develop roots or directly into sandy soil covered with a perforated transparent plastic bag. Ensure that about half of the stem is below the soil.

7. What else could I try in my indoor herb garden?

It’s easy to get hooked on chilies; they grow well even on a windowsill. If you’re a fan of oriental flavors, you can try perilla, also known as shiso, which is loved by the Chinese and also used by the Japanese in sushi. Perilla seeds germinate in light and can be sown in April. You can get seeds from Hyötykasviyhdistys (the Finnish association for useful plants), for example.

8. How do I grow herbs from seeds?

Growing basil from seeds is easy and fun. Similarly, it’s worth sowing new coriander every couple of weeks. Sprinkle the seeds either directly into pots or onto seed trays, from which you can then transplant the seedlings into growing pots. It’s advisable to use soil meant for seeds and seedlings, as regular soil is too nutrient-rich. You can try growing hyssop, lavender, and rosemary from seeds as well, starting in March. Sweet cicely and ramsons require four to six weeks of cold treatment, in the refrigerator, for example.

9. Which plants are too difficult to grow?

There aren’t any! But you’ll find the best herbs for your own conditions by experimenting. If your home doesn’t have a cool space for winter, Mediterranean herbs won’t survive—the hot indoor air and lack of light will kill them. In addition to cool temperatures, they benefit from extra light. It’s always a good idea to find out where a plant originates and try to provide similar conditions.

10. What home remedies can boost growth?

The easiest way is to add fertilizer when watering once a week. For example, liquid chicken manure is suitable as a diluted solution. You can also use a special organic herb fertilizer like Bio Trissol. However, over-fertilization can attract pests and may cause excessive nitrate accumulation in the leaves. Herbs also like herbal tea, so it’s worth diluting your leftover tea with water and pouring it into the soil.

Experts: executive director and horticulturist Taina Laaksoharju, Hyötykasviyhdistys, and garden journalist Nina Riihimaa

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