Can you imagine any meal being cooked without spices or rather, herbs? You would probably comment, “It tastes like sawdust!” At the same time, it feels rather tiresome to keep making umpteen trips to the market just because you have run out of some herb or the other! Therefore, the best thing to do is to cultivate your own indoor herb garden.The advantage to having herbs within your reach is that all your meals get that added spice and color. And if you collect some tips on how to take care of them, you could grow them in containers or pots the whole year round. So they are always within your reach!
Here are some suggestions on getting started with your indoor herb garden:
(1) Ensure that the soil is of very good quality. Since it is to be kept in a pot or container, the soil should have the capacity to retain water. In fact, if the purchased soil has organic matter added to it, so much the better; the herbs will grow faster. If you feel that soil quality does not matter, then you should not worry about the quality of your herbs either!(2) Your indoor herb garden does not require all that much water - if they are watered once or twice every week without fail, it should do. This keeps the moisture at the correct level - the soil is always damp, but no water is left standing at the bottom. Too much of water will cause the roots to begin rotting.
(3) Indoors or outdoors, no plant can live without sunlight. Most of the herbs need to be under direct sunlight; so placing them near windows is best. Herbs such as chives, rosemary, basil, thyme and oregano require more than six hours of direct sunlight each day. In case it is not possible to provide direct sunlight, grow lamps or specialized natural light bulbs are available.
(4) Though the indoor herb garden requires direct sunlight, it would be wise to keep the plants a few inches away from the window and not in direct contact with the window glass or window sill. The sills become very hot in the summer months and affect the plants. During winter months, the temperature near the window is much cooler than the temperature a little inside the room.
(5) To ensure faster growth, dried or dead leaves should be removed. So also dead blossoms from plants that produce flowers
(6) The biggest leaves are found at the ends of branches or shoots. Pluck them first for the growth stays in control.
(7) The plants in your indoor herb garden need trimming from time to time. Otherwise, they may become too big for the containers or pots. Trimming should be done with a pair of sharp scissors, never with a knife. A knife can damage the plants because a pulling motion is used.
(8) For additional information, you could become a member of a gardening club or organization. Otherwise, turn to the Internet for advice. Experience is of course the best teacher to guide you regarding your indoor herb garden!
Abhishek is a self-confessed Gardening addict! Visit his website http://www. Gardening-Master.com and download his FREE Gardening Report “Indoor Gardening Secrets” and learn some amazing Gardening tips for FREE! Create the perfect Garden on a shoe-string budget. And yes, you get to keep all the accolades! But hurry, only limited Free copies available!. http://www. Gardening-Master.com
Check out indoor herb gardening
Saturday, 19 January 2008
Indoor Herb Garden - 8 Wonderful Tips For A Wonderful Indoor Herb Garden!
Saturday, 24 November 2007
Growing Herbs Indoors
Growing herbs indoors is a wonderful way to garden year-round. Indoor herb gardens are also terrific for people who love to garden but don't have space outside because they live in an apartment or condominium.
Fortunately growing herbs indoors is easy, and they're generally low-maintenance. Here are some quick tips to get you started.
1. First of all you need to know which herbs are the best to grow indoors. Some favorites include: basil, sage, rosemary, oregano, dill, chives, fennel and parsley. Choose the ones you like best and buy the seeds or plants to start your indoor herb garden today! Just be sure to purchase your herb seeds or plants from reliable sources.
2. Some items you'll need are, of course, your herbs, and also some high-quality compost and containers. Small terra cotta pots that are approximately six inches in diameter at the top and are six to twelve inches deep are perfect for growing herbs. You can also use long, narrow containers, which allow you to plant several different types of herbs in one container. This type of container also has the advantage of fitting windowsills nicely.
3. To plant your herbs, you want to put a layer of two to three inches in the bottom of the pot or container. Position the herb seeds or plants and then finish filling them up with the compost. You want to leave about one inch at the top of the pot or container to make watering simple.
4. Now, find a sunny spot. Herbs do need quite a bit of sunlight, around five hours a day, but you want to be careful not to place your herb garden containers where the plants will experience extreme temperature shifts, such as close to a stove or radiator. If you don't have a place where your indoor herb garden can get plenty of sunshine, you may want to purchase an indoor plant light. These are generally inexpensive and well worth the price when growing delicious herbs indoors.
5. Keep the plants in your indoor herb garden moist. You don't want to get carried away and over water because herbs don't like to sit in soggy soil, but the dirt should always be damp when you touch it. To keep it that way, especially if the air in your home or apartment is extremely dry, you should mist your indoor herb garden plants daily.
6. Get your children involved! An indoor herb garden is a terrific way to introduce children to gardening in a way that isn't overwhelming or too difficult. They'll be thrilled to watch seeds grow into plants that they can actually eat!
Once your indoor herb garden is thriving you do want to use them, and the great thing is that the more often you cut the herbs, the more they'll grow. So go ahead! Perk up your homemade pesto or spaghetti sauce with that oh, so fresh basil. Season your chicken with some straight-from-the-indoor-herb-garden rosemary. Herb gardening is a satisfying way to garden and improve your cooking at the same time!
Fortunately growing herbs indoors is easy, and they're generally low-maintenance. Here are some quick tips to get you started.
1. First of all you need to know which herbs are the best to grow indoors. Some favorites include: basil, sage, rosemary, oregano, dill, chives, fennel and parsley. Choose the ones you like best and buy the seeds or plants to start your indoor herb garden today! Just be sure to purchase your herb seeds or plants from reliable sources.
2. Some items you'll need are, of course, your herbs, and also some high-quality compost and containers. Small terra cotta pots that are approximately six inches in diameter at the top and are six to twelve inches deep are perfect for growing herbs. You can also use long, narrow containers, which allow you to plant several different types of herbs in one container. This type of container also has the advantage of fitting windowsills nicely.
3. To plant your herbs, you want to put a layer of two to three inches in the bottom of the pot or container. Position the herb seeds or plants and then finish filling them up with the compost. You want to leave about one inch at the top of the pot or container to make watering simple.
4. Now, find a sunny spot. Herbs do need quite a bit of sunlight, around five hours a day, but you want to be careful not to place your herb garden containers where the plants will experience extreme temperature shifts, such as close to a stove or radiator. If you don't have a place where your indoor herb garden can get plenty of sunshine, you may want to purchase an indoor plant light. These are generally inexpensive and well worth the price when growing delicious herbs indoors.
5. Keep the plants in your indoor herb garden moist. You don't want to get carried away and over water because herbs don't like to sit in soggy soil, but the dirt should always be damp when you touch it. To keep it that way, especially if the air in your home or apartment is extremely dry, you should mist your indoor herb garden plants daily.
6. Get your children involved! An indoor herb garden is a terrific way to introduce children to gardening in a way that isn't overwhelming or too difficult. They'll be thrilled to watch seeds grow into plants that they can actually eat!
Once your indoor herb garden is thriving you do want to use them, and the great thing is that the more often you cut the herbs, the more they'll grow. So go ahead! Perk up your homemade pesto or spaghetti sauce with that oh, so fresh basil. Season your chicken with some straight-from-the-indoor-herb-garden rosemary. Herb gardening is a satisfying way to garden and improve your cooking at the same time!
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