herb gardens?

Question

any cool ideas for indoor herb gardens? and what herbs are easy to maintain. i kill all of my plants...

Answer 1

A Yahoo search for "indoor herb gardens" (include the quotation marks in the search box) yields 1,200 results. If you do the same search, and are willing to spend a little time exploring, I'm sure that you will quickly find the information you seek.

By the way, chives are hardy and easy to grow indoors.

Good luck with your search.

Answer 2

Basil grows readily from seed, but since winter is coming and you plan to use the herbs, get plants.
Oregano, chives, rosemary, thyme, savory, dill, mints, sage, bay laurel, there are lots of herbs. Be sure to put them in a sunny window and turn them every other day for even light.
You must keep them pinched back or they will get leggy and unproductive.
The main thing is to remember most herbs are indigenous to the Mediterennean, near the ocean, so you want to try to replicate that. This means dont fertilize, use a somewhat sandy soil and water when needed. If you overfertilize and use too rich a soil, the essential oils in the plant wont be as concentrated, hence less flavor.

Answer 3

Herbs such as parsley, mint, rosemary, chives. etc

Choose Your Site

Herb plants need plenty of light, so this must be your first consideration. Select a sunny south-facing window if possible. If a sunny window is not available, supplement with plant lights. A large assortment of fixtures and bulb sizes are available at reasonable costs. Shop lights are available in two to four feet lengths, and clip-on lights will accommodate the incandescent style grow lights. Check your local home improvement store.

Planting

Plant seeds directly into the four inch pots. Follow the directions on seed packets for planting depth. (See my past article: “Growing Herbs From Seed; Buying and Planting Plants”, February 13, 1998). Cover pots with a little plastic wrap until germination, then remove plastic. Thin plants to the strongest one and fertilize when they get two sets of true leaves. For perennials, of course they can also be started from seed, but seeding with this method should be started months if not a year ahead of time. For perennials indoors instantly, dig up pieces of plant with roots and plant in a four inch pot. Get them accustomed to less light by placing in a shady spot for one week, then bring indoors. Bringing outside herbs indoors is more of a challenge and you may experience plant death. If the herbs cannot acclimate themselves to indoor conditions. Another way to get indoor perennials is to purchase at a garden center or order through the mail. These plants are used to indoor conditions and should survive better. Don’t forget to label all your plants.

Temperature and Moisture

Generally, ideal temperatures for most herbs is 60-70 degrees F (15-21 C) for the day, 50-65 degrees F (10-18 C at night. This is fairly flexible, but most plants do like around a 10 degree F drop in temperature at night. After watering each plant thoroughly, let them dry almost completely before watering again. Your watering schedule will depend on the type of heating you have and the humidity level. Caution: if using clay pots, your plants will dry out much faster! Be prepared to water more often

Answer 4

My search pulled up this info that might help. Good Luck

Indoor Herb Gardening

Herbs can also be grown indoors for year-round enjoyment. Growing herbs indoors is no more difficult than growing them in the garden.

Indoor plants will need essentially the same conditions as herbs grown outdoors -- sunlight and a well-drained soil mix that is not too rich.

Select a south or west window. Different herbs have different light requirements, but most need a sunny location; in winter, "grow lamps" or fluorescent lamps are helpful in supplementing light.

When planting, mix two parts sterilized potting soil and one part coarse sand or perlite. To ensure sweetness of the soil, add a cut of ground limestone per bushel of soil -- or 1 teaspoon of lime per 5-inch pot. There should be an inch of gravel at the bottom of each pot to ensure good drainage.

Consider the water needs of each herb. Growing plants need more water as do plants in clay pots or hanging baskets. Misting and grouping the plants on a tray of moistened pebbles will help keep them in a humid condition. Don't drench herbs -- avoid getting herb roots soggy.

Annual herbs can spend their full life cycle in a pot indoors. Perennial herbs, however, will do better if you place them outdoors during the summer. Plunge the pot in soil up to its rim, or keep it in a protected location on the porch or patio.

Herb plants need sun during the summer months, so place them accordingly. To prevent the loss of foliage and avoid plant damage, bring herbs indoors before frost. A light frost is helpful on mint, chives, and tarragon; it tends to induce a rest period and make the resulting new growth firm and fresh.

You can maintain an indoor herb garden indefinitely by periodic light feeding, yearly repotting, renewing annuals, seasonal moves outdoors for perennials, and occasional pruning. Water plants as needed. Use several planters or a divided one to allow for different moisture needs of plants

Answer 5

Here's a site with info:
http://www.rd.com/extraordinaryuses/openContent.do;jsessionid=C0D377E848E3C7EAAE64BEBB33EA8820.app2_rd1?contentId=23901

Just make sure your herbs get plenty of sunlight and maybe even add an extra light...like a grow light or flourescent light. Most herbs need a lot of sun.

Easy to maintain herbs...chives, rosemary, thyme, mint. All need well drained soil and are easy to grow because they don't get terribly tall.

Answer 6

Thyme, rosemary, sage, and parsley almost impossible to kill- you just can't water them more than once a week, once every other week. They do need at least an hour of sun hitting their foliage a day, though.

Good luck and have fun with it!