You can grow herbs indoors with a little preparation and effort.
If you do a lot of cooking and you enjoy using herbs to season your food, you may want to think about starting your own herb garden. Even if you do not have any yard space, you can grow your own herbs indoors, often in as small a space as a window sill. You do not need any special equipment, just some planters and a fluorescent light to give the plants a little extra light on cloudy days.
Instructions
1. Select a location that receives plenty of sunlight. Ideally, you want to use an area next to a window that faces south and receives six to eight hours of sunlight per day. You also can supplement lighting by using a fluorescent light.
2. Mix the soil. Combine equal parts of potting soil, compost and either sand or perlite. The soil should drain well, as no herbs do well in extremely wet soil.
3. Place the soil in your planter containers. The planters should have drain holes in the bottom to allow water to drain. If your planters do not have saucers or bottom pieces to catch the draining water, you should set the planters inside a large, shallow plastic container.
4. Sprinkle several seeds from each herb onto the surface of the soil of each planter. Do not mix the seeds, as the plants may compete with one another.
5. Cover the planter tops with plastic wrap. This will provide extra humidity, which will aid the germination of the seeds. Poke a small hole in the top of the plastic wrap with a pen or pencil to allow some ventilation.
6. Place the planters on the window sill or other sunny area. Most herb seeds will begin to germinate within seven to 10 days.
7. Keep the soil moist. Let the very top of the soil dry out between watering, but do not let the soil below the surface dry out. Refrain from over-watering, as most herbs will develop root rot from too much moisture in the soil.
8. Remove the plastic wrap from each planter before the plants begin to touch it. Remember to use a fluorescent light if your herbs are not receiving six to eight hours of light per day.
9. Check the instructions on the herb packages to make sure of the harvest times for each individual plant. Write the name of each herb on some masking tape and place the tape on each planter so you know which plants are in which planters.
Tags: each planter, fluorescent light, plastic wrap, each herb, eight hours