Personal Story

I love my house plants! I believe they have many positive health benefits. They are green. This means they give me a mental boost when I look at them on a dreary winter’s day. They help clean the air. I love herbs so much I like to grow them indoors.

Benefits of Growing Herbs Indoors

Here are some potential benefits:

• Save money by harvesting herbs in the kitchen for cooking
• Fresh herbs provide the most health benefits, and they taste good, too!
• Herbs are low maintenance, since there are minimal water and lighting requirements for herbs like mint, parsley, chives, and lemongrass.

These are all good reasons to consider growing herbs indoors.

How to Grow Herbs Indoors

To have success, it is important to choose your herbs for growing indoors carefully. Basil, chives, cilantro, oregano, parsley, rosemary, and thyme are some of the easiest herbs to grow indoors.

Make sure to give the herbs enough light. Herbs usually grow best in full sun, so put them in a south- or southwest- facing window that lets in direct sunlight. You might need to supplement it with a grow light to give them 12 to 14 hours of light every day. It is a good idea to turn them a quarter-clockwise turn a week to help the plant grow evenly by getting adequate light.

Watering is important for indoor plants. They need enough water to grow but not too much. Too much water rots the roots of the plant. To water correctly, insert a finger into the soil up to your first knuckle. If the soil is dry, it’s time to water. If it feels moist, hold off for another day or two and then check again.

Temperature is a factor that people need to pay attention to when trying to grow herbs inside. Most herbs like to live in roughly 65 to 75° Fahrenheit air temperature. To keep an indoor herb garden doing well during cold weather, be sure the leaves of your plant do not touch the window. Most herbs don’t mind if the temperature in your house drops to the 50s at night. However, basil is especially sensitive to cold temperatures. Keep basil in a spot that stays at about 70°F.

Fertilizer gives the herbs a boost that they don’t need when they’re outside in garden soil and have rain. Choose an all-purpose plant food or a liquid fish emulsion. Apply the food at half the recommended rate every other week, and only when herbs are actively growing. It’s better to give your plants too little fertilizer than too much fertilizer.

Action

Take some time, now, to plan to grow herbs in your house. Once you have a plan, take the next steps by purchasing your containers, soil, herbs or seeds, and planting them. You will be off to a great start to receive the benefits of growing herbs indoors.

May God bless you on your wellness journey!

Joni

P.S. Have you grown herbs indoors?