Rosemary plant by Melissa Sanders
“Herbs are nature’s healthy seasoning.” – Alison Kerr, 2010
As winter looms in the north it’s time to move herb growing indoors.
After my recent lack of success with growing indoor lettuce, I’m eager to learn how to grow herbs indoors without experimenting.
Which herbs can be grown indoors?
Better Homes and Gardens recommend the following herbs for indoor growing: oregano, chives, mint, rosemary, and thyme.
PennState Horticulture has the following to say, “Herbs that can tolerate indirect sunlight include mint, bay, rosemary, and thyme. Lemon balm and tarragon will even grow well in very low light conditions.”
List of herbs
Here is the list of herbs for indoor growing. There may be others, but these are the ones I came across in my research:
- oregano – good
- mint – good
- rosemary – good
- thyme – good
- bay – good
- chives – good – requires a dormant period
- lemon balm – best – tolerates low light
- tarragon – best – tolerates low light
- basil – bad – requires too much light
- parsley – bad – requires too much light
- sage – bad – I’m not clear on why
Moving herbs indoors
If you have outdoor herbs you may want to move some of them indoors for the winter so that you can continue to enjoy them. Leaves can also be frozen or dried for use later (more on that below).
I have the following herbs in my garden and outdoor herb containers: oregano, mint, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, sage, lemon balm, basil, and parsley. I’ll be moving several indoors.
Tips on herb growing and more
Here are some useful websites which teach herb growing indoors, outdoors, and preserving the herb harvest.
- How to grow herbs indoors in winter from Better Homes and Gardens – a three page guide which includes instructions for potting up nursery bought herbs and also information on moving herbs indoors.
- A video on moving rosemary indoors, again from Better Homes and Gardens.
- Indoor herb growing leaflet from Penn State (link takes you straight to the pdf download).
- A herb garden calendar – spring, summer, and fall herb growing for cool and warm climates.
- Growing herbs in hot climates – fall is the main planting season for hot climates, including Arizona. Visit the Arizona Herb Association for good southern herb growing advice.
- For my friends in Australia and New Zealand, I’m learning about your gardening climate. Here’s one good article on subtropical herb growing in Brisbane. You can find a vegetable and herb calendar for your region at Gardenate.com (covers Australia, NZ, USA and UK climates).
- How to dry herbs provides a brief explanation of the various methods of drying herbs, or you can freeze herbs for later use (you’ll want them for holiday turkey, for roasting with vegetables, and for winter soups).
Herbs are one of the simplest things you can grow, provided you have the right light conditions. Don’t be tempted to try your favorite herb indoors if it needs direct sun; maybe you’ll discover a new favorite!
Have you tried growing herbs indoors? Which herb is your favorite for cooking?
Kid tip: herbs are very strong for children’s sensitive taste buds. Both mint and chives are easy to grow and have more familiar flavor – kids enjoy growing and picking them. Try offering herbs as a garnish rather than cooking them into a dish.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Alison Kerr, Meg Wolfe. Meg Wolfe said: How to grow herbs indoors – http://lovingnaturesgarden.com/2010/11/how-to-grow-herbs-indoors/ [...]
Amazing resources Alison. I may undertake to grow some oregano. I’ve heard it’s health properties abound. Thanks for another great post.
Katie´s last blog ..How to Consciously Alter Your Truth and Change Your Internal Dialogue
Go for it Katie! Let me know how it works out. I moved my oregano indoors today.
I am convinced that lemon balm would grow on the surface of Venus, given a chance.
UrsulaV´s last blog ..
I know what you mean Ursula – I’m still trying to clean up my escaped lemon balm. That stuff is invasive! I don’t even like the taste a whole lot (maybe because I regret planting it outside a container – it’s been more work than it’s worth).
Oof, it escaped? Eeep!
Are you, um, heavily invested in your current house? Because moving might be easier…I fought that stuff at my last house (from the previous owner!) and that’s quite a battle on your hands. (I wish I had some useful advice, but lemon balm is occasionally suggested as a “Revenge on the landlord” plant, it’s so tenacious.)
If you grow it in a container in the future, I suggest placing it on concrete or in a saucer–it’s one of the ones who will happily root through the drainage hole and pop up ten feet away.
On the bright side, we may be able to use it for terraforming distant planets some day…
UrsulaV´s last blog ..
If I came around to tend to it, it would be dead in a matter of days, lol!
Hi Alison!
I came over from A-list bloggers as I was intrigued by your post title. I have difficulty growing anything, but we love cilantro and basil. I spend way too much on it and it always goes bad before we use it all! I amy have to give some of your tips a try!
Bernice
Living the Balanced Life´s last blog ..What’s on your mind
Welcome Bernice. As with most things, there’s some trial and error in gardening. Give it a go – don’t be disappointed by any failures.
Cilantro and basil need sun – give them a go outside in a container in late spring. I’ve found them pretty easy to grow. For first time gardeners I recommend buying herb plants from a garden center, though I’ve also planted “living basil” from the grocery store and it did well.
Don’t freak me out Ursula! I’d better give some time to battling that lemon balm PDQ by the sounds of it! “Revenge on the landlord” – I love it. Actually, no, I’d rather hear of people using a native, even if it would be invasive.
Ciao Alison, I am lovingly looking at my cilantro out there on the patio and wondering if I should bring it in – any experience with coriander? This is actually the first time I have gotten it to do more than bolt and seed. It seems to actually like the cooler weather.
Hi Diana, I’m going to check out the answers to your questions and report back. Cilantro is a lot like parsley, which needs sun, though not necessarily heat (folks grow it successfully in Scotland). I’ve never grown coriander.
I’ll let you know what I find out. If in doubt, don’t leave your herbs outside for the frost – I think it’s worth trying most things once!
Can I share your topic to my other blog, these herbals are good to medication..thx
Ari Lestariono´s last blog ..Playing in Higher Altitudes – PGAcom
Hi Ari, yes herbs have many healthful properties. You are always welcome to share a link to one of my articles.
Thanks for a great article, Alison, and thanks for all the other resources on this topic! I’ve never tried to grow herbs inside, simply because I believed they wouldn’t do well, and I’d spend the winter watching them languish.
I’m particularly happy to learn that oregano can be successfully grown inside.
My one newbie question: Can I start the herbs from seeds inside? I mean, do I have to create special conditions for the seeds? Or should I just start with plants?
Ami Mattison´s last blog ..‘Powerful Beyond Measure’- Fear vs Creative Success
Good questions Ami. I’ve never started herbs from seeds indoors, but I know that is what many people do for their outdoor herbs anyway so I feel comfortable saying, “Give it a try!” If you don’t already have seeds, and have access to herb plants, I’d recommend trying them first. Either approach is OK though if you stick to herbs which will thrive in lower light.
The biggest limitation with indoor growing is light. When you look at the list of herbs which can be grown indoors, make the assumption that you won’t get the kind of growth you’d see those plants produce outside, though if you have a conservatory or a large wall of windows it would be closer.
For me, herbs make good houseplants – they’re edible rather than poisonous and relatively easy to find at the garden center. I came home yesterday with a beautiful silver thyme plant from my local grocery store. It cost no more than a bunch of cut herbs and even if it stays the same size it will be a better buy because it won’t go bad in the fridge (I can pick only as much as I need).
I’ve seen some information about LED lights for indoor growing and I think I will have to look into that as an option for some plants and situations.
Thanks, Alison, for answering my questions. I’ll see if I can find some plants first. I really don’t have great light, except in the my kitchen, which is bright throughout the day. I suppose that’s a good place to keep herbs!
Ami Mattison´s last blog ..Lessons in Sailing towards Artistic Success
Ah, a kitchen herb garden sounds perfect
[...] I found a link to a site that seems to have some pretty good information about herb-growing. Does anybody else have any [...]
Hi Alison. Here in Zone 17 it is much easier to grow basil indoors than out because 1) Our house has a lot of windows and 2) Nothing indoors eats the basil except the two humans. I currently have Thai basil out in a pot in the front yard and tiny basil plants in another pot that I’m growing from seed, but our big basil supply comes from a Trader Joe’s basil plant. It sits on the breakfast table opposite a north-facing bay window where it thrives. I have to protect the outdoor basil with copper tape, which is not entirely snail-proof and doesn’t stop other critters.