Looking after indoor herbs: Selecting Herb Varieties For Your Home
In this guide we tackle the frequently asked question of how to look after indoor herbs, providing the best tips and tricks to help your herbs thrive!
The great news is that there are lots of different varieties of herbs that will thrive in an indoor environment.
Some of the most popular herbs you can grow indoors include:
- Basil
- Chives
- Cilantro
- Dill
- Mint
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- Oregano
Everything You Need To Know About Looking After Indoor Herbs
Growing herbs in your home is a relatively straightforward and simple process. Here are some things to bear in mind before you start so that you can ensure you are looking after your indoor herbs in the best way possible.
Feeding And Watering Indoor Herbs
The key to watering herbs indoors is not to overdo them. Letting herbs dry out before rewatering can help ensure that you don’t flood them with water. Because herb roots are delicate, they are easy to over and underwater.
Test the soil by inserting a finger about 2 inches deep. If it’s dry you should add some water, but if it feels damp, give it another day or two and then test again. The aim is to get the roots to grow down searching for water. Doing this will ensure that your plants are strong and the root system is healthy. When it comes to watering, take your time. If you water too fast the water will just come out of the drainage holes before it has a chance to sink into the soil. So just sprinkle some water on and wait, and then repeat until the soil is nice and moist.
When it comes to feeding your herbs the ideal fertiliser type is either seaweed extract or fish emulsion. These fertilizers have a higher concentration of nitrogen than others and this helps the leaves of your herb plants to flourish. During summer months fertilising once a week should be plenty. In the colder months when growth is slower you should only need to feed your plants around once a month.
Check The Temperature and Humidity of Your Home
Temperature will also play a part in keeping your herbs healthy. Ideally, the temperature should be between 65-70 degrees. If you place your pots next to a window make sure that the leaves don’t touch the glass as this could heat up the plant and cause scorching damage. However, you do need to keep them near a good source of sunlight to make sure they continue to grow well
Consider The Placement Of Your Herbs
The more light you can provide for your herb plants, the better. The more intense the light source, the more flavoursome your herbs will be! So if you do want to grow a herb garden indoors, make sure you have space to place your pots where they’ll get a lot of sunlight. Southern facing windows are the best choice.
Grow Herbs Separately And Choose Containers Wisely
While it might be tempting to grow lots of different varieties all in one container, this isn’t going to be best for your herbs who’ll all have slightly different requirements. By keeping your herb varieties in separate containers, you’ll have flexibility when it comes to placement and watering and therefore gives yourself the best chance of growing them successfully by addressing their individual and unique needs.
When it comes to choosing the right containers you need to ensure theory is adequate drainage and that the pot size is correct. You may need to repot your herbs into bigger containers as they continue to flourish.
Best Indoor Herbs For Your Home
As we mentioned above, when it comes to growing herbs in your home, there is a lot of choice. However, if you aren’t sure what to choose, why not select a starter kit with lots of different, easy to grow varieties to get you started to help with looking after your indoor herbs?
Growing your own herbs is very rewarding and our Grow Your Own Herbs starter kit contains five different culinary herbs (basil, mint, thyme, oregano and parsley) to get you started. It even comes with coir pots, coir disks and a step-by-step growing guide so you’ll have all you need to start growing right away.
Our Herb Light Garden is fantastic for those who want to grow their own herbs but don’t have a lot of light. Your herbs will thrive under this Elho LED Light Garden right from when you first sow your seeds, all the way up to flourishing plants.
If you are looking for gorgeous fresh herbs every day, our Hydro Herb Kit is the ideal solution. This kit has everything you’ll need to start growing your own herbs and with step by step instructions, you can’t go wrong.
Available as singles: basil, coriander, mint, rocket or thyme. Alternatively, why not start with a set of three classics: basil, coriander and thyme?
So now you know, it’ time to start growing your own herbs indoors
A herb garden can add colour, vibrancy, lovely aromas and character to your kitchen, as well as add delicious flavours to your culinary dishes too. We hope these tips will help you keep your herbs healthy. Get in touch with our team if you have any more questions!