You are interested in doing some gardening. However, the climate that you live in prevents you from gardening as much as you would like to. Thus, you would like to find a way that you can enjoy a gardening hobby, but at the same time have the benefit of being able to garden all year. Thus, what you would like to do is some indoor gardening.

About Indoor Gardening

Indoor gardening is something that is especially popular amongst those who live in colder climates. This is because the plants that they would like to grow can only be grown in certain temperatures, and those temperatures cannot be cold.

Thus, indoor gardening can be very beneficial. For example, if you are the kind of person that likes to grow your own vegetables, normally you could only do so during certain times of the year if you lived in a colder climate. However, with indoor gardening, you have much more flexibility.

The most common kind of indoor gardening is gardening that involves greenhouses. Greenhouses are specialized places that many professional gardeners as well as amateur gardeners use.

Greenhouses are made either out of glass, or out of plastic material, and can be found in a variety of different sizes. They are the preferred method of indoor gardening because the temperature in the greenhouse can be adjusted.

However, indoor gardening can be as simple as having several large pots placed in a warm area. The area that you choose will have to do with the kind of plants that you have. Growing plants in pots is an especially good idea for certain kinds of plants such as cherry tomatoes, that do not grow too large for a large pot.

If you are interested in indoor gardening, there are a few rules that you should follow. First of all, be sure that you have a room in your house that is warm enough for the plants that you would like to have, and be sure that the room gets at least partial sunlight.

Also, be sure that wherever you decide to place the plants, they will not be bothered by young children or animals. If either one tries to eat the plants, that could be dangerous. For more information on indoor gardening, visit your local gardening center. You can also search the internet for more information. You are sure to find the right information on indoor gardening with the proper research.

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Kitchens, gardens, cosmetics have found immense use of herbs and for many years they have found their use in flavoring, dying, perfume and cosmetics, so much so that some of the herbs holds the power to repel insects, evil and vampires, while others attracted the perfect lover, good luck or bees to pollinate our crops even for curing headaches and burns. And, of course, what would fine dining be without the culinary herbs? So here in this article we give you some tips for herb gardening indoors that will replicate the conditions in an outside garden. For Herb gardening indoors the growing climates need to be pretty much the same as the conditions outside.
Requirements

You have to ensure that you have a sunny windowsill that your herbs will love. Use a container that is at least 6-12 inches deep.

Always procure your herb plants from a good garden center nursery who will have plenty of garden advice to help you with your inside garden.

Apart from the space and herbs you would also require some garden equipment like a small digging garden tool, garden gloves, organic fertilizer and some small gardening containers. You probably already have most of these garden supplies in your garden shed.

Very important factor to be considered is soil and you should only resort to using top grade potting soil with an organic fertilizer mixed in. If you think it is too fine a soil, use a little perlite. Fertilize while potting the herbs and they should be happy until spring. If you have an herb that is not growing vigorously add a little organic liquid fertilizer to the water.

“How to” steps

While selecting a container go for one inch up gardening container. If the plant is in a two inch pot, go to a three inch gardening container. Leave the roots alone and be careful not to bruise the stem.

You should never plant oreganos, mints, lemon balm or bee balm with other plants they tend to “take over” the garden. Pot these herbs in a garden container all their own.

I would advice you to place a small piece of wire screening over the hole to keep it from getting clogged rather than putting garden stones in the bottom of the gardening container as the garden stones take valuable space away from the herb roots.

All herbs must get 4 to 6 hours of sunlight a day on your window sill. If your window doesn’t supply that much light then purchase garden grow lights and hang them three inches above the plants. If you live in a very hot climate shade the herbs during the hottest periods. If you live in a very cold climate keep the herbs away from the cold glass panes.

Never let the herbs dry out but don’t drown them either. Herbs do not like to sit in wet soil. An inexpensive water meter from your garden center nursery will help with this important step in growing your herbs. Always use room temperature water so as not to shock the herb’s roots.

Here are some examples of which herbs to plant together:

* For an Italian selection try Sweet basil, Italian parsley, Oregano, Marjoram and Thyme. * For a lovely scented container use Lavender, Rose scented geranium, Lemon balm, Lemon thyme, and Pineapple sage. * For really great salads try Garlic chives, Rocket, Salad burnet, Parsley, Celery. * And to say “We love French Cooking!” use Tarragon, Chervil, Parsley, Chives and Sage

Give your herbs to grow used to their new conditions. Once you see growth you can start using you herbs. Snip and use your herbs often to encourage them to grow full and bushy.

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If you love fresh spaghetti sauce or pesto, than you’ve just got to have fresh basil and other herbs all year round! Sure, a nice 1 X 4 window garden getting at least 4 or 5 hours of direct light from a sunny window will give you something to pinch here and there. Gardens with mint, rosemary, bay leaf, savory, oregano, chervil, sand thyme are some of the easiest to grow this way.

But what if you need your basil…and lots of it? Basil and cilantro need just a bit more light, and really prefer 8 hours or more of direct light each day. In addition to this if you want fresh pesto, just a pinch here and there is not going to cut it. Here’s what you can do about it.

The goal is a vegatative light cycle (18 hours on), with eight or more direct sun or bright artificial light.
Whenever the light levels are low, give them a boost. Two or three fluorescent lights above your plants will greatly increase their growth and yield. You can grow enough basil for a few servings of pesto now and then, and still have enough always at your fingertips.

Or, with a small metal halide light you would have a larger area with better lighting. You could surely produce an abundance of any herbs you choose for your culinary and aromatic delights. Basil would take well to the bright conditions under a metal halide, as it is a Mediterranean, sun loving herb.

It has been said that some herbs grow better, or should be grown in, poor soil. The oils in herbs make them special. Very fast growing herbs often grow plain leaves and stems more quickly than they can produce tasty essential oils. Often you will hear “basil grows better in poor soil” or “your basil will taste better if you don’t fertalize”. What these people really mean is “don’t grow your basil too fast” (sorry to pick on basil).

When growing in a container, it is a little different. The plant still needs some food to grow, and when that food runs out you will need to fertalize. However, as you will see in the next two sections, this is all taken into consideration together with the growth habbits of your herbs.

To keep initial growth rates in control, I use a soil mix with just enough nutrients. Mix 2 parts sphagnum peat to 1 part perlite, and than add 20 percent worm castings. Adjust the Ph of any mix using sphagnum peat moss by adding 2 teaspoons of hydrated lime for every gallon of soil mix. or You can substitute peat with coconut coir or vermiculite, which do not need Ph adjusting. Finally, I add 1 tablespoon of kelp meal for each gallon of soil to add plant hormones and to give beneficial micro-orgnisms something to feed on. Use this mix whenever you transplant.

If you feel the top of the soil and it is dry, than you need to water. Another way is to pick up the container and check how heavy it is. Your herbs like their soil to drain fast. You need to have containers with holes in the bottom, and you need to add an inch or so of perlite or gravel to the bottom of each container as you transplant. It is best to water thoroughly, but less often. Water the container until some water comes out the bottom.

When the herbs have been in any container for ten days or more, you need to begin feeding them. In a container, the roots are stuck in a small space and quickly mine it free of any nutrients, especially if you were going easy on the nutrients to begin with. Feed with half strength nutrient such as Maxsea 16-16-16 every two weeks.

If you really want to keep your plants healthy, I also recommend 10 ml/gallon Thrive Alive B1 and Maxicrop liquid seaweed in every drop of water you give to your plants. The B1 is vitamins and root hormones, and the seaweed is trace nutrients and plant growth hormones. This will help with essetial oil production. Finally, water basil from around the base…it does not like water on its leaves.

As soon as the herbs have grown enough leaves to be pinched without affecting their growth, you can begin using some of the herbs. This is usually about 4 to 6 weeks, depending on the herbs. Herbs like basil are best when harvested before flowers open. You will get your highest essetial oil levels when you harvest at the end of the dark period, assuming you do not
leave the lights on 24 hours a day.

Hi, my name is Jason. I have ten years experience growing indoors, under lights. No less than two of these years I was using hydroponics methods. It is my goal to improve the results of every organic and hydroponics gardener through accurate, easy to understand information.

For more information on lighting with fluorescents, go to
Fluorescent Grow Lights for Gardening

For more information on lighting with metal halide, go to
Using Metal Halide Grow Lights

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