Growing an Indoor Herb Kitchen

[Darienne]

Amongst the things that I am not, I am not a gardener. In my studio window I now have a large thriving container of ginger (thanks to Andie) and another pot of calamansi seedlings. This is a first.

I have had an outdoor garden in the past...the far past.

How do I go about starting an indoor winter garden for herbs? I'd like, if possible, mint, parsley, thyme...I don't even know what else you can grow inside.

Do I need special lights? I live in Zone 5, in east central Ontario (that sounds SO boring, east central Ontario) but I do have large windows on the east and the south.

Please start me off...

[Toliver]

I'm not a gardener either but I had success with my windowsill planter growing herbs. Luckily, I have a south-facing kitchen window with barely enough windowsill upon which to perch the planter I had bought. I grew the usual suspects...basil, oregano, chives, thyme. They all did quite well. I don't think zone really matters when it comes to indoor plants since your indoor temperature stays within a certain comfortable range. Exposure to the sun and making sure they're watered was all it took for my little garden to prosper.

I'm not a big fan of mint but do recommend you give it its own planter/container. It has a tendancy to take over its growing space which is why it's not recommended for ground planting.

[andiesenji]

To maintain a good growing system during the winter, herbs require a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight (or artificial source of same) and ambient temps at least 65 degrees F.

You have to be sure to pinch back the top growth of the leaved herbs to promote bushier growth - otherwise you get spindly tall growth that doesn't produce enough leaves.

This includes thyme, basil, sage, mint, and so on. With chives, instead of having one clump, I divide them into several clumps, at least an inch in diameter, in a long planter and once they have reached a size suitable for "harvest" start cutting them down to within an inch of the base and progress along the row as needed. This way the first clump cut begins regrowing immediately and they look much neater than a large clump with chunks cut out of it.

If you have room, you can also grow shallots in a fairly shallow planter. They actually grow above ground so only the base end needs to be planted - the root structure is very shallow. I plant them in planter mix that is covered with fine pea gravel which keeps the dirt away from the growing baby shallots and also keeps the soil from drying out too rapidly.

There are several excellent books on indoor herb gardening - don't forget that one can also put hooks into the top frame of a window for hanging containers. These are especially good for the "trailing" herbs such as thyme.

[Darienne]

Thank you Toliver and Andie for the replies.

My kitchen faces north, but my studio faces south, so the studio will be the garden. And will plant the mint...I LOVE MINT...separately.

I never thought about hanging plants...or hanging shelves of plants. Didn't know that thyme trailed.

Will get out an 'Indoor gardens for dummies' this week from the town library.