How to keep herbs going indoors all year

Keeping herbs going indoors

Fresh herbs on the bench are one of those small things that changes how you cook, and a pot of basil or parsley within reach means you actually use it instead of buying a bunch and throwing half of it out. You do not need a greenhouse and you do not need much room. What you do need is the right window and a bit of restraint with the watering can, and most indoor herb pots that die are killed by too much attention rather than too little.

Which window, and this is where most guides get it backwards

Most herbs want about 5 to 6 hours of direct light a day. In Australia that means a north-facing window is your best one, because north is the side the sun comes round to, and an east-facing window is the next best for the gentler morning light that suits basil and parsley. A south-facing window here gets almost no direct sun at all, so a plant on that sill will stretch, go pale and give you very little.

Plenty of herb advice online was written in the northern hemisphere where that is flipped exactly around, and following it will land your basil on the darkest sill in the house. Work out which way your windows face before you decide anything else.

Herbs that put up with being inside

Not all of them enjoy it. Coriander sulks indoors and bolts at the first excuse, so it is better off outside in a cool spot. These are the reliable ones:

  • Basil. Wants warmth and hates a cold draught, so keep it off a windowsill that gets cold overnight in winter.
  • Mint. Close to unkillable, and it wants its own pot because it will strangle anything planted with it.
  • Thyme. Low maintenance, wants the sunniest spot you have and dislikes wet feet.
  • Chives. Easy, slow, and they come back after every haircut.
  • Parsley. Slow to germinate, then good for months once it is up.
  • Rosemary. Fragrant and fussy about drainage, so a terracotta pot suits it better than plastic.

The pot decides more than you would think

Drainage holes are the non-negotiable bit. If the pot you like has none, grow in a plain pot that does and sit it inside the pretty one, then tip the excess out afterwards.

Terracotta breathes and dries out faster, which suits rosemary and thyme. Plastic and glazed ceramic hold moisture longer, which suits basil, mint and parsley. Matching the pot to the herb is a small thing that quietly fixes half the watering problems before they start.

Water less than you want to

Overwatering is what kills indoor herbs and it kills them slowly enough that nobody blames the watering. Put a finger in the mix, and if the top layer is dry then water, and if it is still damp then leave it another day. Water until it runs out the bottom and then empty the saucer, because a pot standing in water is a pot with rotting roots in a fortnight.

Basil in particular resents water sitting on its leaves, so watering from below by standing the pot in a saucer of water for a few minutes is a good habit with that one.

Feed lightly

Herbs in small pots do not want much. A diluted liquid feed every 4 to 6 weeks keeps them going, and a seaweed based tonic is a gentle option that will not push the soft floppy growth a strong fertiliser causes. More food does not mean more flavour, and in most herbs it means less.

Pick it properly and it keeps going

Harvesting is what keeps a herb plant productive, so the pot you never touch is the pot that goes leggy and gives up. Snip from the top rather than stripping the lower leaves, and never take more than about a third of the plant in one go.

With basil, pinch the growing tips out before it flowers. Once a basil plant sets flowers it puts its energy into seed and the leaves go small and bitter, so that pinch is the whole difference between a plant that lasts a season and one that lasts a month.

Start new plants from cuttings

Basil, mint, rosemary and oregano will all strike from a cutting in a glass of water on the windowsill. Take a stem about 10cm long, strip the lower leaves off, and change the water every few days. Basil and mint usually root inside a week or two and rosemary takes longer, and once the roots are a few centimetres long they go into a pot of mix.

It is the cheapest way to keep a supply going, because a plant that is starting to look tired has already given you its replacement.

When you have more than you can use

Hang small bundles upside down somewhere dry and airy to dry them, or chop them into an ice cube tray with a drizzle of olive oil and freeze. Frozen herbs go straight into whatever is on the stove and they hold their flavour far better than dried ones do for the soft-leaved herbs like basil and parsley.

Shop related products

Did you know we keep pots and saucers in the shop from 200mm through to 500mm, and they are not all listed online. Give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what is on the shelf.

The rest of the range is in our garden centre.

Keep reading

Pinching the basil is the one job I never remember, which is why I still end up buying parsley at the shops like everybody else.

Candeece
Strathalbyn H Hardware

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