If you enjoy cooking and creating dishes using herbs, then you should consider growing your own herbs in a windowsill. A question I am asked frequently is how to start a windowsill herb garden. While it may seem overwhelming, its actually quite simple!
Pots for your windowsill herbs should be the right size and potting soil should be compost. Choose your culinary herbs first, and then choose your window clippings or seeds. Then you can decide which potting soil you want to use for your windowsill herb garden. It’s best to have one type of potting soil for all your plants so they are all uniform. You can also use a windowsill planter for your windowsill herbs but make sure you place the potting soil inside of it first to allow for air circulation.
Which Herbs Should I Use?
If you are just getting started, you may want to start with one or two herbs. If you’re going to use chives for example, I would suggest picking chives that are small bulbs. Even if the flowers are huge in size, you will be able to pinch off the majority of them before the leaves get too big. Make sure to place them in a larger pot as soon as they are established. You want to take the biggest pots you can find so they don’t crowd out other herbs. You can also use a windowsill herb garden container for this purpose.
Most people will opt to grow mint in their home at the same time as chives. Mint is very easy to care for. Make sure that the herbs are placed in a sunny location and keep them watered often. When the leaves are brittle, you can place them in a refrigerator for a few days and then report them. Once they are happy indoors, you can plant them in your kitchen. Just be aware that mint leaves can stain your clothing if consumed.
Rosemary and Thyme are both perennial herbs that are great for a windowsill herb garden. Both of these herbs love lots of sun and should be planted in large pots. In fact, I recommend planting thyme in a larger pot that has room for it to spread out. Keep the thyme leaves from touching each other to prevent a nasty smelling powder in your home.
When choosing what vegetables you are going to grow, think about whether you live in a dry or wet climate. For example, tomatoes need to be replanted each year. Windowsill herb plants need plenty of sun so keep this in mind when choosing which ones you want to place indoors.
Best Planters for Windowsill Gardens:
When choosing windowsill planters, make sure they are at least six inches wide. This will allow for good drainage. Another thing to consider is how much room you have outdoors. If you have a large yard, you might need to consider something larger than six inches wide in order to fit your garden in.
Check out Todd’s Seeds Youtube page for more home gardening tips!