At Ambius we are firm believers in the benefits of plants, especially indoor plants. This extends to edible plants, which is why we thought we’d take this opportunity to ask our colleagues, Liana van Staden and Stella Coutinho (our Ambius Sales Managers), to share their favourite 5 herbs to grow indoors.
According to Liana, a sunny windowsill is all you need for a thriving indoor herb garden. Many of her go-to herbs like basil, oregano and parsley thrive indoors. By keeping her herb harvest going all winter long she can flavour her favourite soups, veggies, roasts, and more with a never-ending supply of fresh-picked leaves.
Here are our top 5 herbs to grow indoors:
1. Basil
You can either start your basil from seeds, or from seedlings (if you’re in more of a hurry). Basil likes lots of sun and warmth so place your pots in a north-facing window if at all possible, and be sure to water basil plants regularly. The soil should stay moist but not drenched.
2. Chives
This onion-y herb also does nicely in a container that gets full sun. If you have one already in your garden, you can move it inside at the end of the growing season. Dig up a clump from your herb bed and replant it in a pot. Leave the pot outside until the leaves die back. In early winter, move the pot to your coolest indoor spot for a few days. Then place it in your brightest window.
3. Oregano
Like other groundcovers, this Mediterranean herb grows low and tends to spread. Your best bet is to start with a tip that has been cut from an outdoor oregano plant. Once you’ve planted the tip in a pot, place it in a north-facing window. Go easy on the watering though — oregano doesn’t need as much water as basil, so wait until the soil feels dry to the touch.
4. Sage
Take a tip that was cut from an outdoor sage plant to start an indoor plant. Sage tolerates dry, indoor air well, but it needs the strong sun from a north-facing window. You’ll be rewarded with gorgeous silver foliage and a nice scent, plus Stella’s favourite – browned sage butter ravioli!
5. Parsley
Skip the wilted parsley at the shops and grow your own at home instead – flat leaf or curly. Start it from from seeds or seedlings, or even dig up a clump from your garden at the end of the season. Parsley likes full sun, but will grow also grow in an east or west-facing window – just more slowly.
Of course, you don’t have to go with our 5 favourites listed here. Many herbs are fairly easy to grow, and your choice should ultimately be made based on which herbs you most like to use in your cooking.
In addition to the 5 mentioned above, the other most popular culinary herbs to grow indoors are dill, mint, thyme, lavender and rosemary.
If you love Thai curries like Liana, then having continuous access to fresh coriander might elevate your home-made meals and reduce your spend at Simply Asia!
Top tips for growing herbs indoors:
Our plant experts at Ambius offer their top tips for growing indoor herbs. As a general rule of (green) thumb, most edible plants love the sun – so place your herbs in a spot that gets at least six hours of sun daily. Having said that, here are a few other tips from our team in order to get the best from your indoor herb garden:
1. Location and light
The ideal location for most herbs indoors is near a north facing window where herbs will get a lot of light over the course of the day. This makes windowsill planters popular, but if you have a sunny spot but don’t have much horizontal space, your herb garden could go vertical with a stackable planter tower.
2. Soil quality for indoor herbs
The most important factor for healthy herbs is good quality soil. Cheap soil quickly becomes compacted, making it difficult for plant roots to grow freely.
Because container plants have no other way to get nutrients from their environment, it’s critical to use a good quality potting soil. Plants in containers also need to be fed more often as well.
3. Watering
More indoor plants die from overwatering than underwatering! (This is a problem we often have with office plants, as enthusiastic colleagues like to water them frequently. Rather leave it to the experts at Ambius.)
Herbs generally are very hardy and some, like oregano, rosemary, and lavender, are so drought-tolerant they practically thrive on neglect.
However, tender leafy herbs like basil and coriander wilt more quickly than their woody cousins, and herbs grown in containers need to be watered more frequently than those planted in the ground.
4. Adequate drainage
Make sure your herbs are draining well – especially herbs that are originally from rocky hillsides in the Mediterranean (such as lavender, rosemary and oregano).
Containers should have drainage holes at the bottom, but don’t add rocks to the bottom – they don’t actually improve drainage and they can cause water to pool just above the rock layer and rot your herb’s roots.
5. Harvest indoor herbs regularly
And finally, harvesting your herbs frequently keeps them healthy. By “pinching out” sprigs of basil and parsley from the top down you will encourage bushy growth.
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