How to Grow French Fine Herbs Indoors

If your appetite for French food using “fine herbs” dies a little every time you price the cost of fresh herbs, then you should think about raising a French fine herb garden indoors. The “fine herbs” are used in most French cooking and don’t take a lot of gardening knowledge to grow. You may find that you enjoy it so much that you will span out and raise other herbs.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pots
• Potting soil that contains perlite or vermiculite
• Plastic wrap
• Toothpicks
• A sunny window or grow lights
• Seeds or small plants

1. Know that fine herbs used in French cooking are parsley, chervil, chives and tarragon. They are usually put in a cheesecloth bag and put into the dish while it is cooking. Before the dish is served the bag is removed.

2. Purchase clay pots with drainage or a long window pot to grow the French "fine herbs." While you are at the garden supply area, see if they can recommend specific varieties that work best for indoor growing.

3. Understand that most herbs do not like excessively rich soils and actually tend to thrive in poorer soils. Don’t fertilize herbs when growing them indoors.

4. Start your plants from seed or purchase small plants. French tarragon is impossible to grow from seed since it reverts back to Russian tarragon, but must be started from cuttings or small plants. The other 3 plants can easily be started from seed.

5. Fill the containers with potting soil and add perlite or vermiculite if the soil contains none. The vermiculite and perlite both aid in the movement and retention of the water.

6. Plant the seeds and cover lightly with plastic wrap to retain moisture. Once seedlings appear tent the plastic with a few toothpicks to give room for growth. Remove the covering once the plants are about 1 to 1 1/2 inches tall.

7. Thin the small plants to the appropriate spacing. If you have started the plants from cuttings or small plants, simply place in the pot and give the plant enough time to get acclimated and grow before cutting.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don’t have a good sunny window, an inexpensive solution is a shoplight and a grow bulb above the plants. Give the plants between 10 to 12 hours of sunlight. You can purchase an inexpensive timer and set the hours for the best growing conditions.
• Pinch off the tops slightly to encourage bushiness. If this isn’t done the plants tend to become leggy and limit your harvest.
• French Tarragon and Chives like it a little cooler for part of their growth cycle. If their growth slows dramatically by the second season, put them in the refrigerator or freezer for a couple of months. It is more like their natural environment and they will return far more robust. Try staggering planting of these 2 by several months to have a continuous supply of herbs.
• Harvest a small amount at a time. Cut 2 to 4 inch pieces from the bushier parts.
• You need to have adequate amounts of water to grow the French "fine herbs" indoors, but beware of overwatering.

[bizewriter]

on 2/14/2008 I'm saving this as a favorite...great information!

[julz49221]

on 2/2/2008 I have always wanted to do this, now I know. Thanks.