How to Save Grocery Money Growing Herbs Indoors

You can save money on your grocery bill without compromising on flavor by growing your own herbs indoors during the winter. Mediterranean herbs like rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano and tarragon have a reputation for being hard to grow indoors—but it's easy to keep these delicious culinary herbs alive all winter long if you give them the right amount of light, water and humidity. Here’s what you need to do.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Shallow metal or plastic tray
• Flat pebbles

1. Indoor herbs usually bite the dust for one main reason: too much water. It’s important to remember that many herbs grow wild in the dry, spare soils of the Mediterranean. Get out of the habit of watering your herbs on a schedule, and instead only water them when needed. The best way to find out if they need water is to stick your pointer finger into the soil of each pot. When the soil is dry down to your second knuckle, it’s time to water.

2. Bring each herb's pot over to your sink and pour in a slow, steady stream of water near the base of the plant. Stop watering when you see water running out the bottom of the pot. Allow the pot to drain for 10 to 15 minutes.

3. The air inside homes tends to be dry in winter, especially if the house is heated with forced air. Low humidity causes problems for Mediterranean herbs because they prefer humid air (even though they like dry soil). To provide your herbs with extra humidity, fill a metal or plastic tray with flat pebbles. Set your herbs’ pots directly on top of the pebbles, then fill the tray with water, making sure that the waterline stays below the bottom of the herbs' pots. As the water evaporates, it will humidify the air around your herbs. Refill the water as needed, usually about every 3 days.

4. Keep your herbs in a bright south or west-facing window that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight a day. Or even better, give the herbs an optimal amount of light by placing them under a florescent light for 14 hours a day. Keep the light about 2 inches above the tops of the plants.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to dilute the organic fertilizer to the strength recommended for herbs on the back of the bottle.
• If you use florescent lights, plug them into a timer that turns the lights on for 14 hours and off for 10 hours each day.
• Don’t let the herbs' pots sit in water. The pots can wick up water, resulting in soggy soil and unhappy plants.
• Don’t use a terracotta tray to hold the pebbles. Terracotta absorbs water and the tray could stain the surface it is set on.

Resources

• DigginFood

[vivaherblady]

on 9/15/2009 great article, we live in florida, so we grow outdoors year round

[kcmickelson]

on 9/14/2009 Perfect instructions. Thanks!

[jillmaria]

on 8/25/2009 Thank you for this precise and informative article! I grow herbs outdoors until fall; I then pick and freeze them all. I've killed untold amounts inside - I think this article will help me this winter. 5 stars!!

[amazedanew]

on 3/22/2009 Great tips on growing herbs indoors. Thanks! 5*

[TheSwingKid]

on 1/31/2009 Nice tips!