How to Grow Herbs Using Indoor Lighting

Parsley herbs grow well under indoor lights.

Herbs provide seasoning for food or the basis for a relaxing cup of tea. When grown indoors, the foliage also provides greenery to the home. While a sunny window is often chosen as the best spot to grow herbs, you can also grow these plants under limited light with the help of indoor artificial lighting. Even if you have a suitable window, low sun conditions in winter may require supplemental lighting for the herb garden to thrive.

Things You'll Need

• Pots
• Potting soil
• 40-watt lights

Instructions

1. Fill 5- to 6-inch diameter pots with potting soil. Use pots that have at least one drainage hole in the bottom.

2. Plant one herb plant per pot. Set the herb in the soil so it is at the same depth in the new pot as it was in its nursery pot.

3. Set the herb pots underneath two 40-watt, cool-white fluorescent lightbulbs. Use fluorescent tubes instead of bulbs if you are growing more than two or three pots of herbs, as tubes provide a longer light surface. Place the pots so the tops of the herb plants sit 6 to 12 inches beneath the lightbulb.

4. Leave the lights on for 14 to 16 hours a day. Herbs require approximately twice as much artificial indoor light as they do sunlight. Turn the lights off at night.

5. Water the herbs when the top inch of soil begins to feel dry to the touch. Avoid over-watering, as soggy soil and limited sunlight make herbs more prone to mildew.

Tips & Warnings

• Plug the lights into an automatic timer so you do not have to remember to turn them on and off each day.

• Only use fluorescent lights. Incandescent bulbs produce heat that may burn the herbs.

References

• Penn State Extension: Growing Herbs Indoors
• University of Vermont Extension: Indoor Lighting for Plants