November 13, 2023

How to Grow an Indoor Herb Garden

About Brookdale Senior Living

Brookdale Senior Living offers multiple care levels for seniors in more than 600 communities nationwide. Brookdale helps you find the right care plan for yourself or your loved one. With amenities such as transportation services, salons and private dining rooms and activities such as gardening, fitness classes and trivia nights Brookdale caters to a wide range of interests and needs.

Having limited outdoor space doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the smells and flavors of fresh herbs and the satisfaction of growing them yourself! You don’t need a lot of room or gardening experience to keep most herbs happy, so they can be the perfect year-round addition to your kitchen.

Choose Plants That Will Thrive

Almost any plant can be grown indoors if you give it the right conditions, but some are easier to grow and care for than others. These are some common herbs that tend to fare well inside:

Parsley
Rosemary
Cilantro
Chives
Thyme
Basil
Sage
Oregano
Spearmint
Lemon balm

Pick a Sunny Spot (Or Create Your Own)

When you’re growing herbs inside, you’ll want to be strategic about where you place them. Most herbs do well with at least 6 hours of sunlight per day. If you have a south-facing window in your kitchen, you’re in luck! South windows get the most continuous light throughout the day, and plants tend to do well there.

If you have various window locations and light sources to choose from, you can go the extra mile and place your woody herbs — like rosemary, sage and thyme — in a hot zone, and give the cooler places to your soft herbs — like parsley, cilantro and mint.

If you don’t have an ideal windowsill, you can convert a corner into a “sunny spot” with a grow light. Grow lights enable you to put your plants anywhere you want! Just make a point to temporarily move them next to a window or outdoors every now and then, as some sunlight is generally best for plant growth.

Give Your Plants Good Drainage

No herb likes to grow in soggy, poorly drained soil. Making sure your plants have good drainage will help protect them from root rot.

If you’re starting herbs from seeds, sow them in shallow trays filled with lightweight seed starting mix, or plant them directly in the pots they’ll grow into. Mature herbs should be transferred into containers that have ample holes for drainage and room for the roots to spread out as the plants continue to grow.

Terra-cotta pots are a great container choice, as their porous texture allows for good airflow and moisture-wicking.

Harvest Just a Little at a Time

When it’s time to use your herbs, be mindful of how much you cut off! Regular pruning encourages new growth and helps prevent legginess (growing tall without many leaves), while too much pruning can stress or even kill the plant. A good rule of thumb is to take only one-third of the plant or less each time you harvest.

Watch for Signs of Stress

Once your indoor herb garden is established, it’s time to just enjoy it and care for it as needed! Even if you aren’t blessed with a green thumb, plants are generally pretty good at telling you what they need, if you know what to look for.

These are some common signs of plant stress:

Overwatering: Overwatered plants may develop yellow or brown droopy leaves. The soil will likely feel damp and soft to the touch.
Underwatering: Underwatered plants may develop yellow or brown crispy leaves. The soil will typically feel dry and hard to the touch.
Becoming root-bound: It may be time to repot your herbs if they start wilting quickly despite regular watering, developing yellow or brown leaves near the base of the plant and/or display roots beginning to grow through the drainage holes.

If your plants get more light on one side than the other, rotate them occasionally when watering to encourage even sun exposure and more-symmetrical growth.

When in Doubt, Utilize Technology

Not confident that you’ll remember to water the right amount or give your plants ideal lighting conditions? Don’t let that stop you from trying! You can find a vast selection of modern self-watering and self-lighting grow kits online.

Advanced planter options exist to navigate every gardening pitfall, whether it’s a simple self-watering pot, or a full smart garden with automated lighting, water and soil optimizers to help herbs grow faster.

You can also download plant-watering apps that set your plant care schedule, send you reminders and give you helpful tips for meeting your plants’ unique needs.

With helpful technology like this, creating your own indoor herb garden is easier and more accessible than ever.

Committed to Growth

Brookdale’s culture thrives on the passions and hobbies of our people, and gardening is something our residents love! If indoor plants pique your interest, check out this article on how to properly care for orchids, or try one of these other windowsill gardening ideas.