Indoor Gardening: Types of Herbs To Grow Indoors

Choosing the correct herbs to grow indoors is one of the key factors to help your indoor gardening thrive. The following are some of the most common herbs for an indoor herb garden.

• Thyme: Thrives well in the dry, indoor air but needs a lot of sunlight
• Parsley: A slow grower but needs very little sunlight
• Lemongrass: Does not need any soil to grow. A long stem in a few inches of water is enough for it.
• Oregano: Needs a lot of light but has a variety of uses.
• Rosemary: Needs ample sunlight and is sensitive to overwatering.
• Basil: One of the hardest to grow indoors but thrives well in summer.
• Bay: Grows well indoors yearlong. Needs a lot of air circulation.

Grow Herbs Indoors

Planting herbs inside the house is a little different from growing herbs outdoors. As the plants need to survive in a completely different environment, certain changes must be made to help it blossom in an indoor herb garden.

• Start at your local gardening store by picking out the best seeds to grow herbs indoors. You must choose the correct kind of herb keeping in mind the amount of sunlight your house receives and the indoor herb garden temperature.

• Next you should collect some good quality soil and mix it with sand and a little lime. Planting herbs in a container with good soil drainage is vital. Putting some gravel under the soil will ensure correct drainage.

• Placement of the plant in areas with appropriate amount of sunlight is very important for growing herbs indoors.

• Watering the plants in your indoor herb garden regularly will ensure continuous growth.

Indoor Gardening: Care While You Grow Herbs Indoors

As part of the indoor gardening process, it is important that you care for your herbs adequately. After planting herbs in your indoor herb garden, you must make sure it is cared for properly to help it flourish for a long time.

• While most plants require ample sunlight, some which require less must avoid over lighting.
• Also, when growing herbs indoors, overwatering your plants can cause them to die early.
• Watch out for the moisture level of the soil and yellowing of leaves to avoid overwatering issues.

Growing herbs indoors will make your house smell nice always and provide you with fresh herbs for cooking at all times. With little or no gardening skills, you can now grow your own herbs inside the house. Planting herbs indoors can be very beneficial during those cold winter months when gardening outside seems impossible. Growing herbs in your own indoor herb garden can thus be very convenient and extremely rewarding.

Reference:

1. Growing Herbs in The Home Garden – West Virginia University Extension
2. Indoor Herb Garden – Colorado State University Extension

How to Grow Watercress In Water

Contrary to popular opinion, one does not need a flowing stream for growing watercress and watercress lettuce can be grown if you want to conserve water. It can be easily grown indoors a few weeks before the last frost, by placing the watercress seeds on a moist paper towel that has been previously soaked in water and now placed in a shallow bowl, with about a quarter inch of standing water. An easier method of germinating watercress seeds is to use stem cuttings and placing them in a bucket of water or a black polythene bag. To grow watercress in this way, the water should be changed everyday as stagnant water spells death for the watercress seeds. The seeds germinate 7-10 days later.

Planting Watercress Lettuce

Once the watercress seeds have germinated, they should be planted in individual pots. After 3 weeks the watercress lettuce seeds may be transplanted in the soil. The fine and delicate roots must be carefully handled while planting watercress in the soil after the season of frost. The watercress plant should be kept in damp soil and in the shade. Moist soil, limestone and organic compost should be used to grow watercress. The challenge is in keeping the plant in damp, but not soaked soil. Growing watercress stems should be kept about 8″-10″ apart from each other.

Harvesting Watercress Lettuce

The growing watercress lettuce sends runners from the mother plant and once they have grown they can be harvested. The older watercress should be cut back to about 10 cm when it will start sprouting new leaves. When pruned in late spring, the watercress plant will be ready for a second round of harvest in the fall. The tastiest watercress leaves are found in spring and fall, the hot summer reducing the plant’s beneficiary nature. Harvesting should be carried out before the flowers bloom. Leaves gathered can be refrigerated for about a week.

Watercress Lettuce: Pests and Diseases

Watercress planters can breathe easy as this plant is free of most pests and diseases. However, flea beetles or mustard beetles may afflict the growing watercress plant. They can be removed by flooding the cropping beds for about 2 hours.

Why Grow Watercress

Growing watercress is fairly uncomplicated for a gardener because you do not require much technical gardening knowledge on how to grow watercress, much the same as growing basil. In addition to the ease of growing watercress, the plant also serves some other purposes such as:

• Watercress lettuce, cut into small pieces may be added in salads and sandwiches to provide a delicious flavor.
• Watercress soup treats mouth blisters, swollen gums, foul teeth and bad breath.
• Watercress lettuce is loaded with vitamins and low in calories, making it a good healthy perennial.
• Phytochemicals and antioxidants in watercress fight cancer and protect the immune system.

Watercress, known for its peppery taste is a ‘superfood’ because of its high nutrient properties. While Persians fed it to their children to increase their strength and stature, it is known to cure coughs, colds and even help in the metabolic processes of the body.

Reference:

1. Growing Watercress – Simple Gifts Farm

Right Weather And Soil For Growing Basil

Basil plants, members of the mint family require 6-8 hours of sunlight daily. They can be grown outdoors once the daytime temperatures are in the 70s°F and night temperatures are above 50°F.  While planting basil one should remember it is sensitive to frost and hence it should be sown in late March, after all danger of frost has passed. Growing basil indoors can happen at any time of the year, provided the basil plants receive adequate natural or artificial light.

To grow basil, the soil must be moist, water retentive and with good air circulation. The pH of the soil should be at least 6.0 and below 7.5 and it can be maintained by using an organic fertilizer. While growing basil plants in pots, adequate drainage should be allowed to take place from the base of the pot.

Care For Growing Basil Plants

Sow the basil seeds thinly, cover with compost and water regularly, ensuring water reaches the base of the growing basil plants. While growing basil, the soil should be soggy but excess water should be drained off. How to plant basil that receives adequate moisture and sunlight will depend on how well the basil plants are spread out as they generally bush out. Basil seeds germinate in about 1-2 weeks time. Harvest time is approximately 8-9 weeks from sowing. When the growing basil plants reach 6″ in height, the top sets of leaves should be pinched off. This ensures the longevity of the basil plants. Any flowers that appear should also be pinched out so that leaf production is favored.

How To Plant Basil Free Of Pests

While growing basil indoors one should look out for aphids, which can be rinsed off with a garden hose or controlled better with insecticidal soap. Beetles and slugs commonly affect growing basil plants outdoors, tearing holes in leaves. They should be handpicked and destroyed. Basil plants grown in contaminated soil, equipment or seed may suffer from fusarium wilt. Sudden wilting and leaf drop are the symptoms experienced. Damping off is another disease caused by high humidity and poor air circulation. These infected plants must be immediately removed.

Using The Growing Basil Plants

Basil leaves can be pinched out of the growing basil plants without affecting the plant in any way. Avoid cutting whole stems. These leaves, once dried can be frozen and stored for a few weeks. Basil is usually added at the end of cooking for its fresh taste and color. It is also used fresh in sandwiches, salads and pasta.

With basil being not only a great herb to flavor food with but also a blood pressure reducing agent, growing basil is all the more necessary for its many purposes. Basil plants are a great addition for a herb garden at home.

References:

1. Brilliant Basil – Backyard Gardener