Sunday, December 6, 2009

The Best Herbs For Growing Inside Your Home

There are a number of herbs that do quite well growing inside a home and there are a number of them that really do much better being grown outdoors. So in this article we will examine the characteristics of the best herbs for growing indoors. That way you'll have a better understanding of what you want to grow before you head to the nursery or home center.

Herbs for growing in your home must meet a few basic criteria. First, they should be plants that you can easily control their size. For instance, Rosemary tends to become a large bush quite quickly, so unless you have a substantial amount of space and a large pot, it might over take your kitchen in a hurry. Other plants like sage and thyme do quite well in pots and are easy to keep trimmed back to a manageable size.

Next, herbs for growing inside your home should be those that don't require full sunlight. Plants that require partial shade can do well inside homes. If you have a window sill or growing window where you can set your pots, these plants should do well. However, if you don't it doesn't mean that you can't grow herbs in your home. It just means that you need to supplement your plants light with a grow light. While some grow lights can be very expensive, a halogen light bulb will do just as well and is available for a low cost at most discount stores and home centers.

When planting herbs for growing inside your home, you need to be sure that they are planted in high quality potting soil. This is not the time to skimp on a cheap soil. The soil should drain well to avoid drowning your tender herbs. Many of the premium brands of soil contain plant food, fertilizer and other beneficial ingredients to help plants grow well and maintain the ideal pH.

Planting herbs for growing in pots in your home should be done with careful thought toward their planting and watering conditions. Some plants such as Marjoram, Oregano and Thyme need to become completely dry between watering to avoid over watering them. These herbs do best in a Mediterranean climate, so somewhere warmer and dryer is better for them. In the same respect, herbs like Mint and Rosemary like moister conditions and shouldn't be allowed to dry out.

So what are the best herbs for growing inside your home? Well the answer is ANY herbs can be grown inside as long as you take care to give your plants all the essential things that they need. Herb plants do a great job of not only livening up your home and providing cleaner air, as all plants do, they do double duty of adding great fragrance and flavor to meals as well. So before you think it's too much work to grow herbs indoors, take some of these conditions into account and then choose a few herbs to give it a try. You won't be sorry.

Pat McTigue is an herb garden enthusiast. For great information on herbs for growing indoors, visit http://topherbgardensecrets.com/.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Patrick_E_McTigue

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