Light & Water
How to Water Indoor Herbs: When and How Much
A reliable way to water herbs in pots: check the potting mix with a finger, feel the weight of the pot, then water until it runs from the drainage hole and empty the saucer.
Guides
30 guides published
Light & Water
How Much Light Do Indoor Herbs Need?
Find out how much light indoor herbs commonly need, which windows give the most, how to check a spot with the hand-shadow test and which herbs cope with moderate light.
Indoor Herb Gardening Basics
Best Herbs to Grow Indoors: 10 Good Choices for Beginners
Ten herbs worth trying on a windowsill, grouped by the light and moisture each one asks for, with a comparison table and advice on which herbs can share a pot.
Indoor Herb Gardening Basics
Indoor Herb Gardening for Beginners: A Simple Starting Guide
A plain starting guide to growing herbs indoors: the four basics that decide most outcomes, whether to begin with seed or a young plant, how many herbs to start with and what to realistically expect.
Seasonal Indoor Gardening
Bringing Outdoor Herbs Indoors for Winter
Which garden and balcony herbs are worth moving inside for winter, when to start, and the steps to pot up, check for pests and ease them into lower light.
Seasonal Indoor Gardening
Growing Herbs Indoors in Winter: Light, Water and Windows
Why windowsill herbs slow down in winter and how to adjust light, watering, position, harvesting and feeding to keep them healthy until spring.
Herb Problems
Pests on Indoor Herbs: What to Look For and Gentle First Steps
How to recognize aphids, spider mites, whiteflies and fungus gnats on kitchen herbs, and the physical first steps to take: isolate, rinse, pinch and prune.
Herb Problems
Indoor Herb Problems: A Symptom-by-Symptom Guide
A symptom table for struggling indoor herbs, with the common possible causes of each and a short checking routine to work out which one applies.
Indoor Herb Gardening Basics
Indoor Herb Gardening Mistakes: 9 Common Beginner Errors
Nine common beginner errors with indoor herbs, from dim shelves and calendar watering to crowded store-bought pots, with what to do instead for each.
Herb Harvesting
Herbs Bolting: Why Herbs Flower and What to Do
Why basil, cilantro and other herbs suddenly shoot up and flower, what triggers it in each herb, and which steps delay it and which do not.
Herb Harvesting
How to Prune Basil So It Grows Bushy
The one cut that turns a tall, single-stemmed basil into a bushy plant: where the node is, how far above it to cut, how much to take, and what to do about flower buds.
Herb Harvesting
How to Harvest Herbs Without Harming the Plant
Where to cut each type of herb and how much to take at once, so that basil, chives, parsley, thyme and the rest keep regrowing after every harvest.
Indoor Herb Gardening Basics
Grocery Store Herb Plants: How to Keep Them Growing
Why supermarket herb pots collapse so quickly at home, and a simple way to split one crowded pot into several that keep producing leaves for much longer.
Pots & Soil
How to Repot Herbs Step by Step
The signs that a potted herb has outgrown its container, how to choose the next pot size, and a clear step-by-step method for repotting, plus when to divide or replace the plant instead.
Starting Herbs
Transplanting Herb Seedlings: When and How to Pot Them On
How to tell when herb seedlings are ready to move, the gentle step-by-step way to pot them on, which herbs dislike being disturbed, and how to look after them for the first few days.
Starting Herbs
Herb Seed Germination: How Long Each Herb Takes
Typical sprouting ranges for nine kitchen herbs in one table, why the times differ so much, what keeps a pot toward the quick end, and how to decide when a bare pot should be sown again.