Watching your plants grow from tiny starts to full grown plants , the aroma flowing through your kitchen… being able to clip off fresh herbs for your recipes whenever you want. It is definitely worth the time and effort but if your plants don’t seem to be growing or living up to your expectations, it can be very disappointing. Luckily, there are things you can do to keep yourself from being disappointed by your herbs!
1. Always read up on the herbs you want to grow. Figure out how much sun they need, how big they get, and all of that. You want to try your best to grow them in their ideal conditions for best results.
2. When growing your plants indoors, they will start to gravitate towards the window. Turn your plants every few days to keep them full and pushy instead of one sided. You can also use a grow light to keep this from happening.
3. Think about the size of your plant when choosing a pot or planter. Big plants need big pots or they won’t have enough room for their roots. Bigger plants in small planters also need to be watered more often and won’t flourish as much as a plant in a properly sized container.
4. Some herbs are going to grow best outside. A window box outside your kitchen window is a great option for this provided the window gets enough sun. Otherwise you will want to make sure to harvest herbs from outside plants BEFORE you start cooking.
5. It is a good idea to give your plants some fertilizer or compost tea off and on to keep them healthy. Since you continually harvest them, they need lots of energy to keep producing more foliage.
6. Think about how you want to use and harvest your plants. Do you want to dry some of your herbs? Maybe freeze them? When you plan recipes, think of ways to incorporate your fresh herbs. Half the fun is cooking all kinds of yummy foods using what you have grown!
7. Don’t let your herbs flower and go to seed too early. Once they go to seed they stop producing as much. When it comes to plants, going to seed usually indicates the end of the plant’s life cycle. Pinch off flower buds when you see them to keep your herbs producing longer. If the buds keep growing back, you can also cut off the whole stem.
Once you understand what your herbs need, it will be easy to grow your own delicious garden. It is just a matter of figuring out what your plants need and making sure they get it!
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