So you want to grow some herbs? If you’ve never grown herbs before, it can be a bit intimidating. But what first-time herb growers usually don’t realize is growing herbs is really pretty easy, once you know the basics.
We’ve got 5 tips for you to help keep your herbs alive.
Know your herbs.
Or at least read up a tiny bit on the herbs you want to grow. Different herbs have different personalities and needs, kind of like people. Easy, beginner herbs? Think basil, chives, rosemary, mint. Maybe you are growing herbs for the health benefits. Want relaxation? Try rosemary. Or maybe you want herbs solely for taste, like basil on a pizza or mint in ice water. Whichever your reason might be, take a few minutes to learn about the herbs you are going to grow.
Light equals life.
Have abundant, natural light. You can’t go wrong with natural light and lots of it. A good start is choosing a place in your home that gets the most light. Just how much light are we talking about? At least 6 hours each day is the recommended dose. (Hint: Choose a spot in your home facing south). Having a nice amount of light will really make this easier for both you and your herbs.
Hydration.
For this part, think almost the opposite of what we said for lighting. While herbs do need water, there is such thing as way too much of it.
How do you know how much water to give them? Place your finger in the soil and see how it feels. If the soil is dry, add some water. If the soil is still moist, give it another day or two and check again.
Drainage.
Use a pot with a few holes in the bottom to help the water drain out. Place a tray underneath to catch the water. Make sure to pour out the water regularly though, to avoid rotting the root. Herbs don’t like to sit in their water for too long.
Flower.
See a flower growing out of the herb? Cut it off. Growing a flower takes up way too much energy for the herbs and will ruin the taste of the leaves. Think of it as this: Your herb needs to focus its attention on growing roots and leaves, not on seeds and flowering.
How We Do It:
At Urban Leaf, our plants water themselves out of the bottle, for up to a month at a time. The biggest choice you have to make with our window sill gardening system is which color bottle you want to use (we highly recommend green or brown).
All you have to do is select the place in your home that gets plenty of light, fill the bottle with water, sprinkle the seeds, and voila! Your garden will begin to grow.
Curious to learn more and start your own herb garden? Check out our shop here.
I have a few issues so far.
1. I can’t see through the germination sticker to see if seeds sprouted. I lifted it after about 2 days and saw a sprout so I took the sticker off.
2. I don’t think I get full sun inside for 6 hours so I put it outside in full sun today for a few hours. Ants got in and now the microscopic sprouts look dead. Am I not supposed to put it outside?
3. Now I guess you’re going to sell me a grow lamp. Your product is too expensive if I need a grow lamp.
Hi Karen, thanks for reaching out and your great questions. Let me tackle them one at a time:
1) The stickers are perfectly clear, so if you can’t see through them you must have a lot of condensation. That normally happens when they’ve very warm. Try a slightly cooler environment to start with.
2) It’s important to remember that we’re dealing with living organisms here, and just like humans or animals they are very fragile when young. You wouldn’t expose a baby to extreme heat or cold and expect it to be ok, and a baby plant is no different. Plants ‘eat’ light. When they are young they don’t need a whole lot of it, but as they grow and mature they will need more of it. Without enough light you cannot expect them to grow up into full and healthy adult plants.
3) The edible plants we offer grow quickly (compared to most plants) and therefore their energy (light) requirements are higher. There’s really not a lot that we or anyone else can do about this. It’s just biology. So whether you bought our product, someone elses’, or just had a pot and soil the fact that your edible plants need a lot of light does not change.
There are certainly cheaper ways to grow plants than our product, and if you’d prefer to just use a pot and soil that’s definitely an option. The main benefit of our product is the water – in that it does it all by itself for up to a month at a time. If cost is important to you, and you are ok with watering every day and have a way to look after them when you go on vacation, then this may be a better option for you. When you compare our product to other self-watering options on the market today on a $/plant basis we are the most affordable by a long way.
I’m not going to sell you anything you don’t want, but the fact is that it doesn’t matter where you get them from – edible plants need light and a fair bit of it. Just like fast-growing teenagers need a lot of food, it’s a fact of life. We sell grow lamps for as little as $12, and as an existing customer I’d be happy to offer you a discount coupon should you decide you want to go down that path.
Finally let me remind you that our products come with a green thumb guarantee. If we can’t get you growing then no one can, and I’ll replace whatever I need to in order to have you successfully start your garden. To qualify you just need to text ‘UrbanLeaf’ to 555888 and then follow the prompts.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Best,
Nate