For the avid foodie, there is nothing quite as rewarding has picking a bunch of herbs from the pot outside the kitchen window, and cooking up a meal with the freshest flavours available.
Herbs truly thrive when they are grown in a pot. They will require minimal attention, they are incredibly easy to grow and within a few months, with the right care and the right soil, your herbs will be leafy and fragrant.
Whether you choose to dry out a handful of sprigs to cook with, or if you add a dash of intense flavour with a fresh leaf or two, herbs can transform the way you think about food, while they are also quite often used for medicinal purposes.
Herb containers, otherwise known as pots, are the more common and most popular ways to grow herb plants. And because the herbs are generally a lot smaller than your garden plants, you can plant quite a few in each container, so long as the herbs are compatible.
Although you might have a big garden with plenty of space to plant, a herb container is the more convenient choice. It can be placed in a smaller area, preferably close to the kitchen, where it can be easy to access and readily used.
Just about any herbs can be grown in a pot. But if you are growing many different types of herbs in one container, make sure that they have similar watering and soil requirements, and that they need the same amount of light. The moment you have the right conditions, your plants will need little of your attention and you will always have a steady supply of fresh herbs available.
Herb Container Sizes
Although it is considered quite simple to grow herbs in a container, there is still some planning to do if you want to guarantee that your herbs grow the way they should. One of the biggest benefits of growing herbs in a container is that you can grow many different types all at the same time.
When choosing the right container for your herbs, you’ll be happy to know that just about any pot will do, so long as it has good drainage. Many gardeners prefer to grow these plants in long, rectangular containers, partly because they look good and also because they are capable of holding many plants.
But because the vast majority of herb plants don’t have large and complex root systems, they are equally suitable for small pots. Depending on the plant’s preferences, that small pot can be placed on a windowsill indoors or it can be placed outdoors, somewhere close to where you can easily use it. If you do intend on going for a smaller pot, keep in mind that the smaller pot cannot hold much soil, so over or under watering is a possibility.
Watering plays a big role in the maintenance of herbs because while some plants, like rosemary, enjoy the heat and grow in abundance in dry soil, other herbs, like mint and parsley, will do a whole lot better in moist soil. Should you be keen on growing parsley, mint, or chives, you might want to consider opting for a pot that self-waters. These pots ensure that the soil is always moist.
Potting Herbs
How you pot your plant is going to vary from herb to herb. But much like your garden plants, there are some tried and tested potting basics that you can use.
The first thing to do, once you have a container, is to make sure that it has sufficient drainage holes at the bottom. You can always drill a few holes if it is lacking.
The next thing to do is to create a drainage system, which you can do by placing a few broken clay pieces or stones at the bottom of the pot. This helps to stop the compost from washing away every time you water the herb. Another way that you can achieve this is to mix different composts and soils together with some grit, and then add them to the pot in different phases as you layer your soil.
Once this is done, you can arrange your plants. Start by placing them into the container and seeing how they look. You can then take into consideration how the herb is going to spread out as it grows. Some will grow into leafy bushes while others will end up growing in an almost creeper like fashion and need some extra space.
When you’ve decided how you’d like to place your herbs, you can remove them from the pots and then put them firmly in the new container. Once they are settled in place, give them a generous amount of water and allow the compost to sink in, before adding more compost and then filling up the base around the plants, making sure all the roots are covered.
The compost considered the best to grow herbs in is the loam-based kind, but whatever you end up using can change the flavour of the herb, so it is best to find out which compost suits the herb you are looking at growing. You should also consider going for a compost that is capable of retaining a decent amount of moisture.
The Right Herb Combination
One of the best things about growing herbs is that because they are smaller plants you can fit quite a few of them in a pot, even if it isn’t the biggest one. The catch is that if you intend to share your pot with numerous herbs, you need to make sure that they are compatible in terms of the amount of sunlight they need, the amount of watering they will require and the type of soil they enjoy growing in, as we have mentioned.
Compatible herbs include thyme, marjoram, sage, rosemary, oregano, and lavender. These plants don’t like to be overwatered and they grow well in both sunshine and shade, although a moderate combination of the 2 is always best. Basil and parsley go well together and you can grow them together with tarragon and cilantro. You can also get away with growing various mints together in one pot.
The last thing you need to know about potting herbs is when the best time to harvest is. As soon as the plant has enough leaves you can harvest. The wonderful thing about herbs is that they have flavour and scent as soon as they start growing, so even if the plant is tiny, you can use it although it can be best to wait until the plant is fairly big as you don’t want to take all of its shoots.
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