Blogging Chow: The Easiest Herbs to Grow Indoors

We've given you a lot of tips on what kind of gardening you can do in a small space, from how to make an herb garden in one pot to planting a windowbox. But for urban gardeners with zero outdoor space and very little light, it's still hard to plan even the humblest of herb gardens. Which is why, even with all the information we've gathered at the Kitchn, we still loved this helpful, practical article from Chow.

The folks at Chow interviewed gardening experts specifically about indoor city herb gardens—those tiny plots of hope that those of us in apartments would love to see flourish and so often don't. They start with something we'd never really thought through: Which herbs are actually most likely to thrive?

According to the article, they might not be the basics (think basil, rosemary, and sage) that you'd probably pick up first at the farmers' market or nursery. Rosemary is under "More Difficult," and basil and sage are listed as "Hardest." Things like chives and parsley, which don't require much light, and Vietnamese coriander, which is almost identical to cilantro but much more reliable, are listed as "Easier."

The best part of the article may be page two. There are tips about lighting, like which window orientation is ideal and how to fake natural sunlight, and exactly how and when to water. There are points about soil, as well as how much to trim off when you need some leaves for a recipe. All of the points are very straightforward and yet revelatory to a novice gardener.

• Read the full article: How to Grow Herbs Indoors, by Roxanne Webber

Click here to see more from our gardening archives.

(Image: Chow)

I'm sort of glad that basil is listed as "hardest." Now I don't feel so bad about my pathetic excuse for a basil plant!

posted by Damfino on April 6th 2009 at 2:27pm
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The answer to this question may be elsewhere on this site, but I live in a city, and don't have a car, and have had difficulty tracking down even the most basic of gardening supplies (try finding terra cotta plant pots in downtown Boston, even midsummer--bah!). Tired of grocery store African violets and English ivy, I've taken to ordering my houseplants from Logee's, because they have high-quality plants and will ship for a reasonable price.

Is there an online purveyor of for-indoor-use herb seeds and/or planters that's a) reasonably priced, and b) of reliable quality that you or any of the readers here could recommend?

posted by lasomnambule on April 6th 2009 at 2:39pm
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I disagree that spearmint is not worth growing in a pot when you may need a lot of it. If you put it in the ground, you may have it everywhere.

posted by whytephoenix on April 6th 2009 at 3:53pm
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@lasomnambule - Try Seed Savers Exchange or even Burpee.com. You will need to do some homework ahead of time to see what will work best indoors or in containers.

@whytephoenix - Absolutely. My mint even jumped containers last year when it really started thriving and was too close to the parsley. It is a predator, and it's already coming back for more this year since it's an annual.

posted by Haley W. on April 6th 2009 at 9:20pm
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For Boston, TAGS in Porter Square is a hardware store truly dedicated to apartment life, very well edited (funny to say about a hardware store, but true). They have lots of gardening stuff, both for indoors and out, and very helpful staff.

They don't carry plants, but do have a good selection of seeds, including lots of herbs.

posted by feathers on April 8th 2009 at 11:30am
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