The Gardening Everyday

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is how to grow herbs indoors. I like to encourage gardeners to grow plants year round for their edible benefits as well as their aesthetics. One of the easiest herbs to grow indoors is basil.You should remember that basil is a warm season, annual herb. So, when germinating seed, you’ll want to give them plenty of warmth and moisture. I suggest covering your pots with a plastic cup or bag to retain moisture until the seedlings have emerged. You can place the pots or flats on top of your refrigerator where the temperature is warm. This is especially important during winter when the temperatures in our homes tend to fluctuate and remain cooler than in the summer months.

Basil needs plenty of light to perform at its best. If you’ve ever started seeds indoors you are well aware of the tendency of plants to get “leggy”. While growing basil indoors will not make you immune to this problem, there are a few steps you can take to minimize the long stems.

One is to provide grow lights for your basil. These special fluorescent bulbs emit a wider spectrum of light that mimics true sunlight. The “legginess” of plants grown indoors is due to two main issues. The first, and most important, is low light levels. The second is due to the lack of air movement or wind. As the wind blows plants around, their stems and overall structure are strengthened. Thus, they remain shorter than those not subjected to a breeze. Grow lights can be expensive and are not necessarily in everyone’s budget.  I recommend CDGrowLight.com as a source for grow lights and related equipment.

A second way to reduce “legginess” is to provide as much direct sunlight as possible. Placing your plants in or near a south facing window will give them the most sunlight possible in your home.

If you’ve provided your basil with as much light as possible there is one other aspect of basil that makes it a great herb to grow indoors and will help keep it compact.

Think for a moment about how basil is used in cooking. Typically, only the leaves are utilized. When harvesting, you should not simply remove random leaves. If you pinch off the growing tips of the plant far enough down to remove approximately 30% of the stem, you’ll have leaves that you can remove from the resulting sprig you have in your hand. And, removing the growing point stimulates hormones in the plant that allows more buds to break on the plant which will produce more stems to be used later. This action will keep your basil more compact and bushier.

I mentioned the lack of air circulation above. This will make your basil plants more susceptible to soil borne diseases. Always allow the surface of the soil to dry out prior to watering. This will also reduce the infestations of those pesky fungus gnats.

If you apply a dilute fertilizer of your choice each time you water, you’ll be providing a great environment for your basil to thrive.

Try growing basil indoors and you’ll be delighted at the chance to use a fresh herb in your cooking…even in winter!

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Happy Gardening!

Related posts:

1. Episode 3 – Growing Basil Indoors, The Gardening Everyday Podcast
2. The Top Ten Herbs For Indoor Herb Gardens
3. How to Build an Indoor Herb Garden

Tags: grow basil indoors, grow herbs indoors, growing basil indoors, indoor herbs