Growing herbs in pots: a real alternative to the garden

0

Posted on : 09-03-2010 | By : Herbs Today | In : herb growing
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Loading ... Loading ...

 Growing herbs in pots: a real alternative to the garden

For those small spaces or by preference, growing herbs in pots is an excellent alternative to the outdoor garden. Gliding Window Replacement boxes, hanging baskets, and pots can be used for your indoor herb garden.

The basic needs of all plants are: soil, water, and sunlight. This holds true for herbs as well. Soil and water are straight forward and easy to accommodate. Sunlight is key, however, and orienting your indoor herb garden to take advantage of natural sunlight should be an important consideration when locating your plants in your indoor space. To get the best and most sunlight, using your west or south facing Gliding Window Replacements will be the most appropriate setup.

Another thing to consider is that different types of herbs will have different light needs, but most will love a sunny spot. If you don’t have a good, sunny Gliding Window Replacement, there are ways to supplement natural light, with fluorescent or “grow” lamps.

To provide the best growing soil for your herbs, you will need rich but well drained soil. For container herbs, use two parts sterilized potting soil to one part perlite or coarse sand. For good drainage, before placing the soil in the growing pots, add an inch of gravel to the bottom of each pot. To improve to the sweetness of the soil, be sure to also add one teaspoon of lime for each 5-inch container.

Watering with care is an important factor of growing an indoor herb garden. Add plenty of water, since plants in containers need more water than those growing outside, but be sure not to overwater or drench the roots. Also use a spray bottle to mist the plants.

During the summer, indoor plants can be taken outside for that natural light – maybe on a balcony or in the garden. Annuals can be kept inside even during the summer; for perennials, spending some time outdoors during the summer is an added bonus, if feasible for your location. Having the plants in containers allows one to easily move them around as needed. By the time of the first frost of the fall, all the plants should be brought back inside.

Think how much fun it would be to walk over to your Gliding Window Replacementsill herb garden and pick fresh mint, for instance. A lot of plants are suited for growing in pots. Some herbs, like mint, can take over a garden and will do really well in an indoor herb garden, where it will be well contained to the pot. To keep your plants healthy, use some light feeding periodically. Repotting your herbs yearly will also help ensure they stay health.

Keeping an indoor herb garden will allow you to enjoy fresh herbs any time, plus have the convenience of having herbs handy for your cooking. Be sure to harvest them as need, use them liberally in your cooking, and share them with friends. With a little care, growing herbs in pots is fun and easy!

for small spaces or preferably, herbs grow in pots is a good alternative to the garden. Are flower boxes, hanging baskets and pots for your indoor garden of herbs used. The basic needs of all the plants are: soil, water and sunlight. This also applies to the grass. Soil and water are easy to understand and easy to accept. Sunlight is the key, but your indoor herb garden and oriented to take advantage of natural sunlight to be an important consideration when locating the plants in your indoor space. To get the best and the sunlight, your west or south Gliding Window Replacements are the most appropriate configuration. Another point is that different types of herbs will have different requirements for light, but most will be a place of love in the sun. Unless you have a good sunny Gliding Window Replacement, there are ways to supplement natural light with fluorescent or grow “lights. Take care The best soil for growing your herbs, you need rich, well drained soil but the soil . sterilized containers for plants, with two parts soil to one part perlite or coarse sand. For good drainage, before the earth to grow in pots, add an inch of gravel at the bottom of each dish. To enhance the sweetness of the soil you shouldts in containers need more water than those growing outside, but be sure not to over water or wet the roots. Even a spray bottle to mist the plants. During the summer, can be worn outside the house plants that natural light – perhaps on a balcony or garden. Annuals can be kept inside during the summer, for shrubs and spent some time outdoors during the summer is an added bonus, if possible, in your location. After the plants in containers makes it easy to move if necessary. From the time the first frost in autumn, all plants must be brought bac

Setting Up Your Mint Herb Garden on a Budget

0

Posted on : 20-02-2010 | By : Herbs Today | In : herb growing
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Loading ... Loading ...

Many kinds of mint herb exist today, and the most popular of these varieties are peppermint and spearmint. Other varieties of this plant exist and examples of which are the golden apple mint and orange mint. Some people think that setting up their own mint herb garden is expensive, but that is not the case. One can set up his own garden on a budget, and it is best to grow the variety that is easily accessible in your area and plant the mint flavor that caters to you best.

Peppermint and spearmint are examples of hardy perennials. A garden with these plants is truly very productive for they easily spread on every corner of a garden without help. This creates value for the money you are to spend when producing your own mint garden. Peppermint (Mentha piperita) contains square stems and its leaves have a purplish tinge. This plant is tall and shallow-rooted and like all the others, it spreads very rapidly. It also has light lavender colored flowers which appear as terminal spikes abundantly abloom throughout peppermint’s season. The herb’s maximum growth reaches three feet tall.

Another kind of mint herb is spearmint (M. spicata). The plant can reach two feet in height when fully grown and it has square stems like peppermint with curled leaves that are filled with veins. Its color ranges from light purple to white and its spike-like appearance is two to four inches in length. This flower starts to grow early in summer to fall.

Golden apple mint is another type of the mint herb and it has a more subtle flavor as compared to spearmint. The plant’s dark green leaves have touches of gold and together with it grows its light purple flowers. Orange mint (also known as bergamot mint) is best known for its orange-like scent. This mint variation contains reddish green leaves with purple edges while its flowers are lavender in color.

Growing this type of herb will truly save you money. Planting the root division to gain the maximum flavor of the herb is the best way to start. Growing a small number of this herb can go a long way for this type is inclined to spread all over the garden. To better control them, you can enclose them in a container to put its roots in place. This is to keep the roots from wandering off all over the ground.

While it is true that these plants can be grown anytime in the growing season, spring or fall is still the best period to plant them to achieve faster root division. Putting an 18 to 24-inch distance per row and two or three inches apart from each other will result to better growth. These plants will also save you from spending too much on fertilizer for there is no need to add more fertilizers on mints during the middle of the growing season; they can live without them. Although, you must take note that spearmint and peppermint prefer moist soil so a lot more watering should be done to these mint types in the garden until the roots are properly divided.

Diseases like verticillium wilt and mint rust are some of the weaknesses of this herb. To prevent your mint garden from acquiring the said diseases, you should carefully take off from the bed the dead stems and leaves before the arrival of winter season.

Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes