How to grow herbs indoors: light, pots, water, and care

Most indoor herbs die of the same 2 things: too little light and too much water. Get those right and the rest is easy.

How to grow herbs indoors in 6 steps

You need a bright window, a pot that drains, and potting mix. Here is the plan:

1. Find your brightest window. South is best and west is next. If it gets less than 6 hours of sun, plan on a grow light.
2. Pick 2 or 3 herbs to start. Starter plants are the fastest way in.
3. Get 1 pot per herb, each with a drainage hole and a saucer.
4. Fill the pots with bagged potting mix, not garden soil.
5. Water when the top inch of soil is dry. Empty the saucer after.
6. Once the plant is growing well, start cutting. Take a third at most.

How much light do indoor herbs need?

Most herbs need about 6 hours of direct sun a day.^[1] A south window gives the most. West and east windows can work if they are bright. A north window is too dim for most herbs. Choose from the herbs that grow in low light, or add a lamp.

Set the pot right at the glass. Light fades fast even a few feet back into the room. Turn the pot every few days. Long, bare stems and small, pale leaves mean the plant needs more light.

Image: Missellyrh

Growing herbs under a grow light

Herbs grow fine with no window at all under a grow light. A full-spectrum LED grow light works, and so does a plain LED shop light. Hang it 6 to 12 inches above the leaves and run it 12 to 16 hours a day.^[2] Raise it as the plants grow.

Buy a plug-in timer too. It is the one extra worth the money, since people forget to switch lights on and off. Our guide to indoor grow lights covers what to buy.

Keep them away from cold glass and heat vents

Most herbs do best at 65 to 70°F in the day and 55 to 60°F at night.^[1] That is a normal house. Basil is hurt below 50°F.^[1] The air by the glass can get that cold even when the room is warm. Pull pots back from the glass on cold nights.

Keep pots off radiators and out of the blast from heat and AC vents. Hot, dry air turns leaf edges brown. Rosemary is the exception: it does better in a cool room in winter.

Choose a pot with a drainage hole

Every herb pot needs a hole in the bottom. Water that cannot drain sits around the roots and rots them. If you love a pot with no hole, use it as a cover. Set a plastic pot that has a hole inside it.

Size matters too:

• 6 inches across is the smallest pot for 1 herb.
• 8 to 10 inches suits almost any herb.
• Parsley, cilantro and dill grow 1 long, thick main root, called a taproot. Give them a pot at least 8 inches deep.

The material changes how fast the soil dries. Clay pots, also called terracotta, dry out fast. That suits rosemary, thyme, sage and oregano. Plastic and glazed pots stay damp longer, which suits basil, mint, parsley and cilantro.

One herb per pot is simplest. Mint always gets its own pot, because it spreads and takes over. Herbs can share a pot only if they want the same water and light. Our guide shows which herbs can share a pot. For more on size, depth and material, see how to pick the best pot for herbs.

Use potting mix, not garden soil

Use bagged potting mix. Garden soil packs down hard in a pot and stays wet, and roots need air. For better drainage, mix 2 parts potting mix with 1 part perlite.^[3] Perlite is the light white grains you see in potting mix. It is heated volcanic rock. It keeps air in the soil and lets water drain. The extra perlite helps most with herbs that like to dry out: rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano and lavender.

Our guide to the best soil mix for indoor herbs compares potting mix, coir and more.

Which herbs to start with

Start with 2 or 3 herbs you cook with. Mint and parsley forgive the most mistakes. Rosemary and cilantro are the hardest indoors.

Herb	Light	Water	Easiest way to start
Mint	Brightest window; copes with less	Keep damp	A cutting in a glass of water (roots in about a week) or a plant
Parsley	Copes with less light	Keep lightly damp	Buy a plant; seed takes 2 to 4 weeks to sprout
Basil	6 to 8 hours of sun, 70°F or warmer	Never let it dry out fully	Seed or a plant
Cilantro	6 hours of sun, cool room (65 to 70°F)	Keep evenly damp	Seed, sown in its final deep pot; sow again every 2 to 3 weeks
Rosemary	Sunniest window you have	Top inch dry, never bone dry	A plant or a cutting (seed is slow)

For a longer ranked list, see the easiest herbs to grow indoors, or browse every herb guide.

Seeds, starter plants or cuttings?

Starter plants are the fastest and easiest way to begin. Seeds cost the least. Cuttings are free if you know someone with a plant.

A supermarket basil pot holds lots of thin seedlings packed tight. Crowded like that, they tend to rot. They last much longer if you split them into a few clumps and repot them soon after you buy them.^[4]

To grow herbs from seed indoors:

1. Fill the pot with damp potting mix.
2. Sow a few seeds and cover them lightly. Cilantro goes a quarter inch deep.
3. Keep the mix damp and the room warm until sprouts show.
4. The day sprouts appear, move the pot into full light or under the lamp.
5. Snip out the weakest seedlings so only the strongest remain.

You can start herbs indoors any time of year. In fall and winter, add a grow light, because the days are short.

How often to water herbs indoors

There is no fixed schedule. Water when the top inch of soil feels dry. Push a finger in to check.

When you water, pour until water runs out of the hole. Empty the saucer after about 15 minutes.

Herbs fall into 2 groups:

• Let them dry a little. Thyme, sage, oregano, marjoram and bay like the soil to dry out between waterings.^[3] Rosemary is close. Let its top inch dry, but never the whole pot.
• Keep them lightly damp. Basil, mint, parsley and cilantro like steady moisture. Never let basil dry out fully.^[1]

Drooping on wet soil. The roots are drowning. Stop watering and let the soil dry. A mushy stem base or a sour smell from the pot points to root rot. Learn how to spot and treat root rot.

Dry winter air. Group pots together, or stand them on a tray of wet pebbles.^[3] Skip misting. Rosemary is the exception again, since it wants dry, moving air.

How to fertilize indoor herbs

Herbs need very little food. Most bagged potting mix has enough for the first 4 to 6 weeks. After that, use a liquid all-purpose fertilizer at half the label strength. Feed in spring and summer only, and skip winter.^[2] Once every 6 weeks or so is plenty.

Too much fertilizer makes fast, soft growth with less flavor. When in doubt, feed less. For types and timing, see how to fertilize herbs.

How to harvest herbs so they keep growing

Take no more than a third of the plant at once. Then let it grow back before you cut again. That rule is for herbs that live for years, like mint, chives, oregano and thyme. Basil and parsley can be cut harder, as long as you leave 4 to 6 inches of stem.^[2]

Cut just above a pair of leaves. The plant sends out 2 new stems from that spot, so it gets bushier. Pinch the tip of basil once it has 3 or 4 pairs of leaves, and pinch off any flower buds. Cut chives from the outside of the clump, down near the soil.

Picking often is what keeps an indoor herb from going tall and bare. Our guide on how and when to prune herbs shows where to cut each one.

Common problems and how to fix them

To keep herbs alive indoors, watch for 2 things first: too much water and too little light. Those 2 cause most indoor herb deaths.

What you see	Likely cause	Fix
Drooping, soil wet	Too much water, or root rot	Let it dry out; check the roots
Drooping, soil dry	Thirst	Soak it; it should perk up in a few hours
Long bare stems, pale leaves	Too little light	Sunnier window or a grow light
Yellow lower leaves	Too much water, or old soil out of food	Water less; feed if it has been months
Brown, crispy leaf edges	Dry heat, or hot sun through the glass	Move it away from vents; add a pebble tray
Tiny bugs, fine webbing, sticky leaves	Pests such as aphids or spider mites	Rinse the leaves in the sink; see the guide below

The full list is in 8 reasons indoor herbs die, and the fixes.

Can you grow herbs indoors year round?

Yes. Winter light is the only real limit. Short, dim days mean most windows need help from a grow light from late fall to early spring.

Some herbs last for years indoors: chives, mint, thyme, oregano and rosemary. Chives slowly lose steam after a year or two without a winter rest. Once they thin out, put the pot somewhere cold for 6 to 8 weeks in winter. Let it die back, and it comes up stronger.

Others run their course and need replacing. Basil, cilantro and dill last weeks to months. Keep a second pot coming along so there is no gap. For the cold months, see our tips on growing herbs indoors in winter.

Do you need an indoor herb garden kit?

No. A pot, a bag of potting mix and a bright window do the job. A kit is an indoor herb garden with grow lights built in. Most grow herbs in water instead of soil, which is called hydroponics.

A kit helps most if you have no bright window. It costs more, and you usually refill it with the maker’s seed pods.

Before you buy one, read our AeroGarden Harvest review. It covers what grew well and the mold and algae problems to expect.

Questions & answers

Can you grow herbs indoors?

Yes. Most kitchen herbs grow well indoors with 6 hours of direct sun or a grow light. They also need a pot that drains and soil that is not kept soggy.

Can you grow herbs indoors without sunlight?

Yes, under a grow light. Use a full-spectrum LED hung 6 to 12 inches above the leaves. Put it on a timer for 12 to 16 hours a day.

Do herbs like deep or shallow pots?

Most herbs do best in a medium pot, at least 6 inches deep. Parsley, cilantro and dill grow a long taproot and want 8 inches or more. A pot that is far too big holds extra water and stays wet.

What is the most common mistake growing herbs indoors?

Overwatering. Too little light is a close second. Water only when the top inch of soil is dry, and give your herbs the sunniest window you have.

Which herb is easiest to grow indoors?

Mint, followed by chives and parsley. All 3 cope with less light than most herbs. They also bounce back from most beginner mistakes.

References

1. Penn State Extension, Growing Herbs Indoors. https://extension.psu.edu/growing-herbs-indoors ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

2. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Yard and Garden, Growing Herbs Indoors. https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/how-to/growing-herbs-indoors ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

3. University of Maryland Extension, Growing Herbs in Containers and Indoors. https://extension.umd.edu/resource/growing-herbs-containers-and-indoors ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

4. Royal Horticultural Society, How to grow basil. https://www.rhs.org.uk/herbs/basil/grow-your-own ↩︎