An Expert's Top Five Tips for Growing Potted Herbs

 Mike Lieberman is an expert on gardening in small space.  In fact, running the website Urban Organic Gardener and with his popular twitter handle CanarsieBK (as in Canarsie, Brooklyn, his hometown)  he has become the go-to guy on the topic.  We got such a good response with last week's post on herbs, I thought I'd get Mike's tips two-cents worth for a follow up.  Here is Mike aka CanarsieBK on his top tips on herb growing in pots.

Value

You are going to get the dollar value if you grow your own herbs. How many of us go to the store buy a bushel of herbs just to use 2-3 sprigs and the rest rots away. By growing your own, you can clip off what you need and let the plant continue to grow. 

Selection

When deciding what herbs to grow, grow ones that you use most frequently such as parsley, cilantro, mint, oregano or basil. 

Basil

Many of you might be inclined to grow the popular herb basil. A word of caution about basil :  it does not like cold weather at all. If the weather dips into the low 50's or 40's, bring it indoors during the night time.   Or, it will do perfectly well all day long in a nice sunny window.

Watering

Another great thing about potted herbs is that you don't need to water them on a daily basis. If you wait a few days between waterings, it will help them to produce more and bring out a stronger flavor in them.

For less than a $5 investment, you can have an herb pot that will produce for years on end.

Comments

[herbal products]

Thanks for these tips. This will get me started with my herb gardening this spring.