Growing an apartment herb garden is a growing trend taking over the renting community. It’s a great way to experience the hobby of gardening without having much space or a backyard to work with. It can also be a great way to save money on purchasing herbs from the grocery store and is a fantastic way to celebrate sustainable cooking. While having an apartment herb garden can be a fun hobby, it also requires some basic gardening knowledge and preparation. Here are a few tips on starting an apartment herb garden.
- Pick Your Herbs
The first step is picking which herbs you would like to start your apartment herb garden with. The trick is to start off small with only one or a few herbs to make sure you have the growing process down and enough space for more. Pick your herbs based on ones that you know you will cook with or eat so they do not go to waste. Some of the most common herbs that people start out with are basil, chives, mint, oregano, and parsley.
- Choose Your Gardening Pots
The next step of starting an apartment herb garden is choosing the correct pots for planting. You should consider the average size of your herbs when choosing a pot. Another thing to consider is if they are easy to transport and not messy. There may come a time during colder weather where you will have to move your herbs inside. In this case, you will want a pot that doesn’t bring a mess of soil or water into your home.
- Know Their Requirements
Herbs typically each have their own specific requirements to grow successfully. After you have purchased your herbs, research their requirements like how much sunlight and water they need, and what type of soil they grow best in. Most herbs need at least 4 hours of sunlight each day so it might be a good idea to evaluate how much sunlight your balcony or window gets before purchasing herbs that need adequate sunlight.
- Learn How to Harvest Your Herbs
Each herb varies with how they should be harvested. If you harvest some too soon or too aggressively, you can end up killing the plant. Some herbs are flexible and can be harvested from anywhere on the plant. However, some can only be harvested from the bottom of the plant. Be sure to know the harvest instructions for each plant in your apartment herb garden to maintain healthy herbs.
