An unusually clear photo of The Garden Commando

Often, when growing space is limited, one has little alternative but to expand into containers.

Sometimes the only sunny spot just happens to be on a sun deck or a front verandah. If you live in a condominium or apartment and only have a balcony available, then you will want to use window boxes and containers. 

Two suggestions:

1. Use lightweight material containers - not wood, cement or pottery. No matter where you live, your life will be made easier if the container is light and easy to move when required. If you live in an apartment or a condo, the chances are that they will not appreciate your using heavy duty containers on balconies - for safety reasons. 

2. Use one of the many soilless potting mixes. The soilless mixes are also light usually involving perlite, peat moss and some finely shredded mulch. Again, the light weight growing medium will be easier on your back. (I have taken to those "gro-bricks" that you immerse in water and allow to expand. I add about one third of potting soil to the brick, and use that mix for my boxes and containers.)

Whatever containers are being used - window boxes or pots, make sure that there is good drainage. This is really important. Plants normally do not like soggy roots and if the drainage is bad, this will happen.

Basil likes light, sandy, well drained soil, but it also likes plenty of water. The very light and well drained soil will dry out much faster than other types. 

Growing Herbs Indoors
Providing you have a sunny exposure and providing you do not allow your soil to dry out, you should be able to have a small cooking herb garden in containers. However, herbs  - for  the most part - like a very sunny location, and if that is not available, you may have less than successful results. 

You can use special grow lights with some success, but to avoid disappointment, I would stick with things like Watercress, which does not mind partial shade, or a small pot of Parsley and Chives for which you can usually find a spot.  If you are fortunate enough to have a large, south facing window and plenty of room, you could try something more challenging, like Rosemary, Lavender and Mint. 

Your major challenges will be to ensure that the pots or containers do not dry out, but also do not remain too moist. Allowing plenty of air circulation is key to avoiding plant diseases such as mildew and keeping the air at an even temperature with some humidity is also important 

Our homes are usually a lot dryer than plants - herbs included - like.  You can help the plant environment by having a humidifier running near the plants, or take a few minutes each day to mist the plants. 

Some garden experts suggest that you drench the soil in each pot with some anti pest substance, or use an indoor plant pesticide powder. This helps to guard against any pests that may decide to come in for the winter. However, one would prefer not to use chemicals on indoor plants, if possible, and especially not on herbs. 

Pests would include Red Spider mite Whitely and Aphid. Aphids and Whitely multiply very quickly and once they become numerous are hard to get rid of, so if you want to keep pest free with reduced chemical use, you have to use a combination of different ways in which to combat them: 

1.   Keep pots, and plant area free of debris.
2.   Inspect your plant foliage daily. Constant vigilance is important in pest and disease control - as soon as you see any sign of them,  you can take action.
3.   When re-potting, make sure pots are sterilized in a 10% solution of bleach.
4.   Do not re-use soil unless you first sterilize it (baking it is the easiest methodif you wish to do it yourself, but buying a neew bag of sterilized potting mix is more time efficient.)
5.   Avoid watering from above - place plants in a deep dish or bowl, fill with water and leave until soil is moist - time will vary - not longer than 2 hours. This avoids wetting the foliage, or over wetting the soil, which in turn avoids fungus diseases.
6.   Many plants, appreciate being misted - use a fine atomizer for this
     purpose. Mist first thing in the morning, to allow the leaves to dry during the day, when it is warmer. This helps also to prevent fungus and mould.
7.   Never feed your plants when they have been allowed to dry out - the fertilizer may burn their roots. First water them, then feed them.
8.   If your one of your plants does get hit with pests, try to segregate it from the rest. One way to accomplish this is to "bag" the plant with something like a large plastic bag. You can then spray one of the botanicals on the plant and leave the plant overnight before removing the bag.
9.   Use insecticidal soaps, or Pyrethrin or Resmethrin based pest sprays - but, remember that you should always test a single leaf with the spray to make sure that your plant can tolerate the mixture. Most of these sprays are CONTACT sprays - that means that you must actually strike the pest with the spray for it to be effective.
10.  Check the library for books on "natural" pests deterrents. 
 

Please see below for texts used to research the material provided for this article article. There are many, many wonderful books on Herbs, and you should try to find some for yourself. The books listed here were the ones I found helpful, and some of which I have in my library at home.