Indoor Tea Garden

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Indoor Tea Garden

By Karen Hegre

Many tea herbs grow well indoors. They may not reach the fullness or

height that they would outdoors as their container-bound roots are

somewhat dwarfed, but they can still provide beauty and an abundance

of leaves for making herbal teas. Some tea herbs to grow indoors

include:

Angelica, bay, borage, burnet, catnip, chamomile, dill, fennel,

horehound, jasmine, lavender, lemon balm, lemon verbena, marjoram,

mint, oregano, basil, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, tansy,

tarragon, thyme, wintergreen, sweet woodruff, and of

course....scented geraniums!

 

Make sure you choose a spot where the plants will get plenty of sun,

ideally a south-facing window that gets light all day. If you don't

have that, you may have to use artificial plant lights, giving

seedlings and plants from 12 to 16 hours of artificial light each and

every day.You can grow a garden on a table next to a window, in a

window greenhouse, in hanging baskets, in a terrarium, on trays, in

large window boxes and of course in pots.

 

Make sure you use room temperature water. Take time to learn the

herbs habits and water accordingly. You should also provide enough

humidity. If your home is dry, as it tends to get during winter

months, use a humidifier in your home, or mist herbs daily,

preferably early in the day so that the herbs are dry when the light

is no longer available. Some herbs will adapt to the drier humidity

of indoor growing...but some will not! If an herb's leaves wither,

check to see that it's getting enough, or too much water, and enough

light. If the leaves develop brown streaks...the plant may be getting

too much sun. A lot of us indoor gardeners think insects or disease

are causing leaves to wither, turn brown, or develop crisp edges, but

this may not be so. The plant may be getting too much heat, or soil

temperatures may be fluctuating too much. Lifeless-looking leaves may

be the result of too little water. Buds dropping off usually indicate

rapidly fluctuating temperatures. If stems turn soft, the herb isn't

getting enough sun, and it's probably getting too much water.

 

 

Indoor Pests and Disease

Herbs growing indoors are fairly resistant to disease and insects,

just as they are outdoors. But, they DO get them. Major indoor herb

pests include aphids, mealybugs, mites, and white flies. White flies

love mints indoors! Insecticidal soaps, used to combat outside pests,

are also available in indoor formulas. They provide effective insect

control and are organic, they contain no substances injurious to

people or to pets!

When you buy herbs from the nursery this time of the year, especially

in colder zones, they may well have insects, so isolate them for your

other plants for up to a week. Be sure to keep your plants trimmed.

Trim just above the leaf buds, and trim regularly rather than

allowing plants to become too large and 'leggy', which will require

dramatic trimming, and can cause the plants to die of shock caused by

the imbalance between the roots and leaves! Believe me....I speak

from experience!

 

Indoor plants require careful monitoring because they depend on you

for all of their needs.

 

If you use the herbs as decorative centerpieces for your table or as

welcome fragrances in the bedroom or kitchen, be sure to alternate

them so they are not in the shade for more than a few days at a time.

This is all well worth the work! These herbs offer not only beauty

and fragrance close at hand, but a bountiful harvest of herbal teas

as well!