Growing herbs in the winter

burekcrew86

youll most likely need some artificial light or at least 6 hours of south facing natural sunlight per day or about 14 hours of artificial light, these days they have great LED's to use. herbs like Parsley, basil, sage and thyme do well indoors int he winter.

HTH
Heather

peppypoblano

I bring in the basil every winter.  I keep it in a south facing window.  It can start to look a little leggy by spring but takes right off once it goes back out.

Dominica

Sage has always done well for me indoors.

Cherlynn

I've been bringing in my herbs for many years.  The cool herbs like sage, theme and rosemary do very well in my south facing window sills.  Hot herbs like basil need heat and lots of light so I don't bother bring those in.  I pick my basil and oregano clean before my first hard freeze and dehydrate them for winter use or if I have room I pack them into jars with olive oil and keep them in the fridge.  Lettuces and kale do very well inside also.  I've even grown carrots in window boxes.  I don't use grow lights, just put them on the south side windows.  As I approach 70 years old I am keeping things simple.  Less work is much better.

burekcrew86

Thank you for the awesome info and ideas. I just bought a dehydrator and am looking forward to using it.

Jens the Beekeeper

I do this a bit different. I also fresh and dry alot of herbs but I in addition use my seed starting rack for growing baby leaf salad already mixed with herbs like parsley and basil. This way I have a flavourfull salat.

 

I also bring in some chives once it is completely frozen and but it in the window sill. It then sprouts and provides me with fresh herb. Have done this with onions and garlic too and harvested the green shoots.

Cherlynn

Ok this is the first year I have grown chives.  if I am reading you right, you are saying to leave them out until we have a hard freeze and then bring them in???   I'm digging herbs and kale up this coming week and sure want to do it the right way!

Jens the Beekeeper

Yes chives are real hardy. I have them outside all year. They come back every year bigger and bigger.

Chives go dormant in late autumn early winter depending on the temperature. Once they have had some good freezing you can bring inside some of it and it will be fooled in "thinking" it is spring and start growing again.

At least this is working for me and has for my grandmother already ;-)

peppypoblano

The chive and onions are intriguing.  Will definitely have to try it.  Thanks

Alison

My area may not as cold as others...it rarely snows here...but I do have plants inside for winter.

I also keep herbs in a sheltered position on a back veranda where they get sunlight. When needed I have put a tree guard or two around them to protect them from gale force winds we get during winter.

Sunlight, not overwatering, careful about not getting a chill from being near exposed glass at night, particularly if a fire/ heating isn't on during the evening and room temperatures dip dramatically.

StacyLou

Jens - thanks for the advice on chives!

I’ve successfully grown basil, onion, lettuce, kale, bok choy and other various herbs and veggies over the winter. We use grow lights. It’s nice to have a mini garden inside when it’s so cold outside!

I also use my dehydrator quite a bit. I’ve got a lot of basil, oregano, and catnip to dry over the next week or two. My mother-in-law let me borrow hers, so I can get 2 going at the same time!