Best Herb for School Project on Growing Herbs Indoors
Answered by: Conrad Richter
Question from: Chas
Posted on: February 18, 2005

I am a 7th Grade Student at Redeemer Lutheran School in Philadelphia, PA. I am emailing to you for help, advice, etc. I am planning to start a herb garden but need to grow it indoors. My purpose is to prove that different hours of sunlight affect the growth of the herbs. Can you please tell me what herb you think would grow the best in my house?

Most of the popular culinary herbs require a lot of light. They may grow indoors in a bright window but if you can supply supplementary light from a grow light that helps. Without the extra light, many herbs such as basil, chives, oregano, rosemary, etc., will "reach" for light, growing progressively taller and weaker until they either get enough light to survive or they expire. Among the most common herbs, probably the mints are the most tolerant of the lower light leveles indoors. By the sounds of your question, you plan to study the effects of varying light levels on the growth of herbs, and mint would be a good candidate for that. Any of the mints, such as spearmint, peppermint, or english mint, would work.

For more information on growing herbs indoors, see my article "Growing Herbs Indoors":

http://www.richters.com/show.cgi?page=MagazineRack/Articles/GrowingHerbsIndoors.html

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