Indoor herb gardens are a dime a dozen, but you’ll be the talk of the community if you have an indoor spice garden instead. They’re perfect for growing in the winter because they love heat, though you’ll need an artificial light source to provide plenty of fake sunlight. Just like herb gardens, they need to be watered and pruned regularly, but the rest is a snap when you know what to do.
In short, herbs are delicate plants and spices are more fibrous and tough. Traditionally, herbs are green, leafy plants such as rosemary, mint and parsley, while spices are the fragrant plant products such as the roots, seed pods, bark or bulbs of highly fragrant plants, though today the official definition includes dried spices.
Indoors, you may not be able to grow every spice you want. You can control the height and width of ginger, saffron, turmeric, vanilla, garlic, chilies and green and black cardamom indoors though.
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Decide if you will plant these spices hydroponically or in pots with dirt. If you’re growing them in the dirt, prepare the pots by working organic material into the soil and lightening packed soil with a hand-held spade.
For seeds and seedlings, check the suggested depth for growing them on the seed packages, or start them off in separate containers. For plants you’re transplanting into bigger pots, make a hole slightly larger than the biggest part of the root. Follow the included instructions about how deep to plant them and how far apart plants should be. Then water the soil lightly, being careful not to disturb any seeds.
Continue to water your garden per your seeds’ or plants’ instructions, making sure the soil is well drained. Prune your plants to get rid of older leaves and encourage new growth. Vanilla grows on a vine, so regularly give it attention so it doesn’t grow too large. Since your plants are grown inside, you won’t have to worry about many pests, though you will need to keep your family pets out of your spice garden.
Photo credit: Shutterstock / gorillaimages
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