Home Sweet Home Magazine - November22

▶ Basil: Basil requires sun

and most, well-drained soil. Basil should be placed in the sunniest spot in your home. ▶ Oregano: Oregano also needs and loves the sunlight; for even growth, regularly turn the plant. ▶ Parsley: Another sun lover and easy grower. ▶ Rosemary: For best growth, find a plant already started in a nursery. Other easy-to-maintain indoor herbs include thyme, sage, cilantro, bay, and peppermint.

2. Consider Containers

your disposal and minimize mess. Besides various-sized containers for potential repotting, you might need such tools as a shovel, trowel, pruners, snips, and gloves, as well as the right type of soil for each type of plant you plan to bring inside for winter.

Whatever you decide to transfer from the outdoors to the indoors will need some type of pot or container. Perhaps the containers the plants are sitting in right now will work for inside your home; perhaps they won’t. Will you need new containers? Repotting might be involved. If you’re bringing in plants that you’ll be digging up from the ground, they’ll definitely need pots or other containers. Making these determinations will help you gather the right supplies.

Make Space

Second, you’ll need to make some space for your indoor herb garden. Luckily, these little gardens can fit just about anywhere, and do particularly well by or on the kitchen windowsill, as there they will receive the sunlight they need as well as be near a source of water.

4. Prepare Your Plants

Preparing your plants for indoor-to- outdoor transition involves checking for and removing insects and other pests; grooming, trimming, and pruning; and refreshing soil.

Gather Supplies

▶ Next, gather what you’ll need: ▶ pots with drainage holes ▶ herb seed packets (or seedlings) ▶ fresh soil ▶ compost ▶ gravel ▶ plant markers, like tongue depressors

3. Gather Supplies

▶ Insects: Unintentionally

bringing in outdoor insects and pests is a common rookie mistake for any indoor-to- outdoor plant transition. You’ll need to check for — and remove — any insects and pests, most commonly aphids, mealybugs, and spider mites, beforehand.

Designate a specific area outdoors to make the “transplants,” and ensure you have all the right supplies and tools you’ll need. One tip is to try to keep the transplant area in one general spot; that way, you’ll have everything at

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