If you’re planning to start a mini herb garden on your windowsill, here are some mistakes beginners often make. Follow these simple tips, and growing herbs at home will bring you only positive emotions!
This list was compiled from my own hard-earned experience, so I stand by every word.
Mistake: Growing your first plant from seeds. If it’s your first time trying to grow something from scratch, start with a cutting or a seedling. Markets are full of these in late spring. For example, thyme or lavender, which can be tricky to grow, are much easier to start from a cutting. Basil is even simpler—place a stem in a glass of water, and it will sprout roots in just a few hours. Before you dive in completely, try propagating with cuttings.
Mistake: Choosing complicated plants and varieties. Start with the hardiest herbs—basil, tarragon, and cress. These plants are great for practice, have the lowest risk of failure, and provide lots of greenery in a short time.
Mistake: Watering herbs like decorative houseplants. With a few exceptions, herbs need daily moderate watering, or even heavy watering. Houseplants are often watered every couple of days, or even weekly for some species. During hot summer months, herbs drink a lot and love light misting.
Mistake: Rarely trimming the plants. It might seem that the plant is still too young or fragile, and sometimes that’s true. However, basil, for instance, only grows bushier with trimming and pinching—cutting the stem above a pair of leaves encourages two new branches to sprout. Trimming works similarly for most herbs—it helps the plant produce more greenery, delays flowering, and strengthens the plant.
Mistake: Cutting old leaves at the base of the stem. Avoid cutting off the initial large leaves—they’re busy performing photosynthesis. Instead, harvest younger shoots and leaves, leaving about one and a half centimeters of stem above the lower set of leaves (don’t cut it to the ground).
Mistake: Allowing the herbs to flower. Once flower buds appear, the plant shifts its energy away from producing leaves. All flower buds should be removed because the plant loses aroma and nutrients during flowering. After flowering, the growth of greenery slows down significantly.
Oregano flowering
Mistake: Neglecting quality soil. There’s a common misconception that outdoor soil from the yard is sufficient for garden herbs. This is incorrect. Herbs need fertile and clean soil, which provides the minerals necessary for growth and flavor. Good soil makes a significant difference.
Mistake: Focusing on just 1–2 plant types. When a favorite plant thrives, the temptation to stick to one type is strong, but success should encourage you to diversify!
Mistake: Not reading seed labels carefully. Sometimes, precious windowsill space gets taken up by two plants of the same species with slightly different leaf shapes or a marginally different aroma (this often happens with basil varieties). We buy seeds based on the photo on the package, only to end up with another oregano.
Mistake: Planting incompatible herbs in one pot. If mint shares a pot with other plants, its aggressive roots can choke out everything else. The same applies to oregano. Plant herbs with compact root systems together, or use dividers in shared pots. For tips on how to mix different herbs, read here .
