How to start a small kitchen herb garden

Home & Life Hacks · 6 min read

A fistful of fresh coriander on top of dal, or a few mint leaves in your chai, costs almost nothing when it grows two steps from your stove. You do not need a garden, only a bright window, a few pots and a little routine. Here is how to get started and avoid the mistakes that kill most first herb pots.

Check your light first

Light decides which herbs will thrive, so look at your space before buying anything. Most culinary herbs want about four to six hours of direct sun a day. Stand at the window at different times and note when the sun actually hits it.

• South or west-facing window with 5+ hours of sun: great for basil, tulsi, curry leaf, rosemary, thyme and oregano.
• East-facing, with a few hours of morning sun: works for coriander, mint, parsley and chives.
• Dim windows: mint and coriander can cope, but growth will be thin. A simple LED grow light on a timer for 10 to 12 hours a day can rescue a shady kitchen.

In hot Indian summers, afternoon sun on a balcony can scorch tender herbs, so shade cloth or a spot with morning sun only works better.

Pick herbs that suit you

Grow what you actually cook. Starting with three or four is more rewarding than ten pots you neglect.

Herb	Difficulty	Notes
Mint (pudina)	Easy	Spreads fast, so give it its own pot
Tulsi (holy basil)	Easy	Loves sun, pinch flowers to keep leaves coming
Coriander (dhania)	Medium	Bolts in heat, so sow often in cooler months
Curry leaf	Medium	Slow-growing but long-lived, needs big pot and sun
Green chilli	Easy	Not an herb, but thrives in the same conditions
Thyme, oregano, rosemary	Medium	Prefer dry soil, so do not overwater

Choose pots and soil

Any container works if it has drainage holes at the bottom. Without them, roots sit in water and rot, which is the most common reason herbs die. Plastic, clay and recycled tins (with holes punched in) are all fine. Clay dries faster, which suits rosemary and thyme, while plastic holds moisture longer, which suits mint and coriander.

Size matters too. Coriander and mint do well in pots about 20 to 25 cm wide. Curry leaf and rosemary need a bigger pot of 30 cm or more as they grow.

Use a light potting mix rather than heavy garden soil. A simple home mix is roughly equal parts garden soil, cocopeat or sand for drainage, and compost or vermicompost for nutrients. Fill the pot, leaving about two centimetres below the rim so water does not overflow.

Sow or buy a sapling

From seed

Coriander, tulsi and basil grow easily from seed. For coriander, lightly crush whole dhania seeds, soak them overnight, and sprinkle them about a centimetre deep. They sprout in roughly one to two weeks. Keep the soil lightly moist, not wet.

From cuttings or saplings

Mint roots readily: place a stem cutting in water on a windowsill and plant it when white roots appear. Curry leaf and rosemary are slow from seed, so buy a small sapling from a nursery. Look for firm green leaves and no yellowing or pests.

Water, feed and prune

1. Water by touch. Push a finger two centimetres into the soil. If it is dry, water until it flows out of the bottom hole. If it is damp, wait.
2. Water in the morning so leaves dry before night, which discourages fungus.
3. Feed lightly. A spoonful of vermicompost or a diluted liquid fertiliser every three to four weeks is enough. Too much feed gives lots of leaf and little flavour.
4. Pinch the tops. Harvesting from the top of the stem makes the plant branch and grow bushier.
5. Remove flower buds on basil, tulsi and mint to keep the plant focused on leaves.

Tip: Never remove more than about one third of a plant at a time. Leaves are how the plant feeds itself, so a gentle harvest keeps it productive for months.

Solve common problems

• Yellow leaves and soggy soil: overwatering. Let the pot dry and check drainage.
• Tall, thin, pale stems: not enough light. Move closer to the window.
• Tiny insects or sticky leaves: likely aphids or whitefly. Spray with a mild soapy water solution, or a neem oil spray diluted as directed, and rinse leaves after.
• Coriander flowering early: hot weather. Sow a new pot every two to three weeks in cooler months and keep it in partial shade in summer.
• Droopy plant in the afternoon: check the soil. If it is dry, water, and if it is wet, the roots are struggling.

Harvest and use

Start harvesting once a plant has several sets of leaves. Cut just above a pair of leaves so it regrows. Add coriander, mint and basil at the end of cooking for the brightest flavour, while curry leaves, rosemary and thyme can go in early with hot oil or slow-cooked dishes. Extra mint can be dried or turned into chutney, and leftover stems can be frozen in ice cube trays with a little water.

Final thoughts

Start small with three pots, pick herbs you already cook with, give them sun and good drainage, and water by touch rather than by habit. Expect to lose a plant or two in the first season; that is part of learning. Within a month or two you will be snipping your own leaves, and the flavour in a cup of tea or a bowl of raita makes the effort worthwhile.

How to care for houseplants (even if you forget to water them)

Home & Life Hacks · 6 min read

If every plant you bring home ends up crispy or drooping within a month, you are not cursed. Usually the plant was wrong for the spot, or the watering routine did not suit your memory. Choose forgiving plants, set up a few simple systems and you can have a green home without being a gardening expert.

Start with plants that forgive neglect

Some species store water in their leaves or roots and shrug off a missed week or two. Good beginner choices include:

• Snake plant (Sansevieria): tolerates low light and needs water only every two to three weeks.
• ZZ plant: thick, water-storing rhizomes make it very drought tolerant.
• Money plant (pothos): a favourite across Indian homes; it droops visibly when thirsty and bounces back after a drink.
• Aloe vera and jade plant: succulents that prefer a dry spell to constant moisture.
• Spider plant: hardy, quick to grow and good at forgiving the odd lapse.
• Rubber plant: sturdy leaves, fine with bright indirect light.

Avoid fussy ones such as ferns, calatheas and peace lilies for now, since they like steady moisture and humidity.

Overwatering kills more plants than forgetting

It sounds odd, but a plant sitting in soggy soil suffocates, because roots need air as much as water, and then rots. Forgetful owners often have the advantage. The goal is to water thoroughly, then let the soil dry to a suitable level before watering again. Yellowing lower leaves, a musty smell and mushy stems usually point to too much water, while crispy brown tips, wrinkled leaves and soil pulling away from the pot suggest too little.

Check the soil, not the calendar

Instead of watering on fixed days, push a finger about 2 to 3 cm into the soil. For most leafy plants, water when it feels dry at that depth. For succulents and snake plants, wait until the soil is dry nearly all the way down. A wooden skewer or chopstick pushed into the pot works too: if it comes out clean and dry, it is time. When you do water, do it slowly until it drains from the bottom, then empty the saucer so roots are not left standing in water.

Let the system remember for you

1. Tie it to a routine: check your plants every Sunday morning with your tea. Checking is not the same as watering, so you only add water if needed.
2. Use a reminder: a repeating phone alarm labelled "touch the soil" costs nothing.
3. Self-watering trick: poke a tiny hole in the cap of a bottle, fill it with water and push it upside down into the soil, or use a clay spike. Cotton rope with one end in a water jar and the other in the pot also feeds slowly.
4. Group thirsty plants together so you notice them, and keep the toughest ones in less convenient spots.
5. Put plants where you will see them, such as near the kettle, the sink or the dining table. Out of sight really is out of mind.

Going on holiday? Water everything well before you leave, move plants away from direct sun, and use the bottle or rope method. Most of the hardy plants above will manage a week or two without any help.

Get the light right

Light is the plant's food, so matching the plant to the light in your home matters as much as watering. A window facing east gets gentle morning sun, which suits most plants. South and west windows can be very strong in Indian summers and may scorch leaves, so use a thin curtain or place the plant a metre back. Low-light corners suit snake plants, ZZ plants and pothos, though they will grow slower. If a plant becomes tall, pale and leggy, it is stretching for light and needs a brighter place. Turn pots a quarter turn each week for even growth.

Pick the right pot and soil

A pot must have drainage holes. If you love a decorative pot without holes, keep the plant in a plain plastic pot inside it and lift it out to water. Terracotta pots breathe and dry faster, which helps overwaters; plastic holds moisture longer, which helps forgetters. Use a well-draining potting mix, for instance garden soil mixed with cocopeat, sand or perlite and some compost, rather than dense clay soil. For succulents, add extra sand or grit.

Feeding, cleaning and repotting

Plants need little feeding. A diluted liquid fertiliser or a spoonful of compost or vermicompost every month or two during the growing season is plenty, and none in the cooler months. Wipe dust from leaves with a damp cloth, since a layer of it blocks light. Repot when roots poke through the drainage holes or the plant dries out within a day or two, usually every one or two years, moving up only one pot size.

Spot problems early

Sign	Likely cause	What to do
Yellow lower leaves	Too much water	Let the soil dry, check drainage
Brown, crispy tips	Underwatering or dry air	Water deeply, trim brown tips
Long, pale stems	Not enough light	Move closer to a window
Tiny flies near soil	Constantly wet soil	Let the top layer dry out
White cottony bits	Mealybugs	Wipe with soapy water or diluted neem oil

Final thoughts

Choose tough plants, match them to your light, check the soil with your finger and let a small routine do the remembering. If you have pets or small children, check whether a plant is toxic before buying, since some common ones, such as pothos and aloe, can upset stomachs if chewed. Treat every dead plant as a lesson, not a verdict, and your green corner will keep growing.