How To Grow Herbs From Seed Successfully Every Time

Growing herbs from seed is a fun and very rewarding project. The satisfaction of being able to say “I grew that” as you serve them up for dinner is hard to match. Not to mention, growing your own food is both good for your health (and the planet’s).  

Like most things, a little background knowledge and research on the basics is going to drastically increase your chances of success. Thankfully, you’re in the right place to do just that! 

5 Essential Tips For Growing Herbs From Seed

We recommend taking a moment to think about what you are going to do with your herbs as they sprout and grow larger, as this will influence the type of equipment you need. The main decision you want to make ahead of time, is whether you going to be growing your herbs INDOORS or OUT? 

If you are going to be transplanting your herb seedlings OUTDOORS, then you’ll want to:

1. Look at some historical climate data for your area 
2.  Figure out when the last spring frost typically occurs (you can also just google “when is last spring frost for New York City, for example)
3. Deduct 6-8 weeks from this date
4. Aim to plant your herb seeds around this time
5. Make sure that the growing medium you use for herb seed starting is large enough to allow the roots to develop somewhat over this period (we’d suggest at least a 2-3” pot)

Coco coir is a great growing medium to look for, and its what we include with our Garden Trio Kits The coco coir in our kits is enriched with plant food and worm castings so it is good for at least 6-8 weeks, but if you’re using straight coir then make sure you supplement it with some fertilizer. We prefer coir over peat moss, since it’s an agricultural by-product and has a lower carbon footprint. 

Product	Herb Garden Trio	Herb Starter Kit
Includes	Everything you need to grow from seed to harvest	Seeds, labels and starter pods
Not included, but required	Sunshine and water	Sunshine, water, potting mix, pots
Best for	A sunny windowsill indoors	Indoors or Outdoors
	LEARN MORE	LEARN MORE

If you are growing herbs INDOORS then the ultimate goal is likely to grow your herbs in pots. Some herbs such as dill, parsley and coriander don’t particularly enjoy being transplanted, so if there’s an option to place these seeds directly into their final home that’s what we’d recommend. 

Are Herbs Hard to Grow?

Herbs are one of the easier edible plants to grow at home, and are generally suitable for beginner gardeners. Some of the easiest are chives, basil, cilantro and parsley. 

Another thing to keep in mind when selecting your herbs is that within most common herb varieties (eg “Thai Basil”) there are dozens of different cultivars or ‘strains’. Some are short and compact, others are tall. Some have been bred for pest, disease and low light tolerance, others are not. When you shop for seeds at a ‘big box’ store you’re likely to get the cheapest and most generic cultivars the seed packager was able to get their hands on. One of the things we pride ourselves on here at Urban Leaf is our careful curation of cultivars that are specifically selected for indoor and urban growers. More on that in this blog, if you’re interested.

How to Start Growing Herbs Indoors?

If you are starting to grow your herb garden seeds indoors, then you might want to consider some sort of germination tray. 

These can be helpful to 

• serve as a tray for water (as it helps to keep your growing medium in a little bit of water so they are always hydrated) and 
• the lid can help trap humidity 

Although these are available as ready-made kits, our personal preference is to avoid the extra plastic and just reuse something you already have - this blog covers a few such ideas.  

You can also check out our How to Grow Indoor blogs for more ideas.

When is the Best Time to Plant Herbs Indoors?

You can plant your herbs indoors all throughout the year, but we recommend that you start growing these herbs during early spring or March. This will mean that as the herbs mature they are doing so in Spring/Summer when days are longer and there’s more natural light. One of the benefits of growing herbs indoors of course is that you can do it any time of year. Just be mindful that if you don’t have at least 4-6 hours a day of natural light then you will need to supplement it with a grow light. 

What are Some of the Fastest Growing Herbs from Seed?

If you are interested in starting your own herb garden but have little time to spare for planting and caring, here are some of our recommended fastest growing herbs for you to plant.

1. Dill: from sprout to harvest, you can expect them at about 40 days
2. Cilantro: You can harvest your own cilantro leaves after 50-60 days
3. Basil: Same with cilantro, after 50-60 days, you can pick your own fresh basil leaves

Which Herb Seeds Need Soaking? 

One day before you plan to get set up, it’s a good idea to soak some herb seeds. Although it's not essential, soaking herb seeds helps soften the hard outer shell of some varieties thereby increasing their germination rates. Varieties that benefit from pre-soaking for 12-24hrs include parsley and coriander.