Chives, Mint and Basil on a Windowsill: Fresh Herbs Indoors All Year

A bright windowsill can keep a kitchen in fresh herbs all year, including the short, dark months, whether those fall in December in London or June in Melbourne. The usual starter trio, chives, mint and basil, behave very differently indoors, though, and most of the trouble traces back to two things: too little light and too much water.

Horticulturists at Iowa State University put it plainly. Light is “typically the most limiting factor” for herbs grown inside, and most herbs want around eight hours of direct light a day. Get the light right, water less than feels natural, and match each herb to the spot it can actually handle.

How much light does a windowsill herb need?

More than most windows give in winter. Some herbs get by on six hours of direct light a day, according to the same Iowa State guide, but most want eight or more.

Which window counts as bright depends on where you live. In the Northern Hemisphere the sun sits to the south, so a south-facing window gets the most of it. In the Southern Hemisphere, including most of Australia, flip that: a north-facing window is the sunny one. East and west windows give a few hours of direct sun and less in winter. A small east-facing window in a high-latitude city like London will fall well short of six hours in December, so plan on extra light there.

That extra light is easy to add. Iowa State suggests a full-spectrum grow light (a small LED panel or bulb sold for growing plants is enough for a few pots) placed 15 to 30 cm from the leaves, converted from the guide’s 6 to 12 inches, on a timer for 12 to 16 hours a day. Pale, stretched stems leaning hard toward the glass are the plant asking for more.

Chives, mint and basil are not equally easy

All three appear on Iowa State’s list of the best herbs to grow indoors. They still ask for different things, and knowing which is which saves a lot of mid-winter disappointment.

Chives are the steadiest start. They’re a perennial that forms clumps, and NC State Extension notes they can be “grown on a patio or in a sunny window indoors”. Harvest by clipping leaves at the base once the plant is about 15 cm tall, and it keeps coming back. Clumps can be divided in spring or autumn.

Mint grows fast and needs a pot of its own. It spreads by rhizomes, underground stems that run sideways and send up new shoots, and NC State says it is “best grown in a container as it spreads rampantly.” Indoors that vigour is useful, because it means a steady supply of leaves for tea and cooking.

Basil needs the best spot you have. It’s a warm-climate plant and sensitive to cold. A 2023 peer-reviewed review of basil research found that harvested basil leaves are injured below 12 °C, and that below 10 °C the injury is “severe if not total”, showing up as leaf spotting, browning and wilting. Those figures come from stored leaves rather than growing plants, but they show how little cold basil tolerates. Window glass is often the coldest surface near a plant on a winter night, so give basil your sunniest window and move the pot back from the pane after dark.

Why does supermarket basil give up so fast?

Partly because of how it’s sold. A supermarket pot is usually a dense crowd of seedlings sharing one small pot of mix, which suits a shop shelf better than a windowsill. Gently splitting the clump into two or three pots, each with fresh potting mix and a drainage hole, gives every plant more room and more light.

It also helps to expect an end date. Basil is an annual, and Iowa State’s advice is to discard old annual herbs after several harvests and start new plants. A pot that fades after a few months has usually done its job.

What goes wrong with watering?

Wet soil is the easiest mistake to make. Iowa State’s advice is to let the soil dry between waterings, “as most herbs do not tolerate wet soils”. A quick finger check in the top of the pot tells you: if it’s dry, water; if it’s still damp, wait.

Constantly wet mix also draws fungus gnats, the small dark flies that hover around houseplants. Their larvae feed on fungus growing in decaying organic matter, they breed most in overwatered houseplants, and letting the soil dry between waterings helps reduce them.

The pot itself can help or hurt:

• Drainage hole, always. Water needs somewhere to go.
• Right-sized pots. Containers that are too large “stay wet too long”.
• Terracotta if you tend to overwater. Clay is porous, so it dries out faster than plastic.
• Feed lightly. A general liquid fertiliser mixed at half or quarter of the label strength, from spring through summer, and none in winter.

Is there a way to skip the soil?

Yes. B.A. Kratky, a horticulturist at the University of Hawaii, published a non-circulating hydroponic method in 2004 that needs no pump and no electricity. A plant sits in a net pot held by a lid, over a container filled once with nutrient solution, and as the level drops the roots grow into the moist air gap above it. His paper mentions herbs as a suitable crop, but its tests used lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes, so treat a jar of basil as an experiment. One rule matters: once roots fill that air gap, don’t raise the solution level again, because the paper warns that even about 2 cm can injure the plant.

Harvest often, and the plant grows back fuller

Regular cutting is part of the care. For basil, cut just above a leaf or pair of leaves and leave about 10 to 15 cm of stem to regrow. Perennials like chives and mint should be cut more gently, taking only the top third of growth at a time. Expect a slightly milder flavour than from the garden: Iowa State notes that many indoor herbs are “not as strong or as intensely flavored” as those grown outside.

What this means for you

• New to this: begin with chives or mint. They forgive mistakes and regrow quickly.
• Want basil: split the supermarket clump, give it the sunniest window, keep it off cold glass at night, and add a grow light if the days are short.
• Watering: check the soil first, every time, and let the top dry out between drinks.
• One herb per pot, with a drainage hole.

Which herb is on your windowsill right now, and which way does the window face? Hit reply and tell us.

How we made this: AI tools helped us research and draft this post. We checked every figure, quote and link against its original source before publishing. Figures are as of 8 November 2026.

Grown with intention by Dynamic Nexus Garden.