Herbs prefer a south or west-facing window. But, even if they are getting 4 hours of sunlight, winter light coming in is less intense than summer light. They will be much happier if they have a supplemental source of light during the winter months. Plant grow lights are readily available now at places like Home Depot. Fluorescent lights are helpful. If you have room for a 'shop light' fixture using one fluorescent and one black light bulb will give you more of the light spectrum that plants like.

When potting herbs to bring indoors use two parts sterilized mix with one part sharp, or coarse sand, or perlite for good drainage. Telly's soil-less LC1 or Sunshine potting mix has been formulated to work well with a wide variety of plants and can be used 'as is' to pot most of your herbs. Herbs that are really woody, small shrubs or trees, like a little more substance to the mix. For plants such as lavender, rosemary, bay, and other woody herbs mix one part LC1 with one part Faford 52 and some shar sand, depending on plant type. Always make sure your pots have good drainage wholes.

The needs of each herb should be considered when watering. Growing plants require more water as do plants in clay pots and hanging baskets. However, care should be taken not to allow the roots to sit too soggy as they won't be able to breath and will rot. During the winter months herbs require less water than in the summer and should be watered less frequently. Always feel the soil, when a plant is dry water thoroughly until water runs through. Some herbs like to be evenly moist while others like to be on the dry side, learn the individual needs of the herbs you are growing.

During the winter months our homes become very dry, even if we're using a humidifier. Rather than watering, to provide the moisture in the air your herbs require, you can place them on a dish or tray of pebbles covered in water. The bottoms of the pots should not be in the water. Grouping the plants together will help increase humidity around them. Or you can run a little table top humidifier close to the plants two or three times a week. Some people are very succesfull with misting, however, more often than not, it encourages powdery mildew to grow. Inspect plants often for any signs of trouble. Use an organic 'safe' fungicide or a mixture of 1 tsp. dish soap with 1 tsp. baking soda in 1 quart of water to treat and discourage powdery mildew.

While most herbs tolerate a temperature range from 45 degrees to 75 degrees, in general they prefer 60 to 70 degrees while indoors to thrive and grow. Although some herbs, particularly woody tender perennials such as rosemary, thyme and the tender lavenders do very well in an unheated sunroom or garage with a window at 45 to 50 degrees. They will go dormant at these lower temperatures, but it is a nice way to winter them over to start the next growing season with larger plants.

Use fish emulsion or a good liquid fertilizer during the growing season. Always us half the recommended amount when mixing your liquide fertilizer with water. Feed your herbs every week during the summer, cutting back the frequencey in the fall. Only feed once a month during the winter, increasing the frequency again in spring.

A plant that is used to being in an outside situation with an abundance of light has leaves that are used to this situation. They are thick, strong and narrow and are less efficient in converting light energy into food. By placing your plant in shade or bringing it inside for part of the day you encourage it to produce leaves that are thinner, more delicate and broader, but also much more efficient in converting light into food. A plant that has not started to grow these leaves when brought in to a new, usually lower light situation, will often have the leaves that are used to abundant light turn brown and drop off. This is because they can't produce enough food. The plant tries to make food by shedding the inefficient leaves and producing more efficient leaves higher up and closer to the light source. This leaf drop can appear in days or even weeks from the time the plant is brought indoors if it hasn't been given a chance to adapt. Some herbs can't make the transition fast enough to survive. For example this is one of the reasons your rosemary dies in January, February or even March. Because it is slow growing, particulary at this time of year and hasn't been given a chance to adjust to the changes in light it slowly starves itself. Rosemary needs two or three weeks in partial shade, then another two or three weeks in deeper shade before bringing it indoors. When plenty of new growth appears it is ready to be brought inside.

Treat pests that find your herbs attractive by spraying or washing the plant with insecticidal soap once or twice a week for three or four weeks. To wash the plant put plastic wrap around the base of the plant over the top of the pot and swish it upside down, plant only, in soapy water. This will clear up most problems.