guide
Jun 2026 9 min
How to grow herbs in containers: the 8 that earn their pot
Basil, thyme, rosemary, mint, parsley, chives, cilantro and oregano — pot sizes, the ones that hate sharing, and windowsill reality.
1–3 gal · 4–6 h sun Read
Herbs are the one crop where a small pot on a doorstep genuinely replaces a supermarket habit. A single thyme plant costs less than two packets of cut herbs and lives for five years; a rosemary in a 3-gallon pot will outlast the balcony you keep it on.
The failure mode is almost always water rather than light. Mediterranean herbs — rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage — come from thin, dry soil and rot in a pot that's kept damp, while basil, parsley and cilantro want the opposite. Group them by thirst, keep mint on its own, and most of the rest looks after itself.