Grow french tarragon indoors
2 Ways to grow French tarragon indoors
French tarragon is one of my most favourite herbs:
- A very delicate aromatic flavour
- One of the most important herbs in French cooking
- Ideal for seasoning salads, sauces, pickles, etc
This time of year (November) it simply won’t grow outside but it’s very easy to grow indoors.
Option 1 – Kitchen floor with grow light
The picture on the right shows a French tarragon plant growing on the kitchen floor using a grow light.
There are 3 important elements to growing French tarragon:
- Tarragon needs at least 8 hours of ‘sunlight’ per day. My kitchen is north facing (quite dark) which is why I use a grow light.
- The second element is water – make sure you water regularly, tarragon can have quite deep roots, so make sure your water reaches the bottom roots. In addition spraying them a couple of times per week with water also helps.
- Thirdly make sure you use well drained soil, adding fertiliser or plant food when needed.
The French tarragon is the picture was growing outside, in the same pot and I simply put it indoors at the end of the summer.
It is not very big because I have used it often to cook tarragon chicken. I will be adding my own recipe but a great one is the one from Nicky’s kitchen
Option 2 – Grow French tarragon on a window sill
The second option to grow French tarragon indoors is to simply grow it on a window sill
The picture on the right shows one I planted last week. A few important items:
- You can’t grow tarragon from seed, easiest option is to use a plug plant.
- OK they prefer indirect sunlight but (especially in England) will be fine on a south facing window sill.
- Don’t forget to water them !!!
If you want to grow tarragon then do get the right type that will suit you. There are 3 tarragon types:
Russian – easy to grow (from seed)
French – great flavour but not easy to grow
Spanish or Mexican – not a good as the French one for cooking but easy to grow.
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