How to Grow a Medicinal Herb Garden in Pots (Even on a Balcony)
No garden? No problem. Almost every classic medicinal herb grows happily in a container. A few pots on a balcony, patio, or sunny doorstep can produce enough chamomile, calendula and lavender to keep you in teas and salves all year. Here’s how to set it up properly the first time.
Step 1: Choose the Right Pots
Bigger is nearly always better. Small pots dry out in hours in summer and stunt root growth. As a rule of thumb:
| Herb | Minimum Pot Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chamomile, calendula, feverfew, California poppy | 20–25 cm (2–5 L) | Shallow-rooted, fine in window boxes |
| Lavender, yarrow, echinacea | 30 cm (10 L) | Perennials — give the roots room |
| Marshmallow, chicory, evening primrose | 35–40 cm (15 L+) | Deep tap roots need deep pots |
Terracotta breathes and suits drought-lovers like lavender; plastic holds moisture longer and suits marshmallow and chamomile. Whatever you choose, drainage holes are non-negotiable.
Step 2: Get the Compost Mix Right
A simple mix that works for nearly all medicinal herbs: two parts peat-free multipurpose compost to one part horticultural grit or perlite. Most medicinal herbs evolved on lean, free-draining ground — rich compost alone produces lush, floppy plants with weaker flavour and aroma. Skip the feed for lavender and yarrow entirely; a light liquid feed once a month in summer is plenty for the rest.
Step 3: Sowing Seeds in Containers
Sow most herbs in spring (March–May) or late summer. Surface-sow tiny seeds like chamomile — they need light to germinate — and cover larger seeds like calendula with about 1 cm of compost. Keep the surface just moist until seedlings appear, then thin to the strongest plants. Full sowing depths, spacing and germination times for all ten classic herbs are covered in the guide that comes with the kit we reviewed here.
Step 4: Position and Watering
Six hours of sun is the target for nearly every herb on the classic list. On a balcony, that usually means the sunniest rail or wall. Water when the top few centimetres of compost feel dry — pots dry faster than beds, so check daily in high summer. Mulching the surface with grit keeps roots cool and stops compost crusting over.
Which Herbs Should You Start With?
If you’re new to this, start with calendula, chamomile and lavender — all three are forgiving, productive in pots, and cover the classic bases of skin salves and calming teas. Our full guide to the 10 best medicinal herbs to grow at home ranks all of them by difficulty and traditional use.
The cheapest way to get all ten at once is a bundled seed kit rather than individual packets — we’ve done the maths in our cost comparison. The Medicinal Garden Kit includes 4,818 seeds plus a guide that covers container growing, harvesting, and turning each herb into simple traditional remedies.
365-day money-back guarantee | Non-GMO seeds
Harvesting From Pots
Container herbs are best picked little and often — regular light harvesting actually encourages more flowers and leaves. Pick flowers (chamomile, calendula, lavender) mid-morning once the dew has dried, when their aromatic oils are at their peak. Then make sure none of it goes to waste: our guide on drying and storing medicinal herbs covers air-drying, oven-drying and storage jars step by step.
