DIY Indoor Herb Garden: How to Grow Herbs in Repurposed Containers

Most herb garden containers cost between $15 and $40 each — but the average apartment kitchen already holds at least a dozen items that work just as well for a DIY indoor herb garden. Mason jars, tin cans, old colanders, wooden crates, and even worn-out boots have all been used successfully to grow basil, mint, chives, and parsley indoors. The catch is knowing which household materials are actually safe for edible herbs, and how to handle drainage when your "pot" was never designed to have a hole in the bottom. Get those two things right, and repurposed containers become one of the smartest choices you can make for a small-space herb garden.

Which Materials Are Safe for Growing Food?

Food safety is the question most beginner guides skip entirely, and it matters more than aesthetics. Not every household container is appropriate for growing herbs you plan to eat.

• Glass (mason jars, pickle jars, old drinking glasses): Completely food-safe. No leaching risk whatsoever. The only limitation is that glass doesn't breathe, so moisture management is critical.
• Uncoated tin cans (food cans, coffee tins): Generally safe for short-term growing. Bare steel can rust over time, but for a single growing season, the risk to edible herbs is minimal. Avoid cans with a plastic lining that contains BPA — older cans and most coffee tins are typically unlined.
• Painted or decorated tins: Use caution. Older paints, especially on vintage tins, may contain lead. If you're unsure of the paint's age or origin, skip it for edible herbs and use it for ornamentals instead.
• Food-grade plastic (yogurt containers, deli tubs, large water jugs): Safe. Look for the recycling symbol with numbers 2, 4, or 5 — these are the food-safe plastics. Avoid number 3 (PVC) and number 7 (mixed/unknown), which can leach chemicals into soil over time.
• Wooden crates and boxes: Safe if untreated or treated with food-safe oil (like linseed oil). Avoid wood treated with CCA (chromated copper arsenate) — a preservative common in older pressure-treated lumber that is genuinely toxic to edible plants.
• Ceramic mugs and bowls: Safe, provided the glaze is lead-free. Most modern ceramics sold in the US are fine; antique or imported pieces with brightly colored glazes are the ones to test or avoid.

When in doubt, line the interior of any questionable container with a food-safe plastic bag or a cut piece of burlap before adding soil. This creates a barrier between the material and your growing medium.

How to Actually Solve the Drainage Problem

The most common advice for containers without holes is to "add a layer of rocks at the bottom." It's well-intentioned but wrong. Research on container drainage has consistently shown that a gravel layer at the base of a pot does not improve drainage — it actually raises the water table inside the container, keeping roots wetter than they would be in soil alone. The water still has nowhere to go.

Here are the approaches that genuinely work:

• Drill or punch drainage holes. For tin cans, a hammer and nail work fine. For glass jars, a diamond-tipped drill bit (available for a few dollars) creates a clean hole without cracking. For plastic containers, any sharp drill bit does the job. This is always the best solution when the container allows it.
• Double-container method. Place a smaller pot with drainage holes inside the decorative repurposed container. The inner pot drains freely; the outer container catches the water. You get the aesthetic of the repurposed item without the drainage problem.
• Reservoir planting for mason jars. If you want to use a glass jar without drilling, grow herbs hydroponically using a net cup insert and water with added liquid nutrients. Basil, mint, and green onions all do well this way.
• Wick watering system. Thread a cotton wick through a small hole in the bottom of a plastic container into a reservoir below. The plant draws up only what it needs, preventing waterlogging. This works especially well for herbs like thyme and rosemary that prefer drier conditions.
• Perlite-heavy soil mix. If you absolutely cannot add drainage holes, use a mix that's at least 40% perlite. This dramatically improves aeration and slows root rot, buying you more time between waterings. You'll still need to water carefully and sparingly.

Matching Household Containers to the Right Herbs

Different herbs have different root depths and moisture preferences. Matching them to the right repurposed container makes a real difference in how well they grow.

Shallow containers (under 4 inches deep)

Baking tins, sheet pans, wide ceramic bowls, and old picture frames lined with landscape fabric all fall into this category. These suit herbs with shallow root systems: chives, oregano, thyme, and marjoram. Shallow containers are also perfect for microgreens — wheatgrass, radish shoots, and pea shoots — which are ready to harvest in 7 to 14 days and need almost no depth at all.

Medium containers (4 to 8 inches deep)

Standard mason jars (quart-size), large coffee tins, colanders, wooden wine boxes, and old boots work well here. This depth suits basil, parsley, cilantro, and mint. Mint especially benefits from a container that constrains its roots — it's an aggressive spreader, and an old coffee tin is actually an ideal size to keep it manageable.

Deeper containers (8 inches or more)

Five-gallon buckets, large stock pots, old coolers, and wooden crates give roots room to run. Use these for rosemary, dill, lemon verbena, and larger basil plants. Rosemary in particular needs good depth and excellent drainage — it's one of the few herbs that genuinely suffers in a shallow container.

Setting Up Your Indoor Container Herb Garden

Once you've chosen your containers and confirmed they're food-safe, the setup process is straightforward.

• Step 1 — Clean thoroughly. Wash every repurposed container with hot soapy water and rinse well. For tins that held strong-smelling foods (fish, certain sauces), a white vinegar rinse helps neutralize residual odors that can affect soil pH.
• Step 2 — Address drainage using one of the methods above before adding any soil.
• Step 3 — Choose the right growing medium. Standard potting mix works for most herbs, but avoid garden soil — it compacts in containers and suffocates roots. For herbs like basil and parsley, a general-purpose potting mix with added perlite is ideal. For rosemary and thyme, use a cactus/succulent mix or a potting mix blended 50/50 with coarse sand.
• Step 4 — Plant seeds or transplants. Seeds are far cheaper than seedlings, and growing from seed in a repurposed container is genuinely satisfying. A curated variety pack like the Herb Seed Collection gives you multiple herb options to try across different containers, so you can see which ones thrive in your specific light and temperature conditions.
• Step 5 — Position for light. Most culinary herbs need 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. A south-facing windowsill is ideal; east or west-facing windows work for less demanding herbs like mint and chives. If your apartment doesn't get reliable direct sun — which is common in north-facing units or apartments surrounded by other buildings — a basic LED grow light placed 6 to 12 inches above the plants for 12 to 14 hours per day will compensate effectively.
• Step 6 — Water mindfully. The most common mistake with indoor container herbs is overwatering, especially in containers with limited drainage. Stick your finger an inch into the soil — if it's still damp, wait another day. If it's dry, water until it runs out the drainage holes (or, if your container has no holes, add water slowly in small amounts).

When You Want a Little More Structure

Repurposed containers are ideal for experienced or adventurous beginners, but if you're starting your very first indoor herb garden and want something more guided, there's a middle path. The Indoor Herb Starter Kit includes seeds, a growing medium, and clear instructions — you can use it alongside your repurposed containers to build confidence before going fully DIY. Similarly, if you want the fastest possible results in shallow repurposed containers like baking tins or sheet pans, the Microgreen Starter Kit is worth considering — microgreens germinate in days and are ready to eat in under two weeks, which makes them a genuinely motivating first crop for beginners.

Keeping Your Container Garden Productive Long-Term

Repurposed container gardens are low-cost to start, but they do require a little ongoing attention to stay productive. A few habits that make a real difference:

• Harvest regularly. Cutting herbs back by a third every week or two encourages bushy, productive growth. Herbs like basil that are allowed to flower will slow their leaf production — pinch off any flower buds as soon as they appear.
• Feed every two to three weeks. Container plants exhaust nutrients faster than in-ground plants because water flushes nutrients out with each watering. A diluted liquid fertilizer (half the recommended strength) keeps herbs growing vigorously without burning roots in small containers.
• Rotate toward the light. Plants in window containers tend to lean toward the light source. A quarter-turn every few days keeps growth even.
• Repot when roots outgrow the container. If you see roots circling the bottom of a container or emerging from drainage holes, it's time to move up to a larger repurposed container. This is a good problem to have — it means your herb is thriving.

A kitchen windowsill full of herbs growing in old coffee tins and mason jars isn't just practical — it's genuinely one of the most satisfying things you can do with items that would otherwise go into recycling. The food safety concerns are manageable, the drainage problems are solvable, and the cost savings are real. Start with one container, one herb, and one sunny spot. The rest follows naturally.

Meta description: Grow a DIY indoor herb garden using mason jars, tin cans, and kitchen castoffs. Learn which materials are food-safe, how to fix drainage, and which herbs thrive where.

Suggested tags: Indoor Herb Garden, DIY Container Gardening, Apartment Gardening, Herb Growing Tips, Repurposed Planters

Sources

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