Mostly, a LOT of space. Do some research on each of the herbs you want, and check on the mature size of each one. I think you're in for a shock! Of course, potted herbs will always be stunted to some extent, but when a plant wants to grow, it will and it's the below-ground bits you need to be concerned about, because a healthy root-system is what gives you a healthy plant. You can forget entirely about trying to grow herbs on a window-sill. For one thing, you'll be hard-pressed to fit any half-decent-sized pot on your normal window sill. For another, your plants might get light, but it will be filtered through the glass, so your plant misses out on some of the valuable rays the sun provides. You'll have difficulty providing good drainage for plants indoors. Excess water has to drain to somewhere, so people usually put a collection saucer underneath the pot. This means that the plants' roots are constantly in water - very few of the popular culinary herbs will tolerate this. So - you'll need a special growing area which has a constant temperature to suit each of the plants in it; you'll need grow-lights; you'll need a solution to the drainage problem; you'll need adequate air circulation. You can expect your plants to get attacked by assorted bugs and diseases, since they won't have access to Nature's own protective devices, such as predator bugs. In short, plants weren't made to grow inside houses! This question has been asked many times before. Try using the search facility at the bottom of the main page. Some people live in a climate where they have no choice but to have plants indoors - but they have to be satisfied with less-than-optimum plants.

Also bear in mind that basil is a Mediterranean herb, meaning it LOVES light & heat. Often even a south-facing a winter windowsill fails to provide much light (short days, screens, curtains) and at night windows transmit a LOT of cold! Second thing to remember is that basil is an ANNUAL--all it wants is to bloom and set seed, and then die, its life cycle completed. So its days are numbered no matter where it is growing. You would do well to consider the dwarf varieties of basil if you are determined to have it indoors --spicy globe, for example. The best (IMHO) basil, Genovese, will not be happy for long in an indoors environment. Parsley, if you can accommodate its taproot, probably would do OK since it is tolerant of some shade and definitely is OK with cooler temperatures. A set of inexpensive fluorescent shop lights (Gro-lights are not necessary) would help things along. For a number of years I successfully have wintered over several rosemary plants and a fairly large sweet marjoram plant indoors under lights. Basil seems prone to dropping its leaves, whitefly, and mites, so after trying a couple of times I gave that up. I make a large supply of pesto (using just olive oil & basil, adding pine nuts & garlic when ready to use) that I freeze in ice cube trays or as patties on cookie sheets for the winter. Also I have found that Red Rubin basil is one cultivar that will retain its flavor for a couple of years at least when dried. Since it already is dark, unlike the green basils that darken unappetizingly when dried, it looks fine and is great in winter tomato sauces, chili, etc.

I don't know the temperature in your location - we are still getting snow and below-freezing temperatures, but I suspect zone 8 to be warmer? But anyways, just because plants can survive frosts and cold temperatures, doesn't mean that it is advisable to buy plants raised in greenhouses and move them immediately to cold, outdoor locations. It would be like taking you in shorts and a tank top from a beach in July and plopping you in your backyard in January. Ouch! There was not chance to acclimate to the temperature, wind, rain/snow, and so on. I would opt for keeping the plants indoors until the weather is starts to warm and become mild for spring -- which it could already be in your location for all I know. When you move them outdoors, they will need to be hardened off. Look that term up in google or back posts here. FataMorgana

Actually keeping your seed in the fridge might not be the best idea - unless they were sealed in a jar with a packet of silica gel. Because your fridge is pretty humid, too humid for many seeds. Your plastic container is probably nowhere near as air-tight as you might think. Just keep your seed packets in an index card box in a cool dry place. They will still last for years, in most cases. I used to use a 1:1 mixture of coarse vermiculite and sphagnum peat moss for a seedling mixture - in fact for my potting mix too. It worked well for decades. But in the last 15 years or so I've not been able to lay hands on coarse vermiculite so I've switched to a 1:1 mixture of sphagnum peat and a good bagged soil, like Miracle Grow garden soil. It's not ideal but it has worked for me. Recently (like a week or so ago) I ended up using straight MG potting medium as seed starter because that's what I had on hand. Again, not ideal - but things are still coming up. I don't see anything particularly wrong with your current mix, except maybe the polystyrene beads. Those really contribute Zilch to your potting mix. But why are you steam treating it? All those ingredients (except the polystyrene beads perhaps) come to you relatively sterile out of the bag. I don't think it probably hurts anything, but I have never sterilized new potting soil nor did I ever see my mother do the same so that's at least 75 years of combined experience that has generated a rather large body of anecdotal evidence that says it isn't necessary. I know a lot of people germinate in plastic bags but I don't think its a very easy or forgiving method. I'd invest in some plastic domes instead. They are much easier to vent and far less likely to lead to damping off. Also I have noticed that when there is condensation it tends to form on the sides where it will drip down harmlessly. Also, the domes can be easily removed and wiped down. A dome is MUCH easier to adjust, quicker to deal with, unlikely to sag down onto the new plants, and because it is easy and quick to deal with, people are much more likely to attend to them in a timely fashion. Or you can go commando. In 40 years of seed starting I've never used a dome until just this year, and that was for starting some curry leaf plant seeds. If you keep the soil evenly moist, humidity isn't normally an issue, even in a dry region. Don't give up, but do try it on a smaller scale. If your basil isn't even coming up there's a problem. That stuff grows like a weed. Even you suspect damping off (and I do as well). Be brave, go commando! Lose the plastic bags! And the polystyrene and the steaming of new soil. This post was edited by zensojourner on Sat, Sep 27, 14 at 18:55