My apartment has a south-facing balcony — not ideal for sun exposure in the Southern Hemisphere, but workable. In September I decided to try growing herbs. Five months in, I have something resembling a small productive garden and a series of hard-won lessons.

Starting small on purpose

The mistake I see people make online is starting too big. They buy 12 different plants at once, don’t know what each one needs, and watch them die one by one while feeling increasingly hopeless.

I started with four plants:

  • Basil (Ocimum basilicum) — a gamble given my limited sun, but I love the smell
  • Rosemary — hardy, drought-tolerant, basically unkillable
  • Mint — technically weedy enough to grow in a cardboard box, contained in its own pot for obvious reasons
  • Chives — undemanding, useful for cooking, grows fast

Four plants I could actually pay attention to. Four plants I could learn from.

The container question

Terracotta pots look great. Terracotta pots also dry out extremely fast in Johannesburg’s dry winter, which is when I discovered the afternoon sun reflecting off the building wall was much more intense than I expected.

I switched to plastic pots with deep saucers. Less aesthetic. Much better for moisture retention. The basil immediately stopped wilting by 2pm.

Rules I now follow:

  • Drainage holes are mandatory. Waterlogged roots kill plants faster than drought.
  • Pot size matters. Herbs need room to establish root systems. Too small = stressed plant that bolts to seed.
  • Soil, not garden compost. A quality potting mix with some coarse sand mixed in for drainage.

Light: the real limiting factor

South-facing in the Southern Hemisphere means sun most of the day in summer, very little in winter. I mitigated this by positioning pots at the balcony rail where they get the best exposure. The rosemary and chives tolerate low light well. Basil sulked all winter and then exploded back when the days lengthened.

Water schedule

Once a day in summer (more in heatwaves), every second day in winter. Water in the morning — it gives the leaves time to dry before cool nights and reduces fungal risk.

The mint is on its own schedule and basically tells me when it’s thirsty by very dramatically drooping. It always recovers within an hour of watering, which is either reassuring or embarrassing, I’m not sure which.

Month one results

Everything survived. The rosemary has grown 15cm. The chives have been cut back twice and come back denser. The mint is aggressively colonising its pot. The basil is alive but cautious.

In Part 2 I’ll reflect on what growing things has unexpectedly taught me about attention and patience.