5 Useful Medicinal Plants For Every Home Garden

Many learned authors have mentioned medicinal plants in ancient Unani texts, Chinese literature, and Egyptian papyrus. People were using Herbs and medicinal plants as early as 4000 years ago, from Unani Hakims and Indian Vaids to European and Mediterranean cultures employing these herbs to heal people. Medicinal plants are utilized in medicines, food, cosmetics, and perfumes. But do you know you can grow these useful medicinal plants?

It doesn’t matter how small your garden is, as long as you’re cultivating something! If you have the luxury of growing vegetables at your home, you could also grow these useful medicinal plants. The great thing about many common useful medicinal plants is that most do just as well in pots as in-ground. Here we have come up with a list of versatile and easy to grow useful medicinal herbs in your home. Grow these useful medicinal plants from the garden to window sill baskets and pots.

List of  Useful Medicinal Plants For Your Home 

Peppermint- Versatile Medicinal Plant

Mint is a popular component in many Indian dishes, especially in summer. It possesses beneficial characteristics that can help treat digestion issues, dizziness, nausea, migraines, nasal congestion, dental health, dandruff and head lice, nipple pain related to breastfeeding, blood circulation issues, muscle pain, and skin or eye problems.

These useful medicinal plants also aid in weight loss and immunity enhancement. Plant this herb in your miniature garden to reap all of these advantages!

Growing Tips

Because mint spreads quickly, please keep it away from typical garden beds, or it will absorb nutrients and outgrow other plants. Mint should be grown in containers to prevent it from spreading wild in your garden.

These useful plants prefer shade but grow in full sun with regular watering. Still, keep them out of the hot afternoon heat. Mint may also thrive in partial shade, though it will be leggy and produce fewer, less delicious leaves.

These useful medicinal plants tolerate most soils but like a rich, slightly acidic to neutral pH. Drainage is also vital. Mint loves water, but soaked roots decay.

During dry spells, water your mint to keep it hydrated. These medicinal plants thrive in wet but not saturated soil. Water your plant if the soil feels dry an inch down. Wilting mint leaves indicate the plant needs more water. Water your mint early in the morning to keep it moist over the day.

Tulsi

Basil, commonly known as tulsi, is one of the most popular culinary herbs. The mint family (Lamiaceae) is native to southern Asia and the Pacific islands. You can utilize the scented leaves in fresh or dried form. Thai cuisine uses basil seedsBasil’s health benefits include dietary, herbal, and essential oil advantages. 

Traditional uses of these useful medicinal plants include treating snakebites, colds, and nasal inflammation caused by colds. Basil is high in antioxidants and micronutrients, including calcium and vitamin K. 

Growing Tips

Basil grows best in well-drained soil. Basil prefers damp soil but not too wet. Keeping them moist without drowning them can be tricky. Overwatering can promote mildew and rot on the stems, limiting growth. Irrigate plants with sufficient water once a week. Container basil needs more watering because the soil dries faster than ground soil. 

Water the plant from the bottom, avoiding the leaves and stems. The ideal option is a long soak. Drip irrigation also works for these useful medicinal plants. Mulching helps plants retain water and keeps weeds away.

These useful medicinal plants need lots of suns. Place your plants in a sunny place with 6-8 hours of sunlight every day, away from cold breezes. Indoors, set containers on a sunny windowsill.

Basil, like most plants, needs a nutrient boost. It would be best to fertilize indoor basil plants every four to six weeks and outdoor plants every two to three weeks. A well-balanced fertilizer with equal amounts of Nitrogen, potassium, and phosphate will help boost leaf production.

Chamomile

The ancient medicinal herb, Chamomile, has been used for thousands of years as a traditional cure for various ailments, including anxiety and gastrointestinal issues. Chamomile is a common herb in Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Chinese medicine, etc.

These useful medicinal plants are part of an ingredient in perfume, shampoo, and deodorant for pain, inflammation, allergies, and digestion.Chamomile tea helps relieve depression and enhance the quality of sleep. Many people also found it helpful in lowering blood sugar levels.

Growing tips

Chamomile isn’t a good bedding plant. You can use it as an underplanting in herb or vegetable gardens and pots. Chamomiles grow nicely in broad sun or mild shade. In hot climates, some shade is preferable (especially during the hot afternoon hours) to avoid burning the fragile blossoms. Sunlight speeds up growth, yet this plant grows naturally fast. 

Chamomile varieties flower well in rich organic soil. They may live in inferior soil mixes, although their stems will often be floppier. Chamomile prefers a pH of 5.6 to 7.5 in its soil. Inch-per-week watering for young chamomiles is best.

These useful medicinal plants become drought tolerant as they mature. It’s preferable to let plants dry between waterings. In hot temperatures, Chamomile needs extra moisture. 

These useful medicinal plants can survive at any summer temperature below 100°F. It enjoys temperatures between 60 and 68°F. Drought-tolerant, it thrives in humid regions. Chamomile grows swiftly without fertilizer and does not require feeding.

Vetiver

It is also known as khus, is a scented long grass that has been used for centuries in Indian folklore. Thus root water has the potential to reduce body heat. It reduces inflammation and soothes the body.You can also use the essential oils extracted from vetiver roots. It’s antibacterial and can cleanse, nourish, and repair the skin and hair.

You can also use the root fiber of these useful medicinal plants to weave carpets that help cool down the body while sleeping and increase oxygen levels.

Growing Tips

These useful medicinal plants are drought tolerant yet fragile when first planted. Water the plants frequently during the first six weeks and keep them moist. Vetiver can endure bore water but not long-term saltwater immersion. Anything containing Nitrogen in it is beneficial to these useful medicinal plants throughout their first year. Cow manure is used either dry or dissolved in water.

With enough water and nutrients, vetiver may withstand moderate shade, but not beneath trees. Compared to plants grown in the broad sun, gloomy plants grow slower and generate fewer roots and stems.

Leave your slips in the sun even while they are growing on water. Shading bare-rooted slips for a few days is the only exception.Plant a Vetiver hedge around the perimeter of your beds to provide mulch, retain moisture, and influence soil and insect ecology.

Keep your beds small, and the hedge clipped to roughly 30cm high for the optimum impact. These useful medicinal plants will also serve as a trellis supporting tomatoes, squashes, and other rambling plants. 

Lemon Grass

Lemongrass is a herb native to South India, although it is currently grown in many other nations worldwide. The plant’s stalks are commonly used in Asian cuisine, but lemongrass can also be brewed to make tea. 

Doctors are aware that tea can aid in the battle against free radicals, hence lowering the incidence of inflammation in the body. These useful medicinal plants contain anti-inflammatory chemicals.Inflammation plays a role in various adverse health issues, including pain and heart disease. 

Growing Tips

Lemongrass grows in full light in its natural habitat, even in hot climates. The plants require at least six hours of direct sunlight per day to meet their energy requirements. Plants that grow in the shade are sparse and may attract pests. 

These useful medicinal plants prefer loamy, rich soil. You may create this ideal soil by including a variety of soil amendments, such as compost, manure, and leaf mold, which are all enriching additives that can be used at planting time.

Lemongrass grows best in damp soil, but it can endure drought once established. A 3-inch layer of mulch can assist in maintaining soil moisture while also enriching the soil as it decomposes.

Lemongrass is grass, so it needs a lot of nitrogen-rich fertilizer to grow at its best. It’s possible to use a slow-release 6-4-0 fertilizer that will feed lemongrass all year long. You can also water these useful medicinal plants with manure tea, which will give them a few extra nutrients and help them grow faster.

(Also Read- Indoor kitchen Herbs)

Conclusion- Useful medicinal Plants

We are moving away from nature as our lifestyle becomes more technological. We can’t avoid nature because we are nature. Herbs are natural products with no side effects, are safe, eco-friendly, and readily available. Herbs are traditionally used to treat seasonal afflictions. We must promote these useful medicinal plants for the betterment of human health. 

Herbal medications are now seen as safer than synthetic drugs and harmful to humans and the environment. While herbs had been valued for their medicinal, flavoring, and aromatic properties for ages, modern synthetic goods temporarily eclipsed their value. The naive reliance on synthetics is finished, and people are returning to natural searching for a safer option. It’s time to go worldwide and promote the use and cultivation of useful medicinal plants.