Herb and Herbal Matters » pots

What’s a good herb to grow for beginners?

pano — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 15:33:30 +0000

I’m interested in starting a vegetable/herb garden at home, but I am an absolute beginner. I don’t have much space in my backyard (9 m square), and was thinking it might be a good idea to start growing things in pots. I’d like to grow some herbs and basic salad vegetables, like lettuces, cucumbers and tomatoes.
I’d like some suggestions of where would be a good place to start for someone who’s never gardened before and who’s worried about killing more things than I grow.
Any advice is welcome and greatly appreciated.

Do i need different lighting for my herb garden?

pano — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 00:01:39 +0000

Hello,
right now i have a little herb garden growing in my bedroom. i have a pot with basil and parsley that’s still young and hasn’t grown much on my windowsill. Then i have 2 basil plants (Italian and sweet), 1 thyme, 1 chives, and 1 arugala plant on a raised shelf on my brother and I’s desk. They are in pots and i have a incandescent light bulb that gives them there heat and light i have a 60 watt bulb in there. I’m also thinking of adding a parsley plants or cilantro plant too. I just put in another light bulb on the opposite side to put out a little more light is this overkill? Also is flourecent or incandecent better for growth and i tried to plant them outdoors but after hours of preperation and digging and getting rid of all the grass and most of the weeds i ran into a rather large obstruction. It’s like a big big big root or rock or something so yah. Is my light sufficient to keep them happy and healthy because they all like hot full sun or partial shade.

Thanks for the help
It’s about 3 feet from a window and my mom said that it’s probably getting plenty of light idk though?

Do i need different lighting for my herb garden?

pano — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 21:37:07 +0000

Thanks for the help ALSO: it’s about 3 feet from a window and then probably 5 feet from another window or 6

Herb Garden Expert? Help Needed…?

pano — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:00:42 +0000

Hi all, My girlfriend and I recently put together our first ever herb garden on our balcony patio. We have multiple plants all in round pots which I believe are sufficient for their size, and they get plenty of sun (southern exposure, I live in Illinois). Oh and none grew from seed I bought small plants and repoted. Some plants are doing great some not so well… please give me some advice on what is going wrong….

tomato, basil, jalapeno, oregano, mint, rosemary, thyme, and sage all seem to be doing great!

now the problems…

parsley and cilantro – both did well for a few weeks then I noticed they were infested with these small larvae eating the leaves and small gnats, I believe they were fungus gnats and larvae… I was told to throw the plants out before they spread to the other plants, so i did, 2 plants down…

arugula – it did well for a few weeks also, after I tossed the infested parsley and cilantro I noticed the arugula had the same bugs, even more! Then it started to flower badly and I didn’t cut it. After some google research I decided to spray all the plants with a soap & water and cover the top of soil with sand to stop the gnat infestation (suppposedly the sand stops them from laying seeds on top of the dirt and spraying with soap/water kills living ones) … this seems to have worked but the arugula still looks bad and wilted not many new leaves… is it done for the season because I let it flower?

onion chives- they grew like crazy for over a month and were delicious, never got the bugs either… now it is starting to wilt and there isnt any new growth… is it too hot maybe? 90+ all this week!

tarragon – I believe its mexican tarragon, it grew well for a few weeks then started to flower, I cut the flowers as soon as I saw them and since then the plant hasn’t grown much and seems to be wilting away…

dill- seems to be getting more and more wilted and not much new growth.

So if someone could give me their 2 cents on the problematic plants and what we’re doing wrong I would really appreciate it . Thanks for your time!

nick&lauren

can i add coffee grounds to my vegetable garden?

pano — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 09:21:11 +0000

I have a small porch garden. I have small pots with my Veggies growing. I am new to gardening, i have been reading alot about coffee grounds and how they are good for plants. I just need to know if it would be a good idea to mix some used ground in the top soil of my plants? Im growing pumpkins,cucumber,zucchini,carrots and raspberries also a window herb garden. All my plants have sprouted.

How to "thin" herbs that are planted in the ground ?

pano — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 21:39:08 +0000

I planted some herbs in a small garden space (about 2 feet by 4 feet) and now they have spread like crazy, especially the Thyme ! How do I dig portions of the herbs up to put in pots to give to friends without harming the plants or their roots ?

Can I use fake pebbles to assist in drainage for my herbs?

pano — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 00:13:07 +0000

This question sounds idiotic to anyone who already knows how to indoor garden, I know. And a quick Google search didn’t give me any answers.

I know I’m supposed to use pebbles under the soil in my pots to assist with drainage but I don’t have any actual pebbles (I don’t have a yard and I live in a city so no access to rivers or ponds). I do have some of those fake pebbles that I was using to decorate a vase with fake flowers in it. Will those suffice to do the same job as real pebbles?

I never thought I’d have such limited access to rocks.

Using Coconut Lined Wire Planter for Herb Garden: Questions…?

pano — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 14:28:21 +0000

I am planning to start a small herb garden in a window box style hanging wire planter that is lined with coconut husk. I live upstairs and have adequate access to light but not ground dirt, so this is my only real option for planting herbs. I want to grow parsley, thyme and possibly rosemary since I use these often. Here are my questions:
1.) Should I keep the plants in little pots and just line the planter with the little pots or can I fill the planter with potting soil and plant the herbs in the soil, allowing them to root? (this is what I’d prefer to do.)
2.) If I do plant the herbs in soil, is there a particular method I should use in lining this wire basket?
The planter is quite large, approx. 3 ft. long and 10 inches deep so I feel like this should be adequate for three plants to grow. Any advice would be appreciated, as I’m planning on hanging and setting this up over the next few days.

growing kitchen herbs,i need to know?

pano — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 04:49:26 +0000

ive been growing kitchen herbs but i need to know,now that there flourishing,do i repot them in the garden?or do i keep them in kitchen and keep putting them in bigger pots?ive a lot of cats going through my garden! thanks for ansers

aby advice on a potted herb garden? basil looking all floppy..?

pano — Mon, 30 May 2011 16:51:17 +0000

i bought some already grown basil from the supermarket about two weeks ago. i transplanted them last week to a larger rectangle shaped pot for the balcony. in this pot i have two basil plants a thyme and rosemary plant.. i’m considering removing the thyme and rosemary and giving them their own separate pots.
can anyone tell me why on earth my basil is all droopy and floppy? it gets direct sunlight everyday and i water them frequently. i have also used bio/organic soil and the plants were organic to begin with.. can anyone tell me where i’m going wrong, or is this normal (like, are the plants in a kind of shock?)?
cheers for any advice you can give me!