what do you use on your plants to keep them chemical free but to encourage growth?
i’m talking about mainly herbs & vegetables
chives/oregano/basil etc
onions/carrots/radish/lettuce/tomatoes etc

i have potted all the seeds indoors and they are about 3" average just now and wont be planting outside for a few weeks yet but wondered what you use to encourage growth

thank you

I planted seeds in a box late last spring and where I thought I put tarragon this came up. It never smelled or tasted like anything, or looked like anything I expected to grow.
Ive just let it do its thing to see what it would do, now its at least 8 feet tall.

what is this?
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x200/shandywarhol/herbs007.jpg
Im thinking about letting it grow until december and using it for a christmas tree.

I have planted 4 garden areas with several crops. What are your best garden tips for these crops? Thanks.
Beans
Broccoli
Cilantro
Corn
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Peppers – sweet banana, cayenne, red and green bell, and jalapeno
Potatoes
Squash
Sunflower seeds
Swiss Chard
Thyme
Tomatoes – 10 different varieties
Watermelon
Hey RJS, thanks for realizing I already knew the basics. I am indeed looking for tidbits of specifics. My expertise is in perennials and ornamentals. Too bad they cut some of your answers short. I didn’t know the stuff about fertilizing peppers and beans. I really need info on the potatoes, because neither my husband or I have ever grown them before. They are growing so fast. I built a box around them, and piled more than a foot of soil on them. When do I quit burying them and let them go to bloom? Plus someone told me to put a dropper of cooking oil on the corn silk as soon as it shows to prevent worms.
Thanks everyone. More tips please.

i’m really exctied about my herb garden, but how much water do i feed them and how many times a day? I have a basil, a chive, and a parsley. Can i give them the same amount of water? I only planted ten seeds each pot

My tomato seedlings have taken forever to sprout, and are nothing close to being like what i see at the garden centers. Everything else grew up and sprouted well, my squash my letuce, herbs, etc. What did I do wrong? They are extra fancy organc ones too. Could they be late blooming variety? Some are beefsteaks.

Im aware that not having a greenhouse is a factor, but what’s the best environ for tomato sees cause i seem to be doing something wrong.
Mind you, the goal is to gather seeds every year and grow from them. That is the plan. If i get my own land then I"ll have a greenhouse. Till then, what do y’all do?
Im guessing i need a greenhouse-like set-up, but money is an issue. Should I be using grow lights?
hey someone’s thats pretty cool i never thought of that! you have to have a breathing hole though right? Yes, no?
MIdnight that makes sense, I actually dry them first before planting. However, they are so tiny its almost impossible to do what you say. Have you done this before?

I googled "mustard" and it seems that the mustard plant is an herb, not a tree: Sinapis nigra seems to be what Jesus was talking about. There are some sites that reference Salvadora persica, for reasons I don’t understand, but even if this were the tree that Jesus meant, its seeds aren’t small. Why would the creator of these plants have trouble talking about them coherently? Or have I missed something important about mustard? And of course, it’s a parable, not a statement of scientific facts, but come on, why would he choose such a confusing example? Why not just talk about a mighty oak that grows from a tiny acorn or something?

Matthew 13:31-32
He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches."

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