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No no no, not THAT. I'm talking about a wee herb garden. I havent got the first clue about gardening I really haven't. But I wondered if anyone grew there own herbs for cooking? If so a little bit of newbie help would be appreciated. I have a patio garden, so was looking at growing them in a trough or pot. Is this doable? Or are they better off in a proper garden ? |
Grow your own herbs do you?
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ssuellid 19,142 posts
Seen 1 day ago
Registered 20 years agoGrow mint in a pot - otherwise it will take over the entire garden. -
looks like those "herbs" have led to memory loss. How many times have you started this thread, dude ? -
mal 29,326 posts
Seen 4 years ago
Registered 20 years agoSome herbs are easier to grow than others. Some herbs are easier to germinate than others, but to be honest, seeing as it only costs a quid to buy a pot of basil, parsley, whatever, in the supermarket these days, just do that and repot it.
It now being officially spring, it's a good time to do that sort of thing. The plants will survive more rough treatment when they're growing, though obviously when repotting you should avoid damaging the roots too much.
So just pop down the garden centre and buy as many pots of different sizes as you want, and buy about half as much potting compost as you reckon you can fit in those pots. You won't need much, as the bought plants will already have half a pot of soil, and there's no point buying too much. It only really lasts a couple of years, and you only get one real window each year to use it up (the spring).
First of all, ensure you shop bought plants aren't too dry, then ease them out of their pots over some newspaper. Give the roots a bit of a wriggle to free them up a bit and plonk it in the empty pot. Note how far below the rim the plant sits, so take it out again and put that much compost in the bottom of the pot and put the plant back in. Then fill in round the sides with more compost, and firm the whole lot down with your fingers. Water again.
That's it, really. After that, put them somewhere sunny and water them when the soil feels dry. Mint's fairly indestructable, and pretty rampant, so put that in its own pot. Basil loves the sun, and tastes better the brighter it is. Parsley I've found to be a bit of a slow grower in comparison, but maybe I've just not got the right conditions. A draft will kill coriander pretty quickly towards the end of the year, so be careful there. -
Pike 13,459 posts
Seen 1 year ago
Registered 18 years agoTo add to mal's very sound advice: Some herbs, most notably tarragon can't be grown from seeds at all (the russian tarragon that is available in seed form is inedible) so you need to buy those as plants and repot them anyway. -
cheers guys and sorry about multiposting!
I think I shall go for the supermarket + repotting exercise as it sounds the easiest.gif)
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mal 29,326 posts
Seen 4 years ago
Registered 20 years agootto wrote:
Ooh, I didn't know that. Mind you, I don't have much trouble with overwatering. More like, forgetting to water at all.
Many herbs will prefer dry-ish soil with good drainage, so mix a bit of sand in with that compost and make sure you don't overwater. -
bainbrge 1,687 posts
Seen 6 months ago
Registered 19 years agootto wrote:
Basil is easy as long as it's kept in the sun and away from breezes, it needs more water than the others, but not too much or you'll kill the roots.
I struggled with bush basil, although I had to take it out of the greenhouse in the winter, which severely restricted the sunlight on it.
I think the most satisfying eatable to grow is the tomato... -
pjmaybe 70,666 posts
Seen 12 years ago
Registered 20 years agoEasiest herbs in the world to grow are Chives and Basil..
We've got about 4 troughs with various stuff in including Thyme, Marjoram, Lemon Parsley, Chives etc. Don't grow from seed, it takes bloody ages and birds will peck the seeds out pretty quickly...
Peej -
Eminently doable my son. Just treat them as any other pot plant. Many herbs will prefer dry-ish soil with good drainage, so mix a bit of sand in with that compost and make sure you don't overwater. An old kitchen sink makes a great planter, or just use individual pots. I grow loads of herbs in pots, you can plant from seed (works especially well for stuff like lemon balm or mint, it grows like mental, in fact you need to put them in a pot or they'll take over your garden) or just buy the little pots from the supermarket and repot them yourself (best for basil, rosemary etc). -
It makes sense if you think about it - many herbs that we use in the kitchen are tough little buggers that grow naturally in dry and rocky places, and I imagine there's some kind of causal link between being aromatic and being tough little sods that don't need much water. Rosemary/thyme/hyssop/oregano/garlic/chives/etc growing on rocky provencal mountainsides, etc...
I've had some good results growing chives, mint, lemon balm, parsley, coriander, oregano/marjoram, chamomile, lovage, and borage from seed. Rosemary and thyme are great in pots and practically impossible to kill. Basil is easy as long as it's kept in the sun and away from breezes, it needs more water than the others, but not too much or you'll kill the roots. Sage works very well in the garden. The only herbs I've consistently had difficulty with are dill and tarragon, which is a pity because I love dill.
If you do have a 'proper' garden then herbs can make excellent edging plants, in fact they perform multiple jobs - chives for example are really pretty if you let them flower, and they (along with the rest of the onion family) concentrate sulphur in their bulbs which can help fight blackspot and other fungal diseases in roses, so planting them under roses works really well.
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