Does anyone here any good resources or tips on growing herbs indoors? If I can get growing herbs indoors, then start using bulk beans, my cooking will be limitless. I get annoyed looking through recipes and seeing all these recipes calling for fresh herbs which cost 4$ a package and then I only use half...And I want plants in my room anyway, really bad. And they smell good. And I hear they're friendly. And they tell bedtime stories. So yea I'm actually really serious about this. My probably biggest problem is building a contraption upon which I can set my plants on to get sunlight. But I also have no clue how to plant/keep them a live.
Gardeners are friendly, but sometimes very busy. Basil, sage, rosemary, mints and most herbs will do well in pots, very well. But without plenty of sun, it's tough. But most herbs (not basil or cilantro) do fine outside in winter. Many will survive zero fahrenheit, some a lot colder!! As far as building something to put the plants on, what are you trying to build? I have a lot of resources for herb seeds and plants. What do you want to grow? Peace, poor_old_dad
Thanks poor old dad! You have restored my faith nah I just get annoyed when people don't even comment on a thread...I mean even if you don't know anything say so, at least I'll know I'm not being completely ignored. Well I have seven windows in my room and I need to build some sort of stand to get the plants up to the light. It'll probably have to be several tiered so I don't have to have plants infront of every window. The window I'm thinking about using is south facing and with winter coming the sun will be low and I should get pretty good sunlight through most of the day. I would like to grow a variety of things, but I'm mostly interested in basil, rosemary, thyme, cilantro, parsley, sage, etc. I guess pretty much the "normal" herbs. I'll probably grow as many as I can so if I have room I'll probably grow more than that. Do you grow yours from seed ? Or do you get whole plants to start with? From the little bit I've read herbs are really particular about their soil, so I'm not sure what to do about that. I honestly couldn't find many resources on growing herbs indoors. I'd like to use organic methods, if it's possible, also. Thanks again brad
The only herbs I grow from seed are basil, cilantro and some years, dill and/or parsley. Most of what I grow, like mints, rosemary, marjorm, sage, oregano, thyme, etc., are perennials I've grown from cuttings. Years ago I gathered a couple plants of everything I want to grow, then every year I'd do more cuttings until I had enough of each. Plus a lot of thing spread and/or re-seed on their own. I'm not sure what's available this time of year. A lot of companies have basically shut down shipping for the year. I'd suggest, as quick as you can, get around to any local nurseries or Wal-mart or anywhere there may be plants and seeds still for sale. You may get lucky and catch end of year close out sales. I'll check around & see what else may be mail-orderable. Here are some links that may help too. Here a couple links to indoor growing: http://nga-gardenshop.stores.yahoo.net/howtogrowherbsindoors.html http://www.howtodothings.com/home-and-garden/a2023-how-to-grow-herbs-indoors.html This has herb gardening basics:http://nga-gardenshop.stores.yahoo.net/herbgardeningbasics.html This is a Herb Gardening Guide: http://garden.garden.org/foodguide/browse/herb This is a good one, a list of recommended varities to grow indoors: http://garden.garden.org/foodguide/browse/herb/unusual/1337 Peace, poor_old_dad
I live in Sweden and here in the winter the temperature can go down to -30 or -40 degrees C. I have som lavender, sage, thyme, rosemary and lemon balm in my garden. Do you think they will survive such a cold winter?
As best I can tell rosemary will be ok to -10; Lavendar and thyme to -30; sage and lemon balm to -35. All degrees C. Peace, poor_old_dad
You can try to pot up some and keep them inside. Choose a couple of each, prune them back (remove about 2/3), get the biggest pots you can, then dig them up. When you dig them up, be sure to dig up a bigger clump than will fit into the pot, then after they're out of the ground, remove just enough to allow them to fit into the pot. Give them a real good watering, then when they dry, only give them enough to prevent wilting - as little as possible. Give them as much light as possible. I have no idea about your winter weather, but if you have days when the temperature gets above -10C (about 15F), set them outside for a few hours. In pots they will NOT be nearly as winter hardy. By the way, the same thing will work for pepper plants, except don't put them outside unless the temperature is above 2C (35F). When spring gets here (well, there), add a little fertilizer to the whole in the ground, then stick them back in the ground. Should be interesting to see how they do compared to those who overwinter in the ground. Peace, poor_old_dad
