Home Grown Herb

OK, no one get excited, I'm asking about starting a herb garden here at my house. After spending way too much for fresh herbs at the store yesterday I've decided I'm going to start growing my own. A couple of questions: 1) Is it too late in the season to plant some. 2) Start from seeds or starters? 3) Would 24" - 30" rectangle planter box be large enough to plant 3 to four different herbs? I'm not a green thumb at all so any help would be greatly appreciated. If anyone knows of a good source for this type of info that would be greatly appreciated too.

Larry, you should be ok planting from seeds right now, but start them off in the house, and water them with warm water during the germination process. As far as the size of the container, I am not sure, but I don't see a problem with the 24"-30" planter. If you can get a plastic cover to place over the top of your planter, that will help during the germination process and then just place them where the can get get some sun but not direct sun if possible. Patience and a little luck will get you going well on your way to harvesting your own fresh herbs. Just don't get caught.

Hi Larry,

Most herbs are pretty easy to start from seeds. The only one I've had difficulty starting from seeds is Rosemary. I'd recommend purchasing Rosemary plants. Hey, your crops would be harvest-ready sooner if you purchases all your herbs as plants.

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I grow them inside all year in pots. I have bay laurel, rosemary, thyme, mint, basil and parsley. This works really well. Outside I have sage and tarragon and I plan on bringing some of that inside this winter as well. I have tried growing cilantro but it refuses to co-operate, although my SIL has had success with it. Every now and again I throw some Miracle Grow in them.

sage is great because its woody and returns every year, plus I'm always finding new uses for it. and I'm letting it grow wild so some day I'll be able to harvest the sage wood for smoking.

oregano was a first for me last year and didn't do much but came back stronger than ever.

we're having trouble with parsley, it needs a lot of watering and we think the rabbits are after it.

basil, watch for slugs, they like ours.

as for miracle grow (which I'm a huge fan of), it got a bad reaction from the lady who sold me my heirloom tomato seedlings. she said that it contains a lot of "chemical" salts that the plant will pick up and will alter the flavor of the fruit (I would think this would hold true for herb leaves too). I didn't feel like arguing the fact that regardless of the source, everything is technically a chemical, however I decided to heed her advice (figure she knew way more about tomatoes than I do) and purchase an alternative fertilizer (tomato-tone).

No green thumb here...I rec. using starters. This year I started some seeds. Some are doing ok, rosemary not. You can enjoy the starter plants much sooner. Try seeds next time around when you can get an early start.

I agree with using starters. Your space depends on what herbs you plan to grow. My Rosemary has gotten huge and I have to prune it back periodically. I believe, most herbs need a good amount of sun, so pick a good location. I've got thyme, Mexican oregano, marjoram, sage, mint and basil growing right now.

Hey there,
I don't know if you already planted... I think that you should use starters... 10x faster and more harvest.

I've got chives, oregano, thyme, sage, mint (mohitos, julips, suntea), basil, bay,parsely, rosemary, taragon and dill. It's all outside. Every year it all comes back except the basil (an annual) and I have to tear a bunch out just to keep it from getting overgrown. I've done both seeds and plants.

My recommendation is to start with thyme, oregano, and rosemary transplants (maybe parsley). I would put them outside and make sure they get water (daily at first, but I'm in Denver). You should get 3x as much back next year. It's like Qing... everything is better in a WSM => Everything grows better in the ground.

I get so much I could dry them if I had the time (and I might try it this year just for rubs). Fresh herbs 9 months out of the year with no additional cost (and the starting cost was only what I'd pay for one bunch in the store).

If you're really interested, I could go into more detail about raised beds and such.