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Can you use high-potassium liquid feed on flowering herbs to get them to flower?

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  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Depending on how old your chives are, they may not flower until next year. 

    Where is your thyme?  It needs much drier conditions than most other herbs. 


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Chives don't need food to flower either - they do it themselves. Better in some shade, whereas thyme needs sun and good drainage. Chives cope with very wet soil too, unlike most alliums. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • elliotp981elliotp981 Posts: 105
    For context, all of them are in containers/pots. 
  • elliotp981elliotp981 Posts: 105
    Depending on how old your chives are, they may not flower until next year. 

    Where is your thyme?  It needs much drier conditions than most other herbs. 

    My thyme is in a position where it gets partial sun (from the morning until around 2-3 PM), it is in a heavily gritty soil for drainage, same with Rosemary (I had one I was given before which died in standard soil).
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    If you’ve got a sunnier spot I’d move it there. Thyme can cope and be happy with almost drought conditions. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I agree, even with very well-drained gritty soil, thyme needs full sun for as many hours as possible. Even then I've had it get horribly straggly in a grey damp summer (remember those?).
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    The number of hours of sun is also determined by summer conditions, so the full sun as @JennyJ mentions, means summer hours. A south facing, or south west, is usually best, as long as there's nothing else blocking that sun. It's variable of course, but thyme copes best with as much sun as it can get.
    I still wouldn't be feeding them - far better to make sure the soil mix they're growing in is checked/amended each year or so if they have to stay in pots. Too much food can just promote  a lot of soft growth which can then be adversely affected when cold weather arrives.
    Of course, that also depends on location, and I've no idea where you're located or what your climate is like. There's a huge difference between the south of England and the north of Scotland when it comes to plants and their care. Rosemary needs protection up here, or cuttings taken to overwinter. Unreliable otherwise. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • SalixGoldSalixGold Posts: 450
    edited July 2023
    Adding new soil to containers is another way of getting them nutrition, yes.
  • SalixGoldSalixGold Posts: 450
    The RHS say for Mediterranean herbs in a container

    "After a couple of months, start giving them a general-purpose liquid feed every two or three weeks."

    I think that's probably OTT, but you can't just leave plants in a container without any food indefinitely -  even rosemary or lavender


  • elliotp981elliotp981 Posts: 105
    SalixGold said:
    The RHS say for Mediterranean herbs in a container

    "After a couple of months, start giving them a general-purpose liquid feed every two or three weeks."

    I think that's probably OTT, but you can't just leave plants in a container without any food indefinitely -  even rosemary or lavender


    Definitely, I've not fed my lavender in a while (may have accidentally fed them with tomorite when I was watering other plants at the moment), but they're likely fine because I reported them a few months ago so some nutrients may still be in there.
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