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General Questions
NoviceHerbs
Posts: 126
in Fruit & veg
Firstly a big thank you , to all of you for putting up with me and responding to my endless questions. But the reason I kept asking was the fact everyone in gardening has an opinion that is contrary to someone elses , so I just wanted to make sure , I hope you understand.
My first question is that when growing Coriander from seedlings would a john innes no 1 with a top layer and light mix of vermiculite be the best option.
Is Basil the only herb should never water the herbs.
Can I water at night on hot days ? if not just mornings
Thank you
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Posts
Are you suggesting not watering basil? - not a good idea.
Midday in hot sun will scorch the plants if the water gets on the leaves so water the soil or fill the saucers if they're in pots.
It's definitely a better time to water in evening or early morning unless your plant is suffering badly - in which case, give it a drink
B3 no i meant to water the plant directly in the soil rather than the leafs
You need to stop over analyzing it novice and get stuck in. I've learnt a lot just by having a go. Coriander is one of my trial & error experiments this spring ?
Simply sprinkled the seed on some damp JI no1, no vermicultie, no special treatment, no watering regime. I just left them to it, once they'd sprouted I took six of the best and potted on into bog standard mpc.
Look at what I've got today.
Wow Kitty 2 , Did u plant on the window sill , Do i need some super heating lights , all i have is conservatory . Gardening on a budget here hahaha.
I did see a crocus video on youtube where the lady just used MPC scattered the seeds and that was that.
Not sure what the best method is
You'll probably have 100s of seeds. Why not try both ways and see which works best for you?
Good Idea B3 , Thanks, Gardeners do over complicate matters, Its just I know if I get success It will be spur me on to grow veg next year and fruit the year after that .
Yes novice, just on a windowsill.
Now crack on and get sowing instead of just thinking about it
I think that it would really help you if you stopped seeing herbs as a separate group of plants ... many of them are not related to each other. They are simply different plants which have traditionally been used for cooking or medicinally.
There are some plants which come from dry areas around the Mediterranean, e.g. thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano ... these are happiest in poor well drained soil and need some but not a lot of watering.
The various mints grow in damper climates, like in the UK, and they need more watering. If they're happy they'll spread so they're best kept in a large container sunk into the ground with the rim sticking up by a couple of inches.
Parsley likes a sunny spot but doesn't like it too dry or the leaves develop a reddish tinge due to stress. It has a long tap root and doesn't like being transplanted. It's a biennial and in it's second year it throws up a flowering spike and the leaves get coarser. I grow new parsley every year.
Fennel also likes a sunny spot but not too dry ... it also has a deep tap root and doesn't like being transplanted. It will go on for years and if you allow it to seed around you'll get a lovely big clump.
Lovage doesn't mind a bit of shade and a dampish soil, but is another one with a deep tap root so don't move it - you can leave it in the same spot for years and it'll grow into a lovely big plant, almost like a shrub.
Sweet basil is tender, can't cope with frost, and is quite fussy about how much water it has ... it needs enough but not too much ... so you really have to observe and learn how it reacts to what you are doing. Greek basil is a bit less fussy and is a good one to start with.
Coriander is another one that hates being transplanted, so it's best sown in situ, direct in a semi-shaded herb bed.
Very few plants need watering every day if they're planted in the right place and in the right planting medium (soil/compost etc).
Tell us a bit more about your garden and the growing conditions you have and we may be able to help you more.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
All the herbs will be grown in 15l pots with either MPC or John innes no 3 and with some grit.
My garden is south east facing , with some big trees for shades
Anything else sorry its vague
Is that 1.5l pots?
That won't be big enough for some of them, e.g. rosemary, fennel, lovage. My lovage grew to 7ft tall and my fennel nearly as big.
This is quite a small rosemary bush
Last edited: 21 April 2017 17:23:36
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.