I LOVE herbs and I am always buying them, but gosh I spend a small fortune on them!
I asked on my ThermoFun Facebook page a couple of days ago for any hints and tips that Thermofunkies could give me, as I'm inspired to (finally!) start a herb garden!! I did however point out to them that I do have black thumbs!
These are the great hints and tips they provided me with. I'm sure if you are thinking of starting a herb garden these tips will be great for you too! :)
Carol: I cannot stress this strongly enough - do not - repeat, do not - plant mint directly into your herb garden. It will go crazy and you will never be able to get rid of the roots. Keep it in a pot!!
Jenneane: Or spearmint or lemon balm or anything else that looks like it's from the mint family
Katherine: Loads of sunshine. Water daily. Feed (eg Seasol) fortnightly. Cut often to encourage growth.
Kerry: Fertilise fortnightly. I use Seasol and regular trimming. I've got basil, parsley, rosemary, chives. Coriander no matter how much I try I can't ever grow it!
Jennifer: Seasol is your friend. I use heaps of parsley, basil & chives so I have two or three of each. I also keep dill & sage for demos/deliveries - they're so expensive to buy and my supermarket doesn't always have them. My next purchases will be a bay tree (fresh bay leaves are so much better than dried) and a chilli tree.
Sage: Start with the easy stuff that goes on & on. Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, then look at Parsley, Chives (they need replacing more often!)
Nicole: Keep using the herbs, they like being chopped regularly.
Jane: Herbs need the sun and good drainage in my experience.
Sue: Coriander hates hot weather. Grow in the cooler months and in succession. I just bought a perennial coriander. It smells and tastes yum. Needs to be cut very fine as it is coarser than the standard.
Helen: Green Fly are a pain. Use soapy water (dish liquid) as a preventative. I think they might be called Aphids here. Also Chilli Oil is good for caterpillars. My herbs would do well if it wasn't for the bugs!
Sarah: Good soil that you replenish each season and plenty of water and fortnightly feeds of any organic feed.
Shannah: Don't be afraid to use herbs. They benefit from being trimmed often. So keep trimming them.
You MUST water them frequently - once or twice a day depending on the weather. Number one reason for herbs failing is that they aren't watered enough.
They need sunshine, so in a sunny window if you want them inside or outside but close to the kitchen (so you’re tempted to use them).
Herbs are easy to grow, however hardier varieties such as rosemary, parsley, etc are easier to grow than soft herbs like basil or coriander. Herbs like basil and coriander respond very quickly to neglect, however if looked after they are fairly easy to grow.
I don't know if you have children or not, but they might love the job of watering the plants for you daily - more people to remember to look after them.
You can fertilise them fortnightly, I tend to forget about that part and my herbs are still fine. However they do respond well when I do remember.
Don't be intimidated, give it a go. It is much cheaper to grow them yourself than to buy herbs when you need them.
Trish: Lots of water!! Mine look miserable when I forget about them but come up great after a good drink!
Blaise: Lots of organic matter!
Eb: MUSHROOM COMPOST!!! That is all! :)
Theresa: I've seen my herbs are doing better in pots in the alfresco, and it is close to the kitchen.
Rachel: I leave my coriander go to seed and after the rain the seedlings just come up with zero effort from me. Dill will happily do the same.
Rhiana: Keep rosemary in a pot it likes to stay dry.
Isabelle: The purists might disagree but Vietnamese mint is easy to grow a perennial and tastes just as great as coriander!
Jenneane: Oh I love my one. Make sure if you plant lemongrass that you put it where it will get lots of water. Also make sure you plant some lemon verbena, makes great tea. Also if you want to grow coriander and it keeps going to seed then you need a different type of coriander plant. Will save you heaps and it's great to just go out the back door and pick what I want.
Helen: Keep weeding!!!!
Samantha: My basil is inside on the window sill and it's amazing. Coriander always dies off. My mint grows wild in the garden; it came up through next door!
Amanda: Every time I plant coriander the birds eat it on me, basil does amazing as long as you cut it back regularly. I have chef friends that use what I can't! Good luck!
Jen: have 2 gardens 1 that is in a sunny position and is transportable I have window sill type pots I move them outside for rain to water and have things like coriander and tarragon in as they don’t like water or humidity but love sun. So I water when planted but once growing I stop watering them and let the rain do its thing here and there. Basil doesn’t like the cold so it will die off in frost, well mine does round may every year. All other herbs that I grow are in a raised garden bed in the weather I don’t water them unless it's been hot and dry I don’t do anything to them and they just keep on going sage rosemary chives parsley oregano dill those are all my herbs. Good luck x
Jodi: Make sure you space them properly when planting, my dh planted mine as my Xmas present and planted some too close to each other!
Lisa: have 2 sections- one with dry herbs and one with herbs that require more water.
Cara: We have a lovely herb garden that flourished without me really having to touch it! The continuous cutting promotes more growth so you should be fine! My two biggest tips: Coriander doesn't grow well outside at all despite all efforts! Basil will grow like wildfire and turn into a tree if you don't keep an eye on it and trim it back regularly!
For information on how to freeze herbs Click Here
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If you are a successful herb grower and you have more tips please feel free to share them in the comments below.
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