[silvergryphon]

I have decided to start a small container garden for herbs. Is there someone out there who can give me pointers on soil, or 'non soil', mixes...the best herbs to grow indoors. I'll be starting from seed. Where they will end up has a southwest exposure. Any and all info would be much appreciated.
(Since we get lots of earwigs during the summer, these plants won't be going outside!)

Thank you!

[beans]

I've tried Miracle Gro as I remember that was the dirt my grandmother always bought and she had quite a green thumb. It has osmocote time released fertilisers already mixed into it.

This year, I brought my herbs inside before a frost with mixed results. My chives seem to be coming back nicely and figure they are quite sensitive to cold air, which was why they were thinning out in October.

The thyme has not been phased in the least. My mint got spindly and my father speculated that it was perhaps mint winters nicely and then comes back in full force in the Summer, so perhaps I should have left that one on my cold, enclosed porch. Perhaps he is right because I was busy waging war on my neighbour's mint for the last six years. It likes my side of the fence better... and it simply thrives outside in the yard.

My rosemary isn't as tough and has become very soft and tender. Less woody if that makes any sense. A bit spindly in comparison to the summer growth.

My sage isn't very happy, is wimpy in comparison to it being outside in the hot, direct sun, but it will be fine. I've happily snipped here or there to season some of my winter dinners. And they all sit in a very large window with full sun exposure facing west.

I understand with bug infestations and tried to erradicate some little sap sucking aphids on my lemon verbena two summers ago. It survived. But I believe that most herbs benefit from being outside.


But, I'm certainly no expert!

[Abbylovi]

I leave my mint outside in the New York winters and it always dies for good -- no summer resurrection. I brought my thyme, rosemary, oregano, parsley and sage inside. The sage and parsley died almost immediately. The thyme is doing well. Rosemary is now pretty anemic and the oregano is not thriving but doing well and taking over the planter. I wonder if oregano, like mint, should be contained in its own planter?

[Ron Johnson]

Make sure your containers drain well. It's a good idea to put some gravel in the bottom so that the potting soil does not clog the drain holes. With containers over-watering or under-watering are the biggest problems. Once you get a knack of how much and how often for each plant (tomato plants suck water, herbs need a lot less) you can have very good results.

[silvergryphon]

Thanks folks! Feedback is most crucial to a non-gardner like me.

I had read somewhere (newspaper, magazine, or internet???) that using a soil-less mixture for indoor containers was best. I believe the article mentioned moss and vermiculite and one other. For the life of me, I can't remember what the 'other' was!

Has anyone tried this way of growing?

Thanks, again!

[jschyun]

I think all the potting soil mixes you get at the store are "soilless" mixes. I think that just means you don't have actual dirt in there, and most that I've seen don't. They consist of forest products and vermiculite or something like that. The "other" could be perlite? Dunno, sorry.

Oregano is related to mint and should be contained in its own container or it will slowly take over. Mint will also take over, but it does it faster. Mint loves water and so it will fry if you leave it out in the summer (I guess it also doesn't do too well in freezing weather either). However, in my experience, mint is a tenacious MFer.

Sage needs fairly light dry mix. It likes it warm and dry as beans said. My sage died in the winter rains. Oh well.

Rosemary also needs good drainage. Mine also died because of the rains. Oh well.

Thyme is very tenacious. English thyme is easiest to get, but if you can get lemon thyme, get it! So good. Mine died thanks to being drowned by these goddawful rains. But it was doing quite well before that.

Lavender might be nice. Does well with good drainage, and fairly warmish weather I think. I had some honey lavender gelato a while back and I might try to recreate it. yum.

[tanabutler]

One thing that is spectacular with any plants is the use of worm castings. Mix them in your soil, and you will reap the rewards.

This is totally cool, by the way:
Upside-down tomato planter for people who have no room for a garden or a planter.

I know you specified "herbs," but check it out.

[silvergryphon]

That's a really neat idea. I saw other ideas on that site too. The self-watering planter for thyme is cool. I'll have to check some of the garden centres close to me and see if they have it or can get it.

Thank you for that site.

I have to find worm castings now, too! Worm farmers or garden centres just gotta have some of that!

[flyfish]

SG, check out the Lee Valley Tools website for all kinds of inside/container growing options. Despite our best intentions we typically only grow rosemary year round; we move it onto the deck in the warm months. Inside during the winter it's a delicate balance between over- and under-watering; it seems to like to be misted a lot rather than being drenched infrequently. We have three rosemary plants on the go at the moment; one has been going three winters now.

Despite being in chilly Ottawa (zone 5) our mint seems to come back every year; it's grown in a sunken pot in the garden so it doesn't take over everything. Our chives also do fine. We have some self-seeding tarragon, coriander and parsley outside that also springs back eternally. Our dill seems to have disappeared though so we need to start over. We don't tend to grow annual herbs outside from seeds but intend to start: for now we buy and transplant several different types of basil, marjoram and lots of thyme. I think basil is challenging to grow indoors unless you start it there and have ideal light conditions, but you can certainly prove me wrong!

There are some GREAT books on herbs you might be able to borrow from libraries or order through ABEBooks. Patrick Lima did a herb book for Harrowsmith a number of years back (The Harrowsmith Illustrated Book of Herbs).

Good luck!

Fly

[MyKong]

Check out You grow girl. This is a great website for such matters. I used to visit it a lot when garderning was a 40 hour activity (ah, those were the days). Very knowledable site author and good graphics.

[jpr54_]

P. Allen Smith's Garden Event
PBS 21 Mar 05 11:30am Add to My Calendar
Special/Other, 90 Mins.

the show is on container gardening-
he also said that just released is his new book on container gardening

[tanabutler]

silvergryphon, on Mar 4 2005, 10:42 PM, said:

That's a really neat idea. I saw other ideas on that site too. The self-watering planter for thyme is cool. I'll have to check some of the garden centres close to me and see if they have it or can get it.

Thank you for that site.

I have to find worm castings now, too! Worm farmers or garden centres just gotta have some of that!

Where do you live?

[silvergryphon]

Sorry to take so long to answer...it's been busy here!!

I live just outside of the city of Toronto. I believe it's a zone 5, maybe 6!!

Now I'm thinking of scrounging some old waste cans to grow tomatoes. These metal containers attract the heat of the sun, which tomatoes apparently love.

Any pointers for me?

[Ron Johnson]

I grow sage, rosemary and thyme in the same container as they seem to thrive in similar conditions.

Parsley and cilantro can go in the same container. Both need more water and like cooler weather. Cilantro is toast by mid-summer. Parsley will make an amazing comeback in late summer, early fall. The key to parsley is cutting it back periodically all the way down.

Mint gets it own containers as it is the malignant cancer of the the herb family. It is tough to kill. Even if it looks dead, throw some water on it and it will come back to life.

I have a hard time with basil. I always get these black streaks that start up from the base of the plant. Inevitably they reach the leaves and the plant dies. Happens every year.

[jpr54_]

i grow lavender, scented geraniums, nasturiums, and other herbs in containers-
i live in northern new jersey-
joanne