Herbs #1

Along with the veg I'm going to try herbs - although these'll go in pots on the patio steps for ease of access from the kitchen. I was sure I'd be able to plant some direct - but needed to see if there were any I needed to start off indoors, which I needed to do sooner rather than later.


Herbs come in two types - Perennials (happy year after year), which tend to like sunny, drier well-drained soil; and Annuals (plant again each year) which like moist rich soil. However, things are never entirely that simple, and some perennials like moist soil, and some annuals like drier soil.

I'm going to do them in pots, with a few in each pot - so I'm going to end up grouping them by what sort of soil and water conditions they prefer.

For now it was simply which one's I'd do, and which of those I needed to start off indoors now.

So my list (with some notes from books) is:
Annuals

• Basil - 'Sweet Genovese' [grow in same pot as Parsley]
  
• Coriander - likes rich soil, water only in drought [like Perennial]
  
• Dill - likes well drained soil [like Perennial]
• Parsley - [grow in same pot as Basil]

Perennials

• Chives - likes rich moist soil [like Annuals]
  
• Mint - highly invasive - grow on own - just one type, or strongest will outmuscle others
  
• Oregano - aka 'Marjoram' - likes sunny, grows vigourously - just buy one plant
  
• Rosemary - expensive so just buy 1-2 plants - tall, so put at back
  
• Sage - don't water or feed, like Rosemary
  
• Thyme - buy 1 plant, and sow seed, don't water when developed
  

I'm also going to a bay tree - but that can wait for now.

The one's I needed to start indoors are Basil, Chives, Coriander & Thyme.

I decided to do 3 cells of each (I bought 2 Corianders).


In the packets:

• Basil ~100 small seeds. 3 per cell - pinch out to 1
• Chives ~ 100 small seeds. 4 per cell - pinch out to 3
• Coriander (organic) ~ 100 med seeds. 4 per cell
• Coriander (sow direct) ~ 100 med seeds. 4 per cell
• Thyme ~ 200 teeny tiny seeds. 5 per cell - pinch out to 1

My thinkings on the pinching outs are because they say to start out broadcast sowing in a tray of their own and then rpot into 9cm-ish pots. I'm hoping to avoid that bit by just doing a few in each cell and then thinning the cell to what it would be for an equivalent pot.

No idea if this'll work, but it seems reasonable to me.

Caution! After my revalation that seed packets come with another seed packet inside, I got caught out again, when I discovered they Coriander (sow direct) doesn't. Now I know that's a possibility I'll check twice in future, and now don't feel so bad about my earlier caution.

Finally potting was a lot quicker this time as I knew what I was going to do.


I'd even bought some of those plastic sticks to label them. Oooooh, I'm a real gardener now I am :)

That was on 22nd April. Today is 26th...


Nothing yet - but I think it was at least a week on the veg before I even saw the first seed leaves appear.