Question by Cheryl E: Does anyone have advice for growing an herb garden?
I live in the high desert west and need advice on which herbs to grow, where best to buy them, which ones are best from seed or plant… anything you can tell me. thanks!
Best answer:
Answer by ozboy76_au
any of the seeded variety of herbs would be suitable yates etc are well known and trusted for there strike rate and success however best grown in a 1/2 sunny shady position. best planted in a mix of soil / sand for good drainage and deep bed for allowing water retention.
use a seaweed solution and a power liquid feed for watering.
the seaweed promotes growth and also helps prevents pests and disease.
if your raising your herbs from seed keep in a shady postion in raising seedling mix until water lightly every day, when germenated and tall and standing ready for transplanting to your garden.
you can also raise your seeds under a flurolight if you have a adjustable lamp for a desk or somthing similar even a flurolight in your house but you need to have it at least 3/4 inches from the top of the plants.
either way will work but under light is the best for raising seedlings or for full growth.
good luck
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I’ve only done them from a plant…too impatient and no time to seed. We only have 3 months of summer here. There too, I like the idea that they are already off to a good start when I plant them. Just make sure to select healthy plants…nothing that is already overgrown and leggy. And I have never used seaweed on them. I put them in very hot sun, and they totally thrive. Granted, I am in Minnesota, but it does get into the 90′s here in the summer, and often windy, so they are pretty tolerant…as long as you water everyday. If you are going to invest, make sure to invest in herbs you actually plan to use. I do two varieties of basil, sage, lavendar, rosemary, thyme, and parsley. I use to do more, but the plants always got so big, I never actually used all the herbs. I plant mine in glazed clay pots. I use miracle grow fertilizer in the pots. And I fertilize them with miracle grow once during mid-summer. They get pretty huge! Not sure they even need the extra boost of fertilizer, but it makes me feel good doing it.
The nice thing is, I can clip back all summer long to use the herbs as I go, and they still stay full and lush. And smell great, too. They also do very well in window boxes. Honestly, I always have luck with my herb pots. So much so in fact, I dry a lot of them out at the end of the summer to use all year long.
Is this what you are looking for.
http://hydrofarm-system-garden.blogspot.com/
http://astore.amazon.com/herb-garden-books-online-20
I do mine in pot on the patio I start from pony packs inexpensive and fun I grow basil, rosemary, oregano, dill, Parsley several types, thyme, and tomatoes I live in the Valley area of CA so similar climate to you.You might want part shade in the high desert and will need to water daily if in pots Have fun
I live in San Jose CA, mostly known for being the south bay, about 10 degrees hotter than the Peninsula – and drier by a long shot than Minnesota (in Minnesota you can get by with not watering a lawn, here if you don’t water it dies). I’ve never had good luck with basil though I keep trying for that one bruschetta a year. Of course rosemary grows like a weed (it’s woody and an evergreen, perfect for this area where it rarely freezes). I’ve got some mint around. I grow only things I can use (so, tomatoes, peppers, zuccini are obvious for veggies) and if something is too finicky I do stop trying. Garlic chives seem to keep coming back (luck) basil, again, I just haven’t found the right spot – they seem to need regular water and if I could plant them near enough the lawn that I could get that sprinkler system to keep it watered, that might work. I would say the secret is to get a large clay pot (to better moderate soil temperature – too small pots dry up in under a day) and experiment with the location until you find a place that works (it can take years). Once you find the good spot, if you ever move you can reproduce those conditions in the new place. One thing to look out for…sliding windows. A plant exposed to morning sun next to a sliding glass window gets hit with some pretty strong sun from both sides (yeah, it seems like being in the shade of the house half the day would make up for it but it doesn’t – most plants can get by with the power of a single sun and two is too much.
If you can’t get the herbs on a sprinkler circuit, plant them near other things you’ll water.
Every once in a while I get it in my head to plant seeds – then the following year I go back to buying plants. Seeds take forever and slugs really don’t appreciate the seedling they mow down in proportion to the suffering I undergo when I see them missing one morning.