Maintenance of Potted Herbs

Cafe Society
1

I’ve recently acquired some potted herbs - rosemary and thyme. I’m thinking about getting some more, probably mint among others.

At the moment I just have the two sitting on a window sill, each pot standing in a seperate dish. Every now and then I add a little bit of water to the dish and let it soak up through the bottom of the pot (which has holes in it of course).

I’m planning to eventually plant them in the garden, but I need to clear an area first (the areas where I’d plant it are a bit overgrown), so I don’t have time to do it just yet. My question is this - do I need to do anything else for them until I get around to planting them? Is there some sort of ‘plant food’ I should be adding to the water, or the like? Also, how frequently do I have to water them and how much water should I use?

Thanks,
Kit

(I wasn’t sure if this was the right forum, but I seem to recall gardening threads go in here. If it’s the wrong one can a moderator please move the thread? Thanks.)

2

You can keep herbs in pots indefinitely. Most are pretty happy in pots as long as they get plenty of sun through the window. Keeping them in a sunny kitchen window keeps them handy when you want to drop a bit o’ rosemary in your sauce or whatever.

I don’t recommend fertilizing, pesticides, herbicides, etc. if you plan on eating your herbs. If you used a nice, rich soil with lots of peat and organic material mixed in, you shouldn’t have to do much else besides water. How often you should water depends on the conditions in your house (or your yard, once you finally move them, if you do). For inside, potted herbs, I stick my finger about 1" deep into the dirt. When it’s dry in there, water from the top of the plant and let the water soak through. Empty your dish under the pot and do not water them from the bottom like that. While that’s excellent technique for African violets, not so excellent for herbs. Most do not like their “feet wet” meaning, the roots rot if they sit in water constantly. Always water from the top, allowing all the water to drain through. I like to take all my inside potted plantsd, sit 'em in the shower and soak 'em. When all the water drains out, I return them to thier respective dishes throughout my house.

If you get mint, be sure it’s in a pot all by itself and unless you want it to take over your entire yard, leave it in a pot. (You can move the pots outside if you want.) Mints can be pretty invasive and difficult to get rid of. On the other hand, my gramma says that mint planted around the foundation of her house is supposed to keep ants out of her house. YMMV, but I think that’s an old gramma’s tale.

I’ve been growing herbs and using them both in cooking and for their medicinal properties for several years. Feel free to e-mail me if you have additional questions – I can talk about herbs all day long if you let me! (E-mail is in my profile).

3

Dogzilla, since you’re the Herb Expert (yay!), why am I the Death Knell for basil? I’ve successfully grown other herbs, but basil seems to give right up on me. Any tips you can share?

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Interesting thread. A few questions for Dogzilla:

  1. I always have a problem with how much water to water them with. Are there any rules of thumb?

  2. Also, I use tap water, and I’ve heard that the chlorine can be bad for the plants. True?

  3. I have a poor tomato plant in a pot (a cherry tomato plant that I was told could do well in a pot), and I feel sorry for the poor thing sitting outside constantly blowing in the cold winds. It’s not freezing or anything (I’m in Northern California), so I think it’s OK, but is there any problem with excessive winds? Perhaps I should keep some plants inside?

5

Gundy, are you trying to grow basil in a pot indoors? I never had much success with basil in that enviroment either, but basil grows vigorously in a large pot placed out in the sun (basil can easily grow to three feet tall, so it requires some growing room). Also, basil seems to wilt quickly with the first cold spell, so keep it in a warm location. If you’re in Chicago as I suspect from your listed location, it may be getting too cold even in a windowsill during the cold months (does it turn black?).

6

Thanks, moodtobestewed! I’m trying to grow the basil in a large pot outdoors, but since the last couple of days have been relatively cool (even for a Chicago spring) I moved it to an enclosed patio yesterday afternoon. It was, as you said, wilted. Hopefully the warmth indoors will cause it to spring back up again. Last year I tried growing it in a sunny and warm windowbox in the sunshine, and it was spindly and sad-looking for a while, then it just gave up. Maybe there just wasn’t enough room for it in a windowbox? That same windowbox is now the happy home to some healthy chives.

7

Avumede
I am not Dogzilla, but here is my take on tap water and herb plants. We have ‘hard’ (mineral filled) water here in Colorado, but my herbs don’t seem to mind it all that much.
But it is oh so true that they do not like ‘wet feet.’

I agree with moodtobestewed about basil being tender in cool weather, and picky with the small pot indoor situation. I just grow it seasonally, outside in a large pot, in full sun. You can grow the smaller varieties of basil (such as the little globe version) along with a potted tomato plant.

8

Are there any herbs that can be grown without direct sunlight? I want to get some, but our windows face north, and I’m scared of killing them.

9

Being inexperienced at herb gardening, I once planted a few on the north side of my house. Where they obviously didn’t get a lot of sunlight. M chamomile died, but my sage, rosemary and lavender actually did quite well, considering. I’ve since moved to a new apartment and have decided to seek some professional advice before planting again.

10

I’ve got some herbs that I adopted—someone in my apartment complex left them out by the recycling bin in a little store tray. I took them in and gave them some larger pots because I liked the way they looked, and thought I needed some more plants. I didn’t even know they were herbs until a friend told me.

They’ve been doing very well, growing like crazy, so I guess I’m doing something right. I have a sage plant, a rosemary, and something I don’t know the name of, but it smells like Tiger Balm.

Thing is, I don’t really cook, so I’m probably never going to use these things as herbs. Will they be okay if I just leave them alone, or do they need to have some leaves plucked off every now and then so they feel like they’re fulfilling their life’s purpose?

11

Yes, wind can be hard on plants. Tomatos are not very tolerant of lack of water, and wind will exacerbate that. To photosynthesize, plants have to open the stomata on their leaves for gas exchange (to gather CO2). However, this also causes them to lose water to the atmosphere. High wind velocity at the leaf’s surface will increase evaporation, and therefore increase the amount of water the plant transpires (loses to the atmosphere). It will also close its stomata due to water stress, and not be able to gather the CO2 needed for photosynthesis, and subsequently, growth.

12

Gee, I worked on freelance all weekend and never gave this thread another thought. Sorry folks, but now I’m bumping to answer your questions best I can. Should I start an “Ask the Herb Gardener” thread?

Avumede: Rules of thumb on watering… Hmm. That’s kind of tough because so many environmental variables can change my advice. My assumptions: we’re talking about potted herbs, probably outside (because you’re in N. CA?). In general, potted plants dry out quicker than those planted in the ground. Typically, I’d advise watering once a week, give them a thorough soaking, then let them dry out in between waterings. I live in FL, where the summer heat really takes its toll on certain more delicate herbs. From May-Sept., I have to water daily or every other day – so what growing zone you live in is totally relevant. Just keep any eye on your plants. If they start to look wilty, you’ve waited too long. You can resurrect plants that look mostly dead… (Insert gratuitous Princess Bride reference here), but keep in mind that the damage from wilting will take some time for the plant to repair. I wouldn’t harvest herbs for cooking or medicinal values, if I was trying to bring them back from being mostly dead.

As for the chlorine in tap water: I’ve never heard that and have never had a problem. Many areas in Florida will hook up their sprinkler systems to treated wastewater. Smells bad while you’re watering, but the plants don’t seem to mind at all.

I’m not knowledgeable about tomatoes: I don’t particularly care for tomatoes and don’t have enough sun on my property to grow them. I’d say the wind is probably a problem, but I really shouldn’t address tomato issues. I think fizgig handled that one quite well.

Gundy: I have problems with basil myself. They like lots and lots of sun and do not like to be too dry. Don’t let basil dry out completely in between waterings, but again, avoid wet feet. I find pinching them back every couple weeks helps them stay bushy – my problems is that my basil plants get leggy if I ignore them too much. I think basil is very picky about watering – how often and how much. You’ll just have to kill a few to find the right formula for your growing conditions and zone. It’s okay – Target usually sells herbs at about $1.19 for a 4" pot. Moodtobestewed may have a good point about chilly weather. Protect your basil from drafts and don’t take it outside until the nighttime low temps are in the 50’s consistently. Let me know how it goes.

Lissla Lissar: herbs for indirect light… I can’t think of any offhand, although lavender does well for me if I don’t leave it in the blazing Florida sun. I also can’t keep chamomile going once the hottest part of summer kicks in. It seems to like light, but not high humidity and heat. Both do better for me sitting in mostly dappled shade all day, getting a little indirect light. You could purchase grow lights at any home improvement story (they screw into any standard light socket – I use those desk lamps with the adjustable arms) to help your plants sitting in the northern window. Leave the lights on about 4-6 hours a day, and everything should be cool. Be sure not to put the lights too close to the plants – leave at least a foot in between the plants and the bulbs, and be prepared to rearrange things as your plants grow toward the light!

Ferrous Your herbs will be fine if you just leave them alone to look pretty. You might want to pinch off new growth at the tops every now and then, but really only if they’re looking leggy – tall stems with just a few leaves at the top.

That was fun. Anything else?

13

For anyone else who pops in here to ask additional herb questions, it will help me tremendously if you tell me in what USDA Hardiness Zone you live. Please check out the map if you don’t already know.

Obviously, my answers will be more accurate in Zone 8, where I have the most gardening experience. (Although I’ve also gardened in Zones 5, 7 and 10).

14

Yeah, basil is a tough one to keep alive, and I never have much success.

so-- When I do harvest leaves, what part of the plant should I be harvesting from?

My basil plants also tend to get infected with bugs. Either little green ones, or little white ones. Lately I’ve been able to trap ladybugs, and sic the carnivourous bastards on the bugs, so that’s all right. But what do I do in winter?

For what it’s worth, I always grow 'em inside, but I face mostly north, so it’s tough finding a location that gets enough light but doesn’t induce heat shock (being on a windowsill is bad…).

15

Great. Thanks for the tips Dogzilla. I’ve now planted the rosemary, and am crossing my fingers that it’ll work. The ground is college owned (I did ask permission), and no one has done anything with it in ages. It was rock solid but, after some digging, seems to be fairly decent soil.

The Thyme I’ve kept in the pot for now, and am watering as per your suggestions.

(I’m not in the US, so I don’t know about a USDA Hardiness zone)

16

Barbarian: Harvesting – basil is easy, you harvest whenever you need some, and you can harvest as much as you want. I try to harvest from the top, and if I’m using a lot (say I’m making pesto and need a cup of leaves), I’ll leave at least the bottom four leaves. Always avoid any yellowed leaves. Smaller, newer leaves tend to be more tender and sweeter, but YMMV and we’re talking about basil here… even bad basil would be tasty… because it’s basil!

Disclaimer: I garden for flutterbys, so during peak larval feeding months (mid- to late-summer where I live), I don’t harvest at all, since I’m sharing my food with the caterpillars. Don’t wanna eat one by accident unless I’m training to appear on Fear Factor.

As for inside bugs, I don’t know what the green ones are but the little white ones are whiteflies. Mix up a weak solution of soapy water: 1 part liquid dish soap to about 10 parts tap water. Spray on the little buggers. Doesn’t hurt the plant (and the soap residue rinses right off so you can still eat your plant) and kills the critters. You could also just blast 'em in the shower. Sometimes a strong spray of water will be enough to knock 'em off the plant, which is all you need to do. I wonder if the little green guys are aphids?

kitarak Cambridge must mean you’re in England, Land of the Perfect Garden… and you’re asking me for advice? I’m flattered. I’m wondering about the soil quality where you live: you may want to add some peat or compost or something to amend the soil if it’s not rich enough. On this side of the pond, we have this cool thing called County Extension Offices – a place you can go to ask for soil analysis, gardening advice, plant identification, among other things. If there’s something similar in the UK… If you spotted any fat earthworms during your excavation, then your soil is probably fine. No worms: you might want to add some organic matter. IIRC, rosemary is pretty tolerant of poor soil. Just watch it and if it starts to act funky (leaves turn yellow, fall off, plant starts singing James Brown songs…) eliminate bad watering habits as a potential reason, then look to your soil.

17

So it’s cool to pick off the stem (or is it a trunk) of the plant?

18

Yes, Barbarian – and it is a stem. Just pick off the top first – helps the plant bush out and grow more fully. Pruning of any sort – whether harvesting herbs, deadheading perennials, or lopping your azaleas after a bloom, always encourages new growth. Which is especially cool with herbs, since, the more you harvest, the happier your plant is. To a limit of course. If you harvest down to the soil in the pot, your plant won’t be so happy.