Herb Growing

[Karri]

andiesenji: Getting a little bit too high-tech for me... I was just thinking about a nice little patch with one side set of the sure-wins and one side for some experimentations and adjustments for the climate. And my budget is going to be very limited to say the least...

Blether: Thanks for the info, truth be told it's alot more work than I imagined.

Will propably post some pictures and the results as soon as I get the catalogue, place the orders, receive them and finally get my allotted plot.

Thank you very much to all.

[Karri]

"Parsley is a little bit tricky to germinate from seed, mainly because of the long germination times (3-4 weeks). If you are starting from seed, plan to start them indoors 6-8 weeks before you want to plant them outside."

Any comments?

[HungryC]

"Parsley is a little bit tricky to germinate from seed, mainly because of the long germination times (3-4 weeks). If you are starting from seed, plan to start them indoors 6-8 weeks before you want to plant them outside."

Any comments?

Welcome to the wonderful world of hot-climate gardening....which means you have to disregard a huge percentage of generalist information on planting. I wouldn't bother to start parsley indoors, provided that the bed/planting area is undisturbed (ie, no pets, kids running through it to disturb the germinating seeds). My grandma just sprinkled the seeds directly on the ground in a cool, well-watered spot (near the hose bib, which always dripped a bit), and I've had luck direct-seeding it.

If you allow some of your basil plants to flower, they'll set seeds & you'll never need to buy another basil seed. The seeds will germinate when watered & not too cold, and you can spade them up and put the tiny plants wherever you like (if you don't catch the seeds before they fall off the plant).

A number of slow-bolting cilantros are available in seed form--I've had better luck with Baker Creek's slow-bolt variety rather than the Ferry-Morse generic cilantro sold at my local garden center (that stuff flowers in nanoseconds). But you do need to sow successive crops of cilantro throughout the hotter months if you want to assure a consistent supply.

[helenjp]

One possibility - what about growing some of your candidates at home for a season, before you introduce them to your workplace garden plot or pot? If your growing area is visible to guests, that will give you a better idea of how manageable plants are in your climate.

I notice that a lot of small coffee-shops/"small menu" restaurants in urban areas here in Japan have a container or two of herbs near their street entrance...just two or three types, usually of small-leafed mediterranean herbs that always look presentable, and including rosemary because it is evergreen.

Hot-climate herbs - shiso (perilla) doesn't care how hot it gets, as long as it gets enough water and nutrients. If you are using herbs ornamentally, keeping large leaves free of bugs may be a challenge. Mint leaves rarely get bug-eaten, but I find that it dies back in really intense heat (probably not a problem if you can keep it damp). I can only say that being assiduous in watering and feeding seems to help plants keep bugs at bay - if I forget to water them, bugs descend in droves. Netting would help, but is less picturesque.

[Karri]

Yes, I actually had the first conversation with the General Manager today, she seemed quite enthusiastic about the idea, but said she needs to run it by the owner. So I'm guessing it's about 50/50 here, I personally can't see why not, since I would be doing all the actual work and ordering the seeds -if need be- on my own account. So here's to hoping for the best. But yes, herbs that would be used in the kitchen for the purposes of cooking.