Herbs

sturll

I grow my own herbs on my windowsill (inside)

I have - Coriander, Basil, Parsley, Thyme, Chives and Rosemary.

The problem is they seem to lose life over the course of a day and it seems like i water them, they start to droop and die off, i water them again and they spring back to life.

Am i doing something wrong?

Thanks

choille

Are they plants you've bought from supermarkets?

Reason I'm asking is that I used to buy those & killed loads of them off.
Have you allowed the compost to dry out too much? Has the compost shrunk away from the pot & when you water it it is just running through?

olly300

If they are plants brought from a supermarket I suggest you re-pot them and divide the plant into 3-5 parts. Supermarkets have a habit of supplying herbs with as many as can fit into the pot and if you leave the in it they die.

oliveoyl

How deep are the pots you've got them in? If they're too shallow the soil won't hold enough moisture to supply the plants on hot days. Terracotta pots are another possible reason... the moisture is absorbed by the pot itself and can dry soil out.

sturll

Thanks for the replies.

I did buy them from a supermarket and then re potted them in small pots from B&Q and they are sat on trays for the water.

I will try and separate them and see if that helps.

:beer:

olly300

sturll wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

I did buy them from a supermarket and then re potted them in small pots from B&Q and they are sat on trays for the water.

I will try and separate them and see if that helps.

:beer:

Don't sit them on trays of water just give them a good watering when you water them and throw the excess away.

Rosemary, basil, coriander and thyme are herbs that like hot dry climates. I've found them and most herbs don't like having their roots in water. So make sure you water them when the soil is dry. You will probably find you don't need to water them every day. (Stick your finger in to test it.)

Rosemary has a long root run so make sure the pot you have is deep otherwise it won't grow. There as my thymes seem to be happy in a shallow but wide pot. The rest seem happy in standard plant pots except chives which I found hard work keeping alive indoors.

I actually put my chives in the garden and they have now self sown everywhere in the soil I've not improved (Clay soil). They have pretty flowers and due to their taste the pesky animals don't eat them.

rosie383

I use a lot of fresh coriander in my cooking. The packs of seeds in B&Q etc were about £1.60 for what felt like around 20-30 seeds. I just went to a local Asian grocery and bought a bag with hundreds of seeds for 49p!!!!! Can I just plant them straight into my herb garden?

olly300

rosie383 wrote: »

I use a lot of fresh coriander in my cooking. The packs of seeds in B&Q etc were about £1.60 for what felt like around 20-30 seeds. I just went to a local Asian grocery and bought a bag with hundreds of seeds for 49p!!!!! Can I just plant them straight into my herb garden?

Try it.

Personally I would start them in a pot of their own.

rosie383

Ok, will do that.

olly300

rosie383 wrote: »

Ok, will do that.

Tell everyone if it worked.

I've heard of people who have managed to get Chilli plants from dried chilli seeds so it would be interesting to hear the result.

AJS71

rosie383 wrote: »

I use a lot of fresh coriander in my cooking. The packs of seeds in B&Q etc were about £1.60 for what felt like around 20-30 seeds. I just went to a local Asian grocery and bought a bag with hundreds of seeds for 49p!!!!! Can I just plant them straight into my herb garden?

I think you need to gently crack them to start them off - I seem to remember an indian chap across the road did that and harvested the seed from his plants each year to plant again (let a few go to seed) so free coriander for ever!