herb issues

Aslack 6/6/2012, 11:27 am

Good Morning, This is my first year with the SFG and everything is going well EXCEPT my cilantro and basil. Both were planted 5/14 and I still have no sprouting. thoughts?

**llama momma** 6/6/2012, 11:45 am

So far I've only used basil transplants and they've done well in the heat and sunniest part of the garden.

Haven't grown cilantro.

**llama momma** 6/6/2012, 11:46 am

You are brand new! Welcome to the forum Aslack!!

AvaDGardner 6/6/2012, 12:19 pm

Cilantro doesn't like heat...how hot has it been? Mine has already bolted, and now is dying. Ironically, the seeds say to grow it all summer, and it is used widely in Mexican dishes...is it grown in hot conditions?

As for basil, mine is doing poorly, too. It doesn't like wet feet. Which is tough for me, for where it is planted.

My friends have basil with their tomatoes, and they water them once a week (they do have a heavy mulch & plastic on to slow water evaporation. Their basils (and tomatoes) are fantastic!

I'm new to growing herbs. I found a nice resource...some like water, some don't. It's like needing to have a specialized garden just for herbs!

Ava

(cute Bug LM!)

michellentn 6/6/2012, 2:23 pm

All my basil and cilantro sprouted using jiffy peat pellets. I had them inside a plastic container for humidity and used a heat pad on low underneath. The basil are now out in the garden next to the tomatoes doing fine so far. I used burpee seed which I have had good success with.

quiltbea 6/6/2012, 3:53 pm

@ Aslack.....Welcome to the forum. Its nice to see another New Englander.

I'm not an herb person so I'm not help I'm afraid. I have basil in pots and in the garden. The two in the pots, one in my flower bed and one on the deck, are losing ground daily. Yet the ones in the veggie garden and the asparagus bed are doing just fine. I haven't a clue why. I think the potting soil may be too rich for them. I know herbs don't need soil as rich as veggies and they also take half as much watering. I'm just grateful I transplanted more than I need.

floyd1440 6/6/2012, 7:09 pm

michellentn wrote:All my basil and cilantro sprouted using jiffy peat pellets. I had them inside a plastic container for humidity and used a heat pad on low underneath. The basil are now out in the garden next to the tomatoes doing fine so far. I used burpee seed which I have had good success with.

I used the pellets too and the seeds sprouted nicely and they are out in the garden. This year I am only growing basil and oregano this year and both are doing fine.

The problem I had is the seeds are SO small, and I had a hard time putting just two seeds in each cell. Need be more patient or find a more efficient way.

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quiltbea 6/6/2012, 8:10 pm

@floyd....To pick up just one seed, put some seeds in a dish, wet the tip of a pencil, and touch the seed. It'll pick it right up.

herb issues 03-03-10

You can drop it right in the middle of your soil block or cell from the pencil tip.

floyd1440 6/6/2012, 8:25 pm

quiltbea wrote:@floyd....To pick up just one seed, put some seeds in a dish, wet the tip of a pencil, and touch the seed. It'll pick it right up.

You can drop it right in the middle of your soil block or cell from the pencil tip.

Being an engineer you would think I could have devised something like that!! But I was attempting to carefully roll them out of the seed package and either got a few or way to many and when to many seeds fell out, I was frustrated trying to get them back.

You would have been laughing. Thanks as you ALWAYS teach me something new!

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**camprn** 6/6/2012, 9:58 pm

HI Aslack, welcome to the forum! I am only a few hours northwest of you and I think it has been too cold and wet the past two weeks for those seeds. If you are in a hurry, try planting them inside tomorrow, then you can transplant into the garden in a few weeks.

floyd1440 6/7/2012, 7:02 am

camprn wrote:HI Aslack, welcome to the forum! I am only a few hours northwest of you and I think it has been too cold and wet the past two weeks for those seeds. If you are in a hurry, try planting them inside tomorrow, then you can transplant into the garden in a few weeks.

Welcome Aslack......

Last year I tried starting herbs for seed in my SFG and had little success and due to to time I ending up buying plants.

This year I started ALL my herbs inside and they are all in the garden. My wife wants more basil for boxes and pots so I started 16 more inside and they should be ready for these containers in couple of weeks.

The trouble I had, planting seeds in the SFG, was the size of the seeds and the wind. Camprn is correct; start hem inside then trnasplant them.

bounce

herblover 6/7/2012, 8:43 am

I have not grown basil from seed; I always start with plants. They are of Mediterranean origin; so think warm, dry, windy is their native habitat. I do have mine in pots with geraniums this year but have usually grown them in ground.

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