Growing with sldsmkd - Indoor Herbs

[Xelene]

I've always fancied growing my own veggies as they taste much better when they are your own, but unfortunately live in a flat with no garden and the waiting list for an allotment is over 20 years. A few months back I got some free Basil seeds with something or other, and having south facing windows thought i'd give it a go.

Had always just bought bags of the stuff fresh from the supermarket, used a bit and thrown the rest away which is a real waste. Basil is dead easy to grow, I just bought some Baby Bio for herbs & some general compost. Was about £10 - and there's tons of the stuff left. It needs a bit of damp whilst it is germinating, but once it's established it's happier in dry soil (Mediterranean plant). Once it's 6" tall or so start pruning it from the top to encourage bushy growth and prevent it flowering (and turning to seed). As an advantage, you get to cook with the pruned leaves

This is it:



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Encouraged by the success with this - and how much i'm going to be using fresh herbs i've gone out and bought some seeds for Chives, Flat Leaf Parsley and Sage. Nothing to see at the moment as they have just been planted in some 5" wide, 1" deep pots and are hopefully going to germinate.

Will post pictures as they germinate.

(And yes I know the windows need a clean, we're 3 stories up so they don't get done that often on the outside)

 

[boxman2000]

Nice one!

I've just planted my basil in the greenhouse (bit late) - really wanting to get into growing my own stuff so nice to see a great example there!

 

[uv]

My chives are in full flower, and I've also got chillies, strawberries and garlic growing.

I've got a new greenhouse arriving at the weekend, then I'll have tomatoes, courgettes, broccoli, carrots and cauliflower on the way, as well as some runner beans on a wigwam structure.

I did potatoes last year, but they got blight and I had to harvest them whilst they were baby spuds.

There's nowt much better than growing your own food

 

[J1234]

I've got a few large pots in the garden with a big mix of basil, flat leaf parsley, coriander, thyme, rosemary, oregano, chives and mint. Very handy having them all on hand and ready to be picked.

 

[lookitsjonno]

going to try herbs - do they survive the winter? what can I use chives in?

 

[J1234]

I bring mine in over winter, the only one that seems to survive is Rosemary. Mint dies but grows back again.

Chives go well with dairy ingredients and eggs.

 

[Jonny69]

Basil grows well on the window sill in the kitchen but it hates being on our balcony. Too hot and dry. In the hotter drier conditions I find Greek basil grows better. Smaller leaves and the plant is a bit more woody, which seem to let it survive the hot dry a bit better.

 

[randomshenans]

I've got rosemary, thyme, oregano, Greek basil, basil, parsley, coriander and chives at the moment. Got a bay tree but need to collect it from the old dears! It's great having fresh herbs!

 

[vicisthebest]

I've got some flat-leaf parsley, coriander, and thyme growing on my windowsill. Very handy have also got some chives, curly parsley, mint and basil outside

 

[Xelene]

Some lessons learned, some positives. Learning this as I go along.

Germinated them on top of the Loo as it's the warmest place in the house. These orange pots are too shallow and the plants got constrained. Clockwise from top left, Chives, Parsley, Basil, Sage. The Basil was too clumped together so some of the sprouts didn't have a chance.

Time to repot, I managed to untangle the Basil and Parsley plants a few died in the process and the weaklings went into the bin. Only one Sage survived sadly, so I planted some more seeds in the new pot. The one that surviced is doing well, it's growing a second set of leaves now.

The chives are on the left, not sure if they'll make it or not - they didn't like being moved at all. The basil plant from the first picture is in RUDE health, he likes his new pot.

 

[Xelene]

Just to add, i'm now using a handful of Basil leaves in my meals every 2 or 3 days. It's so easy to look after, and tastes so good when it's fresh Look forward to having fresh other herbs.

 

[robfosters]

I'm growing Tomatoes, Potatoes, Chillies, Cucumbers, Courgettes, Spring Onions, Lettuces, basil, Coriander, Parsley, Mint and Chives. Going down to the garden centre on Saturday to see if I can get some sweet pepper plants.

This is my first year at this hobby and it is fantastic. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a hobby as much. Being my first year, I'm not expecting fantastic results, but things may improve with experience.

For next year I will be building myself two 8X4 raised beds. Should give me enough space to do even more.

This is a great forum for advice if you need a bit of help. http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/

 

[Xelene]

This is my first year at this hobby and it is fantastic. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a hobby as much. Being my first year, I'm not expecting fantastic results, but things may improve with experience.

I'm thoroughly enjoying it, spend so much time checking the little ones. One of the first things I do in the morning is check the little sprouts and make sure they are okay. Was absolutely gutted when some died.

 

[robfosters]

I'm thoroughly enjoying it, spend so much time checking the little ones. One of the first things I do in the morning is check the little sprouts and make sure they are okay. Was absolutely gutted when some died.

You will always get die off mate. Especially indoors.

I was getting lots of die off indoors. I then bought a mini greenhouse from Polhill garden centre in Kent to put outdoors. It was on special offer at £15. Nice and spacey and easy to put up.

Everything is flying now that's in there. It obviously keeps it nice and warm, but it also does a good job of keeping the air humid which stops the soil drying out quickly.

I planted 4 courgette plants in case of die off (1's enough to feed a family). In the greenhouse they are storming along. I will be buried under a pile of courgettes soon

 

[Xelene]

You will always get die off mate. Especially indoors.

Mostly it was due to me being cack handed and killing the sproutlings as they got moved to a proper pot. Next time I think i'll just sow them in a normal pot to start with.

The survivors are all getting their first real leaves, the first set they all had was all a bit Children of the Damned/Invasion of the Body Snatchers - sort of looked a bit like what you expected but was generally a poor featureless imitation. The Parsley looks recognisably like very tiny Parsley now etc

The Basil grew to fill the bigger pot quite quickly, will do some pictures next week.

Edit: And a lied originally about drier soil for the Basil, it likes to drink.

 

[robfosters]

With basil I was always told to wait until it started to wilt slightly, then give it a good drink. You can literally watch it pick up straight away.

 

[Xelene]

With basil I was always told to wait until it started to wilt slightly, then give it a good drink. You can literally watch it pick up straight away.

It definitely picks up quickly after a water. I've got to know the plant, so just cop a quick feel every morning and if it isn't feeling all perky do the business.

(You can feel the leaves, if they aren't springy and bouncy then it's time to water)

 

[soullessfire]

Been doing this a couple of years now, with a host of veg in tubs in my back yard.

Chives are basically onion-y so they go well with practically anything. Parsley goes with most stuff. Dill is great with fish. Rosemary with lamb or potatoes is good. Basil works well with tomatoes or tomato sauces. Thyme also works well with tomatoes. I don't really bother with mint and coriander because I don't really like either.

If you have room for herbs, then you have room for chillies and probably even a small tumbling tom tomato bush. Both will do well on a windowsill.

 

[soullessfire]

The most important thing I learned last year (my first year) was to leave the bloody things alone lol Can't tell you how much I mothered things last year, even had moisture detectors and stuff and messed about bringing them in in cold weather. Half of it's needless.

Went to weed in April and found 6 perfectly healthy tomato seedlings in a crack between 2 flagstones. I eased them out with a stick and got myself 6 extra plants for no effort which are now doing wonderfully outside. One of last years tomatoes must have dropped off the plant, got trodden on and spewed it's guts into that crack in the pavement.

Plants will do their thing quite happily without the need for you most of the time. As for watering, I water maybe once or twice a week and if the plants happen to be in pots, I make sure one of those has some plant food in it to keep them topped up. Really haven't paid much attention to it all this year and everything's doing absolutely fine lol

Oh and one final tip before I shut up (thankfully I hear you say). If you're short on pots and money, head down to Morrisons supermarket and pick up the black pots they get their flowers delivered in for something like 10 for 99p. They range between 9" high by 9" diameter to a deeper version that's maybe 4 or 5 inches deeper. Just need to heat a screwdriver or something metal and pierce a couple of holes in the base for drainage.

 

[robfosters]

Just need to heat a screwdriver or something metal and pierce a couple of holes in the base for drainage.

Or do what I do and just drill them.