On Tue, 25 May 2004 23:05:21 +0000 (UTC),
(Jake Wildstrom) wrote:

First off, let me know if I'm in the wrong place, please: the posts
I've seen here are mostly outdoor and fruit/vegetable-gardening, and
I'm doing (as the subject lines imply) herbs in indoor planters. i
live in an apartment, so outdoor transplantation isn't viable, else I
probably would.

Doesn't bother me if you're asking about growing stuff indoor, some
might, but ignore 'em. ;-) Most of us have grown plants inside too.

Another confession: I've come into this rather cold, knowing little at
all about gardening, so a lot of what I've done up until now seems
absurd to serious gardeners, I'm sure.

Everyone starts somewhere!

Here's my setup: I have several pots sitting on my window-sill. I'm
growing lemon balm, sweet basil, Genovese basil, and spearmint from
seed. The soil is Miracle-Gro Moisture-Control; the window is a
west-facing second-story in a suburban community (so it gets pretty
much unobstructed light in the afternoon). I water the plants when the
soil becomes perceptibly dry, or when the plants become perceptibly
wilted -- I use about a half teaspoon of Miracle-Gro all-purpose plant
food per gallon of water.

I generally cut the fertilizer to 1/4 or 1/8th.. depending on how
often I had to water plants. If you water some of them frequently,
then I'd dilute it more than with those that need more water, and all
herbs do not need the same water/fertilzer conditions. Basil is a
quick growing juicy leaved and stemmed annual that will require more
water than something like thyme or oregano.. I know those aren't in
your list, but just for comparison. Lemon balm can take some pretty
dry conditions and spreads and are tough plants as I all too well
know, it's all over my yard! But more on that later.

And here is the problem: in terms of color and not dying, the plants
seem to be doing OK. However, the actual leaves are flavorless --
especially on the mint; the basil has a mild flavor and detectably
basil-like odor; the lemon balm has both full flavor and odor, and the
stems on the sweet basil and mint seem to be growing woody. In
addition, the mint has rather sparse foliage -- there's a lot of stem
between leaves,and the leaves are starting to curl and dry up around
the edges. Also, none of my herbs are showing buds or flowers, which
I'd rather expected.

They're not getting enough light. Insufficient light causes
etoliation..where the plant increases the length of the stems between
the leaves in hopes of reaching light (think of those forgotten
potatoes growing long white stems looking for light as an extreme
example), and often chlorosis accompanies it..yellowing or lightening
of the plants' leaf color...pale green instead of deep green leaves,
or in the case of the lemon balm a bright green with shiny leaves.

If you have a south facing window, they may be happier there. If not,
supplementing their light with a florescent light set up with plant
lights. They have plant spot lights, incandescent, but they put out a
great deal of heat along with the light. You can find florescent set
ups in many lengths or plant lights in different lengths that may fit
something you already have. I wouldn't put them in ceiling fixtures
so much though as they need to be pretty close to the plants the
closer the better to give them enough light to grow sturdy stocky
plants rather than spindly growth that it sounds like you're
describing. You can grow plants anywhere in the house as long as you
can provide them with enough light, but most people do not have enough
light, even in windows alone...and when you do grow plants relying on
windows, you should rotate the plants 1/4 turn a day so it gets more
even light around the plant.

Garden plants generally want 6 hours of light a day, and many herbs we
like and grow are from sunny rocky hillsides.. those thyme and oregano
plants I know you don't have. Others, still like sun, whether they're
mints, or basil.

Flavor wise, the plants need that sunshine and balanced nutrients to
grow well, if they're not getting enough light to grow well, they
can't USE the nutrients you give them. Without proper lighting, what
would be a "normal" amount of water can drown a plant as it cannot
utilize it without the light to fuel the photosynthetic process, can't
kick the chloroplasts and mitochondria in gear to use those raw
materials you're providing.

So flavor won't be there without the light allowing them to grow.

Ditto on flowers. But, the optimal time to harvest plants is just
before they bloom.

Spearmint is one of the mildest mints, so it's not going to be really
strong no matter what. (also, if someone tries to sell you peppermint
seed.. laugh and don't buy it..peppermint is started from cuttings, or
divisions..vegetatively. All the garden books I've read which
mentioned it says there are no viable peppermint seeds). But,
peppermint of the sort grown around here for extract making, is smooth
leaved, no hairs, dark dark green with a bit of a maroon cast around
the edges and under sides of leaves and on stems. They are VERY
strongly flavored!! WOO!

I'd suggest either providing what you have with more light. Or if you
started them all from seed, and have some left, plant some more, put
them under a florescent grow light ..keeping the light about 2" above
the pots, and as the plants grow..about 2" from the growing point of
the plants. After the plants get oh, 6" or so tall and are looking
stocky and healthy, pinch out the growing tips, that will encourage
the plant to form side shoots, and they'll grow bushier.

And the last thing.. fresh herbs are not as potent as dried, so you
generally use more fresh herb than dry. Experiment once you get some
stocky happy plants going. You can grow them in an unused area, or
basement, and bring them up and rotate them in the windows, when they
start showing signs of getting pale needing light, put them back under
the grow lights and bring up another!

Good luck!

Janice

It seems I'm missing something crucial in my plant-care here. What is
it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| D. Jacob Wildstrom -- Math monkey and freelance thinker |
| Graduate Student, University of California at San Diego |
| "A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into |
| theorems." -Alfred Renyi |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily endorsed by the
University of California or math department thereof.