28-05-2004, 01:04 AM
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Clueless indoor herb-gardener... help!
(Jake Wildstrom) wrote in message ...
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.
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.
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.
It seems I'm missing something crucial in my plant-care here. What is
it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Did you start growing the herbs indoors then move then outside into
the hot sun? they could be suffering from shock.
anyway I would trade in the lemon balm for some lemon verbena, gives
you a better lemon flavour.
I have some herbs growing in 2 gallon pots this season that are doing
well all around, they seem to have good growth and flavour. I have old
english thyme, orange thyme, rosemary, lemon verbena, outside in my
garden I have winter green, catnip, spearmint, oregano, lemon balm,
garlic chives, dill, anise, etc.
They are all being watered generously, and are growing fast. Could
also be that you used too much ferts like another poster mentioned.
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