Dear All,
I planted some sorrel seed which sprouted practically under my eyes but
has now started to wilt and die and I can't see a reason for this - no
pests, lots of moisture, not too much direct sunlight. Can any of you
help? I am a newbie to this group and don't (sigh) have a garden and so
am restricted to planting in window boxes and (largish)pots in a
communal garden.

Deborah

Deborah P. wrote:
Dear All,
.....

Deborah
Oh dear, I forgot to say "thank you".
Deborah

On 29/5/04 11:21 pm, in article , "Deborah P."
wrote:

Dear All,
I planted some sorrel seed which sprouted practically under my eyes but
has now started to wilt and die and I can't see a reason for this - no
pests, lots of moisture, not too much direct sunlight. Can any of you
help? I am a newbie to this group and don't (sigh) have a garden and so
am restricted to planting in window boxes and (largish)pots in a
communal garden.

Deborah

I can hardly bear to say this but could it be too much moisture? Lots to
one huge pot which might hold water too long given the size of the plant
roots? Pots allowed to drain right out? Not too much water, because (most)
herbs don't like to be too wet?
Do you know which you have? Having never grown Sorrel, I Googled and found
this:
---Cultivation---Sorrel of two kinds is cultivated, R. acetosa, or Garden
Sorrel, and R. scrutatus, or French Sorrel. Garden Sorrel likes a damp
situation, French Sorrel a dry soil and an open situation.
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/s/sorcom64.html
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

Sacha wrote:

On 29/5/04 11:21 pm, in article , "Deborah P."
wrote:


Dear All,
I planted some sorrel seed which sprouted practically under my eyes but
has now started to wilt and die and I can't see a reason for this - no
pests, lots of moisture, not too much direct sunlight. Can any of you
help? I am a newbie to this group and don't (sigh) have a garden and so
am restricted to planting in window boxes and (largish)pots in a
communal garden.

Deborah


I can hardly bear to say this but could it be too much moisture? Lots to
one huge pot which might hold water too long given the size of the plant
roots? Pots allowed to drain right out? Not too much water, because (most)
herbs don't like to be too wet?
Do you know which you have? Having never grown Sorrel, I Googled and found
this:
---Cultivation---Sorrel of two kinds is cultivated, R. acetosa, or Garden
Sorrel, and R. scrutatus, or French Sorrel. Garden Sorrel likes a damp
situation, French Sorrel a dry soil and an open situation.
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/s/sorcom64.html


Thank you Sacha. I'm sure you're right about there being too much
moisture and not enough drainage. I'm trying out a self-watering
container for the first time and obviously haven't got the hang of it
yet as it's not draining properly - when I looked again the earth was
way too soggy. I'm growing R. acetosa, which all the info I picked up
said needed partial shade and lots of moisture, but not marsh conditions.
Interestingly, nearly all the herbs I grow thrive on excess amounts of
water - as long as the pots drain well.

Cheers

Deborah

On 30/5/04 5:34 pm, in article , "Deborah P."
wrote:

snip
Thank you Sacha. I'm sure you're right about there being too much
moisture and not enough drainage. I'm trying out a self-watering
container for the first time and obviously haven't got the hang of it
yet as it's not draining properly - when I looked again the earth was
way too soggy. I'm growing R. acetosa, which all the info I picked up
said needed partial shade and lots of moisture, but not marsh conditions.
Interestingly, nearly all the herbs I grow thrive on excess amounts of
water - as long as the pots drain well.

Drainage is vital for most herbs. They'll put up with drought conditions
for quite a while but they won't stand having their feet in water. At my
old house, I planted a lot of lavenders under the dining room window and
they were obviously much too damp. I then moved them to a 'hollow', low
wall where they had 3 or 4' of drainage and they romped away like nobody's
business.

--

Sacha
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

Sacha wrote:

On 30/5/04 5:34 pm, in article , "Deborah P."
wrote:

snip

snip
Drainage is vital for most herbs. They'll put up with drought conditions
for quite a while but they won't stand having their feet in water.
snip

I'm glad to know about the drought conditions because the reason my
herbs sometimes receive excess water is that I often don't get around to
watering them until they almost dry out and then give them a thorough
drenching. I also usually use clay pots with crocks in the bottom. Maybe
I should give up on plastic self-watering containers - they're certainly
not as attractive.

Deborah

On 30/5/04 6:18 pm, in article , "Deborah P."
wrote:

Sacha wrote:

On 30/5/04 5:34 pm, in article , "Deborah P."
wrote:

snip

snip
Drainage is vital for most herbs. They'll put up with drought conditions
for quite a while but they won't stand having their feet in water.
snip

I'm glad to know about the drought conditions because the reason my
herbs sometimes receive excess water is that I often don't get around to
watering them until they almost dry out and then give them a thorough
drenching. I also usually use clay pots with crocks in the bottom. Maybe
I should give up on plastic self-watering containers - they're certainly
not as attractive.

Deborah

I think watering your plants yourself, therefore keeping an eye on them is
the best, if not the only, way to go. While we do use spray lines here in
*very* dry weather, most early morning watering is done by hand and it means
everyone keeps an eye on the plants and how they're doing, both in the
houses and outside. No watering here is truly automatic - even the spray
lines are operated by a person, not a timer.
To be honest, without really good drainage, many plants won't be happy with
a drenching, standing their feet in water, drying out of their own accord
and then being drenched again. This is even worse when there's a bit of
cold weather around and the water they stand in is cold, too. And - even
when we were having the hottest days here, the nights were cold, so........
I know it's very time consuming for busy people and that we are lucky here -
work is only yards away but I find watering very soothing, contemplative.
If you can't do it first thing in the morning because of work, perhaps last
thing in the evening could be enjoyable for you? Bit of a switch off etc?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

Sacha wrote:

On 30/5/04 6:18 pm, in article , "Deborah P."
wrote:


Sacha wrote:


On 30/5/04 5:34 pm, in article , "Deborah P."
wrote:

snip


snip

Drainage is vital for most herbs. They'll put up with drought conditions
for quite a while but they won't stand having their feet in water.

snip

I'm glad to know about the drought conditions because the reason my
herbs sometimes receive excess water is that I often don't get around to
watering them until they almost dry out and then give them a thorough
drenching. I also usually use clay pots with crocks in the bottom. Maybe
I should give up on plastic self-watering containers - they're certainly
not as attractive.

Deborah


I think watering your plants yourself, therefore keeping an eye on them is
the best, if not the only, way to go. While we do use spray lines here in
*very* dry weather, most early morning watering is done by hand and it means
everyone keeps an eye on the plants and how they're doing, both in the
houses and outside. No watering here is truly automatic - even the spray
lines are operated by a person, not a timer.
To be honest, without really good drainage, many plants won't be happy with
a drenching, standing their feet in water, drying out of their own accord
and then being drenched again. This is even worse when there's a bit of
cold weather around and the water they stand in is cold, too. And - even
when we were having the hottest days here, the nights were cold, so........
I know it's very time consuming for busy people and that we are lucky here -
work is only yards away but I find watering very soothing, contemplative.
If you can't do it first thing in the morning because of work, perhaps last
thing in the evening could be enjoyable for you? Bit of a switch off etc?

Yes, I really shouldn't do this but I work as a freelance English
language teacher in Austria and quite often get sent out of town for 3
or 4 days. When the weather really hots up in Vienna the temperatures in
my flat hang around 30c in the daytime and 25c at night. Last year
during the heatwave we even had night temperatures of over 30c.
I know this is a uk-focused newsgroup but could you bend the rules a bit
and give me some suggestions on how to overcome this problem?

Thanks

Deborah