herbs and sun

maus · Thu Jun 30, 2011 12:47 pm

Where I live I do not get direct sunlight will my herbs still grow in a shaded porch the herbs I am growing are catnip, peppermint and basil

rainbowgardener · Thu Jun 30, 2011 1:56 pm

Mint will grow anywhere, it doesn't care, so will do fine. The catnip is in the mint family and probably will be ok. Basil likes sun. I grow some on my deck where it gets only a bit more than half day sun and it does ok, the purple basil better than the green, which really wants more sun. But basil won't make it in all day shade. Find a sunny spot, even if it is just for a container. A basil plant will grow fine in a 10 -12" container.

maus · Thu Jun 30, 2011 2:15 pm

well where I live there are a lot of trees so the only sunny spots we have are in the parking lot which kinda sucks when living on the first floor of a condo and it isnt sunny in one spot all day. so I guess my basil is going to die then because I don't get enough sunlight here

rainbowgardener · Thu Jun 30, 2011 2:52 pm

Well, if all you have is shade then focus on growing things that like (or at least tolerate) shade. You will just frustrate yourself trying to grow sun lovers in shady spots.

maus · Thu Jun 30, 2011 3:38 pm

The direction that my building is facing is South and I live on the first floor so is there any possiblity to keep them alive?

rainbowgardener · Fri Jul 01, 2011 9:46 pm

well, south facing sounds good, but you said "shaded porch" and "no direct sunlight." If those things are true, you basil is not likely to do much. Maybe it will limp along, leggy and with few leaves or maybe it will just die.

Still seems like better to grow something that likes those conditions, rather than torturing your basil.

You could always put a grow light on it...

maus · Fri Jul 01, 2011 10:28 pm

actually I saw the sun hit it this afternoon so I have no idea what its going to do

gixxerific · Fri Jul 01, 2011 10:48 pm

Basil will stall out as stated with shade, filtered light.

Put it in your car.

Don't laugh I have actually done this during cold snaps but only for a day or two.

You could also be the anarchist gardener and find a spot somewhere on the property where most people won't mess with it but gets sun and plant there. I myself would do something like this.

Good luck, fresh basil is the bomb.

maus · Fri Jul 01, 2011 11:10 pm

its mostly the chipmunks and small animals I'm worried about

Bobberman · Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:02 am

Put some white or reflective material near the plant area and you will be surprised at the results!

maus · Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:33 am

How will that help

Bobberman · Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:42 am

When planting in shady areas a little extra reflective light makes a big difference, even some white perlite on the surface will reflect light to the plant!

maus · Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:47 am

So what do I need

maus · Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:50 am

If I put them in the lawn how to keep chipmunks and squirrels out of them

Bobberman · Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:54 am

You can paint the sides of the raised bed or box white or with white lime. Shredded white paper on the ground below the plants. a silver surface facing south aimed at the plant area! This is for shaded areas but will also work great in the garden for peppers and other light loving plants!

maus · Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:58 am

To keep chipmunks out of my basil any ideas if I put them in the middle of the lawn and my plants live in plastic pots

rainbowgardener · Sat Jul 02, 2011 6:58 am

Have you ever seen the chipmunks bother the basil? One of the nice things about growing herbs is that pests (of the four legged or six legged varieties) usually don't like them. I don't have chipmunks in my yard, but I have lots of squirrels, plus raccoons, groundhogs, etc and none of them have the least interest in the basil, which is all over the yard.

maus · Sat Jul 02, 2011 7:43 am

I moved them out on the yard and when should I start taking leaves off my plants are still only like 4 inches or so tall

maus · Sat Jul 02, 2011 7:50 am

Oh except that I'm growing catnip so once and while ill see cats

rainbowgardener · Sat Jul 02, 2011 8:33 am

Yeah.. cats. I don't grow catnip because of that. I started some from seed one time and put it out as a big healthy plant. The cats just rolled it to death. They didn't chew it. At first it would spring back after awhile after being rolled on, but eventually they just loved it to death.

If your basil is 4" tall and healthy, leafy not leggy, then pinch off the top pair of leaves. That will cause the stem to branch in two at that point. Let it grow some more and then keep taking top leaves like that. It will make your plant bushier and leafier.

maus · Sat Jul 02, 2011 8:47 am

Pinch off the top leaves only? I'm new to basil so I have no idea how to grow it . Do you mean the pair that appear in the middle

rainbowgardener · Sat Jul 02, 2011 10:58 am

No when I say top, I don't mean middle!

I mean the very top pair, even if they are tiny (and only if your plant already has at least 3 pair of leaves).

Here's a little more about it:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=196574#196574

When you cut the top pair of leaves off with the growing tip, the plant will branch at that point. You aren't worrying about harvesting yet, you are encouraging your plant to get bushier, so you will have lots more to harvest later.

maus · Sat Jul 02, 2011 11:13 am

So remove the leaves that are new growth or the ones that are developing two leaves? That kind of confused me. I don't expect them to get super huge and here is a picture of them

[img]https://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x352/mausNstuff/261204_10150696949215265_527640264_19073777_1225432_n.jpg[/img]