Hello,
I'm brand new to gardening of any sort but am trying to grow herbs outside this year. Ill give a little background on what I'm doing before I dive into questions.
I have a strip maybe 18" wide and 12 or so feet long between the garage and front walk that runs north/south, so from noonish on it gets plenty of sun. I live in the Indianapolis area but do not know what 'zone' that is. The soil was pretty thin so I added a couple inches of topsoil and brought home starter plants from the farmer's market last week (basil and rosemary) and planted them and have watered them daily to encourage root growth (it's been weeks here without rain). Today I hit the farm market again and brought home starters for flat leaf parsley and thyme. We having very hot weather today, tomorrow, and Monday that is forecast to be middle 90's if not higher. Should I hold off on transplanting these until the heat lets up? If so, after three days sitting by the window indoors, will they need to be re-acclimated to being outdoors?
I am as new as can be at this so no bit of information would be overkill. Other than my lawn the only thing I've ever grown is the hair on my head.
Thanks for any input.
Scott
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
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It is tough weather to be planting into. But if your starters have been sitting outside, they should be acclimated to it. I would think better to plant them out and take care of them, then to take them in and get them un-acclimated.
But yes, you will need to baby them a bit. Water daily as you said and perhaps arrange a little shade from hot afternoon sun. A little shade cloth awning would filter the sun a bit.
If you want to know what zone you are in, here's a site where you can enter your zipcode and it will tell you:
https://www.garden.org/zipzone/
Those are cold hardiness zones. All they tell you is how cold it usually gets down to where you are, in winter. That's helpful if you want to know if a certain perennial or shrub will survive your winter, but it says nothing about summer or any other weather conditions and makes no difference for growing annuals.
But yes, you will need to baby them a bit. Water daily as you said and perhaps arrange a little shade from hot afternoon sun. A little shade cloth awning would filter the sun a bit.
If you want to know what zone you are in, here's a site where you can enter your zipcode and it will tell you:
https://www.garden.org/zipzone/
Those are cold hardiness zones. All they tell you is how cold it usually gets down to where you are, in winter. That's helpful if you want to know if a certain perennial or shrub will survive your winter, but it says nothing about summer or any other weather conditions and makes no difference for growing annuals.
They're in the ground now. I watered them and am going to leave them be for a bit and then put my makeshift shade on them. I converted an old shoe box into tents for them that will allow plenty of ventilation and some midday sun, but block the brunt of the afternoon sun. Not glamorous, but it didn't cost any $. 
Another question. Are plant food products ok for starter herbs or am I risking messing with them too much and should just leave them be for now?
Another question. Are plant food products ok for starter herbs or am I risking messing with them too much and should just leave them be for now?
Herbs--as opposed to veggies--don't want much in the way of extra nutrition. Just water them as needed in a soil with good drainage, and they'll do what they can for you.
So no plant food, no fertilizer, especially for newly transplanted plants. (Even if you had just transplanted veggies, the advice would be the same, b/c ferts encourage top growth before the new roots have caught up.)
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
So no plant food, no fertilizer, especially for newly transplanted plants. (Even if you had just transplanted veggies, the advice would be the same, b/c ferts encourage top growth before the new roots have caught up.)
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9