Marjoram & Thyme is anyone growing these?

[Gary350]

Are there more than one kind of these plants?

I have not been able to find plants or seeds for Marjoram.

Might be too late for me to plant anything it has been in the 90s here.

[imafan26]

I have both. Seeds are available for both, but they are slow from seed. Thyme was a little faster than the marjoram for me. I have been getting starts at Walmart and Lowe's. I lost my marjoram this year but I was able to get cuttings from a friend to start another. Cuttings are the easiest way to start many herbs.

Marjoram has
an annual sweet marjoram (origanum marjorana)
a perennial (origanum vulgare)
zataar (origanum syriacus) which is native to the middle east.

I only grow the annual sweet marjoram which is actually perennial in the tropics.

Thyme does have a few varieties. These are only a few the * were ones I have grown before
*English Thyme
*French Thyme
*Lemon Thyme
*Orange thyme
*wooly thyme
lime thyme
Mother of thyme

I also grow substitutes
false oregano, Jamaican oregano, Spanish thyme = Lippia micromera. A shrub in the verbena family. It is used as an oregano substitute.
Mexican Oregano = Lippia graveolens. Cousin of lippia micromera with larger leaves used in Mexican dishes as an oregano substitute.
False oregano, Cuban oregano, Spanish thyme (Different plants with the same common names) = Plectranthus amboinicus is a vining fleshy perennial with a strong oregano flavor and scent.

Seed sources
Horizon Herbs
https://www.horizonherbs.com/pilot.asp

Swallowtailgardens
https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/h ... #gsc.tab=0

Sandmountain herbs
https://www.sandmountainherbs.com/

The Cooks garden
https://www.cooksgarden.com/product/prod ... -CKS&No=25

[NJ Bob]

There are many different types of both these herbs. Marjoram is closely related to many of the oreganos. I am growing common thyme and about 3-4 different oreganos. I started most of mine back in January but these are mostly Mediterranean plants so the heat isn't going to kill them.

[Gary350]

What type Marjoram & Thyme are sold in the grocery store?

These are very good in certain foods. I decided instead of paying $3 each for a very piece of Marjoram & Thyme I will buy plants and grow my own. I don't know what to look for?

[sweetiepie]

This is my first year growing thyme and marjoram by seed. I got mine from https://www.superseeds.com/herbs/column2/marjoram.html.

I planted on the 19th and they both were sprouting today. Very tiny, so glad I did not try to direct sow.

[imafan26]

If you can get very fresh herbs from the store or better yet a farmer's market, you can root those.

I like sweet marjoram it is not as bitter as oregano. If I am using oregano, I only use Greek Oregano.

I do often use the lippia micromera as an oregano substitute, it is also not as bitter and it is growing in my yard.

For thyme the English and French thymes are the most common ones you will find. I use them for marinades and sauces.

Lemon thyme or silver thyme goes well with citrus chicken or fish.

I really did not care for the orange thyme and I only used creeping thyme as a ground cover.

[Gary350]

I will look for plants today at Sprouts. It is 95 degrees here already not likely I can start anything from cuttings or seeds.

I made a MENUDO Recipe using chicken. It calls for fresh herbs, Marjoram, Thyme and Oregano. The herb flavor is amazing so a few days later I made a pot of Chili and used the fresh herbs Marjoram, Thyme and Oregano, WOW what am amazing good improvement in FLAVOR. I have experemented with other foods these 3 fresh herbs are good in all soups, stews, mexican, italian, salads. I never get much flavor from the dry herbs.

[NJ Bob]

There's nothing like having fresh herbs at your disposal when you're in the kitchen. Good going!

[applestar]

Good luck! If what you want is the same flavor as the fresh herbs from the grocery store, I would try rooting freshest grocery store cuttings in the house where it's hopefully cooler. During the rooting process, you don't really want them in sunlight anyway so a bright location or under some fluorescent lights should suffice.

A cut apart plastic soda/water bottle makes handy propagation container and humidity dome.

[Gary350]

NO herb plants anywhere. Lowe's, Home Depot, Wal Mart, Sprouts, only have mint, basil and cilantro. The only grocery store that stocks Marjoram is the Mexican grocery store. It is too late here for plants, I should have bought plants in November. Gargen season here is Nov to May, 70 degrees and sunny all winter.

[Mr green]

Personally don't like the lemon thyme to much of a parfumy taste to it, no much lemon taste at all tastes parfume and has none of that original nice thyme flavor. Still have it in my herbgarden tho its a nice and decorative plant.

[Gary350]

I had to take a road trip to fine these. No information on the tags. How tall do they grow?

I have 3 irrigation planter circles in the yard 24" diameter each. I was thinking about putting 1 plant in each planter. But maybe they should all be in the same planter. I have Green Oregano, Silver Thyme, and Marjoram.

Click the picture it gets larger.

[imafan26]

Silver thyme is a variant of lemon thyme but it does not have a strong lemon flavor.

Herbs do very well in pots and those like similar conditions. Greek oregano is a sprawler, more like a ground cover, marjoram like a small shrub, it grows more upright. Thyme is also like a ground cover and creeps along close to the ground.

In your heat you should try growing the Mexican oregano, Lippia graveolens. It is a shrub and can handle the heat. It is used like oregano, and it is not as bitter.

I keep my herbs separate since they all like to be in the sun and have a spreading habit, they take over a 10 inch bowl in no time. Eventually the thyme's center will die out, so I want the branches to root along the way to keep it alive.

I have a lot of different herbs growing in my gardens, there really is no comparison between fresh herbs and the ones in a bottle or paste. I started growing some of the herbs especially the Thai ones because at one time they were very hard to get unless I grew them myself. I could only make 2 recipes in Keo's Thai Cuisine cookbook without them.

I have lemon grass, cilantro (in the cooler months), culantro, calamondin, lemon, Bears lime (I consider citrus spices), bay leaves (California bay and Lauris nobilis), dill (summer), fennel, Mexican oregano, Jamaican oregano, Greek oregano, horseradish (western), Mexican tarrragon (it is too hot to grow French tarragon), cardamom, turmeric, ginger, garlic (planted in the fall harvested around May), cutting celery, fennel, arugula, French thyme, English thyme, silver thyme, lemon thyme, peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint, orange mint, lime mint, pineapple mint, strawberries, green onions, garden chives, garlic chives, rosellle, false roselle, hot pepper (many kinds), bilimbi, sage (I keep killing it, but I keep trying), pineapple sage, nasturtiums (seasonal), leeks, piper lalot, shiso, pandan, gynuura, holy basil, African basil, lemon basil (they are resistant to downy mildew),rosemary, Murraya koenigii (Indian curry tree), borage (now in season), and sunflowers. I also have vanilla and piper nigrum (black pepper), but both are too young to bloom. They have to get to be about 20 ft before they will bloom.

[Gary350]

Where did you buy turmeric and mexican oregano?

Maybe I bought the wrong thyme, I want a good strong flavor but not lemon flavor. Maybe I should have bought the English Thyme.

I would like any plant that grows like a bush and returns every year.

These days I like low maintenance plants and only the ones I eat or cook with.

I like chives but there is never enough. I grew chives when I lived in TN the patch got larger every year but still it was never enough.

[applestar]

I think Sweet Marjoram is my new favorite herb!

In the past, I blindly followed the instructions for my growing zone to "grow as annual" and harvested in the summer to dry, then left them to die over the winter... And used the fragrant dried crumble.

With my recent interest in growing an Winter Indoor Garden, this fall I dug/potted up two marjoram plants that I grew from seeds in spring, and brought them inside.

With tomato seedlings and still blooming/fruiting pepper plants jostling for the prime spots, I can't give them the best light and they are growing rather tall and spindly, but that just means I have to keep trimming them to keep them in shape and within bounds.... And OH THE SMELL OF THEM! (Aroma... Fragrance... Which is the best fitting word?)

I feel like I could be like a cat enjoying catnip. I'm having some minced up fresh sprigs as garnish for chicken soup right now....

[pepperhead212]

I had a patch of marjoram for years, but it was killed last winter, with that intense cold. I thought that it reseeded every year, but it must have been a rootstock that grew back, like the sage (which also died, after many years). The marjoram seeds didn't result in the same plants, so next season I'll have to take a trip to Franklinville.

I always used the marjoram fresh, and I would harvest a bunch of it before it went to seed, and salt-layer it, to use the rest of the year. Tried it indoors, but it attracted spider mites, like many plants seem to, despite having no problems outside.

[imafan26]

Marjoram is sweeter and less bitter than Greek oregano, and can be used interchangeably.
I boought what I thought was marjoram but turned out to be Italian oregano.

[pepperhead212]

One thing I liked about the marjoram I grew was that it didn't spread much. Many people say that they have had oregano grow rampant, and become invasive, like mint. I was surprised that marjoram didn't do this, since they are so similar.

[applestar]

It will be interesting to see how big these will get. They at currently in 5-6" clay pots -- one sharing with French thyme.

But if they can handle milder winter temps -- say down to tweens, I could put them out in the Garage V8 Nursery under the bright shoplights for growing seedlings

[Susan W]

Looks like I bypassed this thread last spring, perhaps too busy growing oregano, thyme and marjoram.

As noted marjoram and thyme both slow and not so easy to start from seed, and takes forever and then some to get to cutting size. I had thought marjoram perennial, but is borderline for me. I have 3 -4 pots, 10" size with perhaps 3 plants each. They are slow to grow, slow the spread. Below 25 will tuck up into the mini greenhouse, colder bring in. They don't like to be inside for any duration! Out of all that may get 2 small bunches to pick for market. As I like it, will keep some going. Usually need to toss some dead in spring, and add a couple of starts (from garden center). They don't want to be cold, and saw they don't like hot direct sun in summer. I was shifting the pots last summer when they showed hurting, and given a spot with less sun helped. They went back to more sun with days cooler (under 85-90)

Marjoram and oregano are closely related. I pick both for an herb blend (veggies, soups etc), as they have distinct flavors.

Yes, I'll keep trying to grow some from seed, and with luck and diligence get a nice look 4" pot of marjoram!