Hello all!
I started my herb garden in little trays on April 1st. They sprouted quickly and given enough water but I don't think they are growing as they're supposed to. Its now May 9th and it seems as if they are only on their 2nd or 3rd row of leaves. Is that normal? I feel they should be more full. The last 2 weeks have been nothing but rain ant cloudy. Idk maybe I'm just anxious to finally not have to buy herbs anymore.
Advice?
Herbs: Basil, Thyme, cilantro, parsley and sage.
My pepper plant is growing fast!
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sharlysharlss
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PinkPetalPolygon
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Are you able to post any pictures? 
It is hard for me to tell if they are doing good or not without a picture, but I can tell you that some things you listed grow faster than the others, especially from seed. So they wouldn't be all the same size & some would look smaller than others I would imagine? (If that helps, hah.)
Where are these plants located / how much lighting are they getting?
It is hard for me to tell if they are doing good or not without a picture, but I can tell you that some things you listed grow faster than the others, especially from seed. So they wouldn't be all the same size & some would look smaller than others I would imagine? (If that helps, hah.)
Where are these plants located / how much lighting are they getting?
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PinkPetalPolygon
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PinkPetalPolygon
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- Location: California Zone 9b <3
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sharlysharlss
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PinkPetalPolygon
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Aww, I wrote a response a few hours ago and thought I pressed enter but I didn't and then it got erased! 
Ahem! As I was saying/thought I had already said:
I think you were right about the herbs not growing correctly? They look what is called "leggy" - due to not getting enough light. They lean toward the light and become weak.
(Although your peppers do look good!)
I understand if you couldn't put them outside due to rainy weather, and I am a new gardener myself so I don't know exactly when (lol)
But sometime after the plants get their first true leaves they need more sunlight than a window can provide?
I had all the trouble in the world with leggy seedlings flopping around before I knew what legginess was and how to cure it..
For someone who knows more who hopefully comes along:
At what point do herbs/veggies need more light than a windowsill?
I had no idea it was a lack of light that was causing my seedlings to be floppy! I thought I had been protecting them from sun they couldn't handle but it turns out they actually needed more light than I realized. Indirect outdoor light is great (assuming your temperatures are above 40 degrees or something like that, I actually have no experience in colder climates, hah)
I basically got so fed up with "leggy" weak seedlings I decided I was gonna fry them in the sun before I made them leggy. I understand if you can't rotate your plants in and out of the house when weather allows due to physical reasons, but that is what I did... I put them in the shade and then kind of grew them and hardened them off at the same time in the shade or on cloudy days.
Ooh, do you know about the process of hardening off seedlings to go outside? (You adjust them to the outside slowly, like putting them under. Table or chair at first/into the shade and never straight into direct sunlight in the beginning)
Are you planning to put them in the ground soon? (Once again, I'm assuming you aren't in an artic climate or anything like that?/ where are these plants growing? & I understand of course if the rain won't permit planting! )
I am hoping someone else comes along with a more definitive answer on what to do about your seedlings besides giving them more light (but not too much too fast), which I am pretty sure they need
I wanna say I'm "no expert" on gardening, generally speaking, but then again... if I am an expert at anything it would be making leggy seedlings. (Not intentionally obviously, and now I have it all down, so hey, I'll take whatever expertise I can claim.
)
Ahem! As I was saying/thought I had already said:
I think you were right about the herbs not growing correctly? They look what is called "leggy" - due to not getting enough light. They lean toward the light and become weak.
(Although your peppers do look good!)
I understand if you couldn't put them outside due to rainy weather, and I am a new gardener myself so I don't know exactly when (lol)
But sometime after the plants get their first true leaves they need more sunlight than a window can provide?
I had all the trouble in the world with leggy seedlings flopping around before I knew what legginess was and how to cure it..
For someone who knows more who hopefully comes along:
At what point do herbs/veggies need more light than a windowsill?
I had no idea it was a lack of light that was causing my seedlings to be floppy! I thought I had been protecting them from sun they couldn't handle but it turns out they actually needed more light than I realized. Indirect outdoor light is great (assuming your temperatures are above 40 degrees or something like that, I actually have no experience in colder climates, hah)
I basically got so fed up with "leggy" weak seedlings I decided I was gonna fry them in the sun before I made them leggy. I understand if you can't rotate your plants in and out of the house when weather allows due to physical reasons, but that is what I did... I put them in the shade and then kind of grew them and hardened them off at the same time in the shade or on cloudy days.
Ooh, do you know about the process of hardening off seedlings to go outside? (You adjust them to the outside slowly, like putting them under. Table or chair at first/into the shade and never straight into direct sunlight in the beginning)
Are you planning to put them in the ground soon? (Once again, I'm assuming you aren't in an artic climate or anything like that?/ where are these plants growing? & I understand of course if the rain won't permit planting! )
I am hoping someone else comes along with a more definitive answer on what to do about your seedlings besides giving them more light (but not too much too fast), which I am pretty sure they need
I wanna say I'm "no expert" on gardening, generally speaking, but then again... if I am an expert at anything it would be making leggy seedlings. (Not intentionally obviously, and now I have it all down, so hey, I'll take whatever expertise I can claim.
)-
sharlysharlss
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That does make sense. I live in an apartment so when I leave for work I put them in the south facing window and on return I put them facing west window so the sun hits them. I also have cats so when I can't monitor them from eating the plants I just keep the plants facing south. This week should be lots of sun so I will try and rotate them.
Do you think there still have a chance?
I appreciate all this help. And thank you for the advice on hardening. I am moving next month with ample outdoor space so in mid June I planned on putting them in bigger pots outside. Is there a difference with putting them in pots and in the ground?
The only reason I was planning on putting them in pots is bc I will have a very large sunroom and I'd like to keep them safe.
Do you think there still have a chance?
I appreciate all this help. And thank you for the advice on hardening. I am moving next month with ample outdoor space so in mid June I planned on putting them in bigger pots outside. Is there a difference with putting them in pots and in the ground?
The only reason I was planning on putting them in pots is bc I will have a very large sunroom and I'd like to keep them safe.
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PinkPetalPolygon
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- Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2016 5:57 pm
- Location: California Zone 9b <3
I am glad to hear you are moving to the promised land of sun soon!
Hehe, it's funny, umm, like I said I'm vaguely new to gardening? And I'm way new to this forum, uhm, hmmm!
(This community is awesome and filled with what are like "Master Gardeners" (even if some are humble and like to pretend they're amateurs!
)
I am not exactly sure what to say to do actually and don't want to influence you in the wrong direction. I am pretty certain they need more light.
(although, once again, not too much light too fast, it needs to be a gradual increase if you go outside)
But it seems like you don't have an outside available yet. (Still so happy to think you'll have a good area soon, yay! I hope someone will come around soon and tell you what to do in the meantime, heh!)
There are definitely some differences between pots/container and in the ground, but a lot of herbs do great in pots. A pro for pots is that they have better drainage (or can have better drainage if you use the right potting mix, hah?) - obviously you have more control with herbs in pots with the weather because you can move them out of the rain if necessary.
That being said, I do love me some herbs in the ground! A lot of different kinds of herbs "sprawl" instead of growing upright, so that is something to keep in mind. (It is ALWAYS a good idea to research everything you plant in the ground any way, like, its growth pattern...)
Hehe! I just realized I couldn't council you on pots VS the ground without knowing "what ground" you have, err your latitude/longitude? (Hah, I am not actually asking you, I just meant your vague location/what part of what continent?...)
I started thinking about the difference between "my ground" and a pot, and suddenly realized I come from a land that barely ever gets below freezing.
Basil = really cold sensitive. It is a sun hog, it likes all the sun it can get. I think it is also literally sensitive to light lengths in days changing in fall? It is the first to leave no matter what I do, so don't worry if that happens. I am growing my basil in pots and in the ground this year and I might even say I like it in a pot better because it keeps it further away from slugs.
Thyme = one of my favorites! I have 3 different kinds in the ground because they like to sprawl/crawl/spread and I actually love that idea. (If it ever goes too crazy I can always cut it back and make a huge soup or stew so its invasiveness is a like a nice threat to me. But I am on year 1 with these thymes. So maybe one day I'll be drowing in thyme and like "oh noes!" But I doubt it. You can always make cuttings to give to friends/family/the world! (Err, maybe not always, I mean,there's better times of than others for making cuttings but anyway!)
Thyme also does great in a pot. It takes care of its spreading inclination. But I think you'll definitely have to repot it every couple of years. I didn't repot my thyme after 3 years and now it's kind of upset with me.
I think you are also supposed to... (maybe not in the first year, don't kill it by my advice !!!)
I mean, uhh, after your thyme plant is all big and burly and adult
I think I know you are supposed to cut it down for the winter?
I didn't cut my oldest thyme in a pot for the winter last year and I regretted it. But you may be a few years away from this situation. I'm just sayin'
cilantro = hey you know what? I recently learned that cilantro has a huge taproot and does better in the ground than in a pot.
That being said, I have seen cilantro grown in pots and for the first while they do fine. (But I can't recommend putting anything with a long taproot in a pot on some weird moral plant empathy grounds.) Actually, I wouldn't of known cilantro had huge roots if not for this forum? I read that and picked up my cilantro pot to see the roots coming out of the bottom. And no way did they like being transplanted. >_< so unless you have a huge huge pot or just want cilantro (hah) I'd consider growing it in the ground? Ladybugs love cilantro.
parsley is wonderful! Have two in a pot, five in the ground. I'm joking. You definitely don't need that much parsley, okay, bad advice! I think parsley does fine in a pot. I've had one in a pot for 8 months and it is growing a huge flower stalk. It looks awesome.
sage = also wonderful! There are lot of different kinds. I don't know anything about growing sage in pots because sage has been one of my favorite things my whole life, so when I got my ground to plant in, the first thing I planted was a "normal green" sage plant by the front door. I read that you weren't supposed to harvest sage for the first year?
I was kind of frustrated by that idea, or like, I didn't realize WHY I was being told not to harvest it for a year? Until... the next year after I put it in... all of a sudden it was covering 5 x the original area and instead of one plant it had become a huge bush with... like... mmm... 25 shoots/tons of leaves more than fine to be harvesting.
But maybe your sage isn't a kind of sage that bushes like that?/I don't know if they all bush like that.
I didn't know that was what I had been waiting for! I also made like 8 babies/new plants from the sage cuttings because I read that... after a certain amount of years, the sage leaves get "woody" err something, to the extent you'd eventually want to replace the mother plants with new plants.
Soo here are a few questions:
Where are you located?/What part of what continent? (I don't mind anyone not saying exactly where they are, I understand, but to figure the upcoming conditions for your plants' lives it's a good piece of information - lots of people put their locations in their profiles so when you see their name it also shows your zone or locale you're plantin' stuff.
Do you remember what kinds of herbs you had, did the package specify what species they were exactly? (I am just kind of curious, hehe, because different types of stuff can grow a little differently, I don't wanna tell you to cut your stuff in a way that the species of stuff you actually have wouldn't like, for instance.)
Hehe, it's funny, umm, like I said I'm vaguely new to gardening? And I'm way new to this forum, uhm, hmmm!
(This community is awesome and filled with what are like "Master Gardeners" (even if some are humble and like to pretend they're amateurs!
) I am not exactly sure what to say to do actually and don't want to influence you in the wrong direction. I am pretty certain they need more light.
(although, once again, not too much light too fast, it needs to be a gradual increase if you go outside)But it seems like you don't have an outside available yet. (Still so happy to think you'll have a good area soon, yay! I hope someone will come around soon and tell you what to do in the meantime, heh!)
There are definitely some differences between pots/container and in the ground, but a lot of herbs do great in pots. A pro for pots is that they have better drainage (or can have better drainage if you use the right potting mix, hah?) - obviously you have more control with herbs in pots with the weather because you can move them out of the rain if necessary.
That being said, I do love me some herbs in the ground! A lot of different kinds of herbs "sprawl" instead of growing upright, so that is something to keep in mind. (It is ALWAYS a good idea to research everything you plant in the ground any way, like, its growth pattern...)
Hehe! I just realized I couldn't council you on pots VS the ground without knowing "what ground" you have, err your latitude/longitude? (Hah, I am not actually asking you, I just meant your vague location/what part of what continent?...)
I started thinking about the difference between "my ground" and a pot, and suddenly realized I come from a land that barely ever gets below freezing.
Basil = really cold sensitive. It is a sun hog, it likes all the sun it can get. I think it is also literally sensitive to light lengths in days changing in fall? It is the first to leave no matter what I do, so don't worry if that happens. I am growing my basil in pots and in the ground this year and I might even say I like it in a pot better because it keeps it further away from slugs.
Thyme = one of my favorites! I have 3 different kinds in the ground because they like to sprawl/crawl/spread and I actually love that idea. (If it ever goes too crazy I can always cut it back and make a huge soup or stew so its invasiveness is a like a nice threat to me. But I am on year 1 with these thymes. So maybe one day I'll be drowing in thyme and like "oh noes!" But I doubt it. You can always make cuttings to give to friends/family/the world!
(Err, maybe not always, I mean,there's better times of than others for making cuttings but anyway!)Thyme also does great in a pot. It takes care of its spreading inclination. But I think you'll definitely have to repot it every couple of years. I didn't repot my thyme after 3 years and now it's kind of upset with me.
I think you are also supposed to... (maybe not in the first year, don't kill it by my advice !!!)
I mean, uhh, after your thyme plant is all big and burly and adult
I think I know you are supposed to cut it down for the winter?
I didn't cut my oldest thyme in a pot for the winter last year and I regretted it. But you may be a few years away from this situation. I'm just sayin'
cilantro = hey you know what? I recently learned that cilantro has a huge taproot and does better in the ground than in a pot.
That being said, I have seen cilantro grown in pots and for the first while they do fine. (But I can't recommend putting anything with a long taproot in a pot on some weird moral plant empathy grounds.) Actually, I wouldn't of known cilantro had huge roots if not for this forum? I read that and picked up my cilantro pot to see the roots coming out of the bottom. And no way did they like being transplanted. >_< so unless you have a huge huge pot or just want cilantro (hah) I'd consider growing it in the ground? Ladybugs love cilantro.
parsley is wonderful! Have two in a pot, five in the ground. I'm joking. You definitely don't need that much parsley, okay, bad advice! I think parsley does fine in a pot. I've had one in a pot for 8 months and it is growing a huge flower stalk. It looks awesome.
sage = also wonderful! There are lot of different kinds. I don't know anything about growing sage in pots because sage has been one of my favorite things my whole life, so when I got my ground to plant in, the first thing I planted was a "normal green" sage plant by the front door. I read that you weren't supposed to harvest sage for the first year?
I was kind of frustrated by that idea, or like, I didn't realize WHY I was being told not to harvest it for a year? Until... the next year after I put it in... all of a sudden it was covering 5 x the original area and instead of one plant it had become a huge bush with... like... mmm... 25 shoots/tons of leaves more than fine to be harvesting.
But maybe your sage isn't a kind of sage that bushes like that?/I don't know if they all bush like that.
I didn't know that was what I had been waiting for! I also made like 8 babies/new plants from the sage cuttings because I read that... after a certain amount of years, the sage leaves get "woody" err something, to the extent you'd eventually want to replace the mother plants with new plants.
Soo here are a few questions:
Where are you located?/What part of what continent? (I don't mind anyone not saying exactly where they are, I understand,
but to figure the upcoming conditions for your plants' lives it's a good piece of information - lots of people put their locations in their profiles so when you see their name it also shows your zone or locale you're plantin' stuff. Do you remember what kinds of herbs you had, did the package specify what species they were exactly? (I am just kind of curious, hehe, because different types of stuff can grow a little differently, I don't wanna tell you to cut your stuff in a way that the species of stuff you actually have wouldn't like, for instance.)
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Lindsaylew82
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Herbs tend to root fairly easily by just putting the stems in water. So I'm basing this response on that logic. I definitely think your seedlings would greatly benefit from a lighting setup if you intend to keep them indoors. We have a $30 Walmart shop light setup, I think it's t-8 lights or something like that.... Anyway, I put that thing about an inch away from the seedlings. 1 inch! And we still get a little leggy at the edges of the light.
Here's what I would do...
I would transplant those super long seedlings so that only the top 2 leaves (about 1cm) of the plant is left above the soil. Then I would put that cheap Walmart (or whatever store you like) light down super close. The stem that's buried will grow roots.
Here's what I would do...
I would transplant those super long seedlings so that only the top 2 leaves (about 1cm) of the plant is left above the soil. Then I would put that cheap Walmart (or whatever store you like) light down super close. The stem that's buried will grow roots.
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sharlysharlss
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thanks guys!
as it would be, all these little guys wanted was more sun! I live in New York and my little guys did not like those 2 weeks of clouds and rain. Urgh. It's bright and sunny now and you can just tell the seedlings love it. they are standing upright and seem strong.
Funny story: My cat ate the leaves of my pepper plants and I was devastated. I banned my cat from the bedroom until further notice. They seem to be recuperating fine though.
for my sage: I currently have it in a little seedling cup just until I get into my house. It's growing tall and fast. Has it's 3rd set of leaves already. I plan on putting it in a pot next to my front door, is that a good idea or should I put it in the ground like you did? I hear that sage grows wicked fast but I don't want it to overrule my front yard. Aaahh
Oh another thing- when do I know it's time to transfer my herbs into actual pots? Cilantro, Basil, Thyme, peppers
as it would be, all these little guys wanted was more sun! I live in New York and my little guys did not like those 2 weeks of clouds and rain. Urgh. It's bright and sunny now and you can just tell the seedlings love it. they are standing upright and seem strong.
Funny story: My cat ate the leaves of my pepper plants and I was devastated. I banned my cat from the bedroom until further notice. They seem to be recuperating fine though.
for my sage: I currently have it in a little seedling cup just until I get into my house. It's growing tall and fast. Has it's 3rd set of leaves already. I plan on putting it in a pot next to my front door, is that a good idea or should I put it in the ground like you did? I hear that sage grows wicked fast but I don't want it to overrule my front yard. Aaahh
Oh another thing- when do I know it's time to transfer my herbs into actual pots? Cilantro, Basil, Thyme, peppers
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ButterflyLady29
- Greener Thumb
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- Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2015 9:12 pm
- Location: central Ohio
My mom grew a bunch of cilantro in 12 inch wide containers, it did so well that she was able to sell bunches of it, until the butterfly larvae took over and she stopped harvesting.
All your herbs will do fine in pots. I've had sage outside in the same pot for 3 years now.
Thyme grows very slowly, but doesn't like being repotted.
Basil, the one year I grew it I repotted it 3 times before I planted it outside. It gets pretty big and takes a lot of water.
They need larger pots when the roots start coming out the drain holes in the bottom or the plant grows as tall as the container it's in. The peppers are ready for larger pots.
If you have a sunroom with more light than the windowsill then gradually get the plants used to being in the sunroom before repotting. After repotting put them in the sunroom. Then gradually get them used to being outside before leaving them outside all the time.
Your cat would love a tray of catgrass. It's really a type of oat that is specially marketed for cats. Another plant they would like is catnip. It can be grown in pots and will take over any nearby pots if you let it produce it's own seeds.
All your herbs will do fine in pots. I've had sage outside in the same pot for 3 years now.
Thyme grows very slowly, but doesn't like being repotted.
Basil, the one year I grew it I repotted it 3 times before I planted it outside. It gets pretty big and takes a lot of water.
They need larger pots when the roots start coming out the drain holes in the bottom or the plant grows as tall as the container it's in. The peppers are ready for larger pots.
If you have a sunroom with more light than the windowsill then gradually get the plants used to being in the sunroom before repotting. After repotting put them in the sunroom. Then gradually get them used to being outside before leaving them outside all the time.
Your cat would love a tray of catgrass. It's really a type of oat that is specially marketed for cats. Another plant they would like is catnip. It can be grown in pots and will take over any nearby pots if you let it produce it's own seeds.