A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Herbs Potted herbs on the porch...

Hello,

I am in the high desert. Usually, I have aloe plants, geraniums, and a weird sickly looking pink thing that just hung on last winter... I am doing tomatoes this year and we decided to start an herb garden. I got these cute little kits from Wal-Mart. Each had three pots and three diff herbs. I got basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme, oregano and cilantro. Now the cilantro and parlsey and basil are all doing great, but the other three are small and slow. I have five gallon buckets to transfer them too, but am not sure when to do this... I am also unsure of watering correctly. Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Stacey

The ones that are slow are perennials in your climate aren't they? Don't know if this makes a difference but I suspect it might.

On the watering-- keep in mind that these three-- rosemary, thyme, oregano, are Mediterranean (I think), so I'd say be sure they don't dry out, but don't overwater.

Take the rosemary to the most neglected part of your property and let it thrive there. They love neglect. I know it sound weird but that's the only way I can get mine to grow. In a pot they just die on me. Although there is a hybrid that is easier to take care of. Unfortunately I don't remember the name.

Thyme and oregano are both ground covers and they like room to spread out. They like a loose soil. My oregano goes absolutely nuts if a scratch compost into the soil in the spring. The thyme I have is slow growing but does fine in the garden.