jacethewitch: Herb Growth and Care - Part 1 Hey, friends! I’ve gathered from my own experience a pre
jacethewitch: Herb Growth and Care - Part 1 Hey, friends! I’ve gathered from my own experience a pretty detailed list on growing and caring for herbs. Because I’m currently a university student and don’t own a house, most of my tips and tricks will work for you even if all the space you have is a windowsill! I don’t know yet how many parts I’ll have, but this is Part 1: Growing herbs from seeds Difficulty: Moderate What you’ll need: seeds, a container (more on that later), normal garden soil with good drainage, water, lots of sunlight Easiest seeds to start with: chives, mint, parsley Where to get seeds: online, local gardening and hardware store The container: can be anything from a plastic cup to a mug to a clay pot to professional seedling starter trays. I find that if you don’t want to buy a specific tray, using an old egg carton does the trick, especially since it’s already divided up into small containers. If using something that’s porous (meaning water will seep through), put a plastic tray or something underneath. Containers that have a hole at the bottom for extra water to escape are best. Poke a hole of get something that has one already. The soil: really any standard gardening mix will do as long as it has decent drainage. Ask a store employee if you’re unsure, but most soil bags will advertise if they have good drainage. Fill your container of choice about an inch from the top if using a cup/pot/large container, or half an inch if using some kind of tray. Planting: Poke holes into the dirt with your finger, one in each tray section, or about an inch apart if using a larger container. The depth will depend on the seed, check your package for instructions. Again depending on the seed, pop one seed (for large ones) or three-ish (for tiny ones) into each hole. Cover with a light layer of soil and pour water over top. Place in location with lots of sunlight, like a window sill. Care: Rotate your container every couple of days to make sure all the seedlings are getting equal light. Water again every 1-2 days, preferably with a spray bottle to avoid drowning your seeds. You want damp/moist soil, not muddy soil. Thinning the seedlings: Once they’re about 3-4 inches tall, you’ll want to go through and remove the smaller/weaker seedlings to avoid overcrowding if there’s more than one in each container, applies to trays and pots. This prevents them from fighting over the resources and killing each other. Re-potting: Once your seedlings are about 6-8 inches tall, you’ll want to re-pot them. A more permanent container is better here: a pot, mug, not an egg carton or plastic cup. If it has a drainage hole on the bottom, even better. Place some rocks (any normal gardening rocks are fine, you can even throw in a crystal) to help with drainage. Loosely fill the bottom with soil. You can use the same soil. Place your seedling inside the pot and fill around it. If your seedling is too low, take it out and put more soil in the bottom. Care: Continue to mist the soil every 1-2 days, or just pour in some water. Again, moist soil, not mud. Your seedling will keep growing into a full grown herb plant. You may have to re-pot again if it gets too big. Look for pictures of the full grown plant online to know when its ready to harvest. Never harvest more than 1/3 of your plant at a time. Congrats! [Part 1 - You Are Here] [Part 2 - Cuttings] [Part 3 - Maintenance] [All] -- source link