A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 My Indoor Herbs

My herbs that I decided to grow indoors have been at a "stand-still" for quite some time now. They're healthy looking..very green, not leggy but they just aren't growing anymore. Perhaps they need more light?? I have them in my kitchen under a fluorescent light bulb. I don't over or under water them...I feed them...I'm stumped!

they'll do that for awhile and then seemingly overnight they'll like double in height. It's amazing.

Yes I know...everything I start from seed goes through that "stand-still" stage but this seems like it's been going on a looooong time.
Tammy..you have your herbs in a sunny window? How do they do? I still haven't been able to use any of mine yet. I picked a couple basil leaves to garnish my tomato soup but thats about it. The cilantro is doing fine. The thyme and oregano is far from being ready to use.
I think I'm gonna' head to Walmart tomorrow and get a stronger bulb.

Cilantro will take off after awhile. Thyme and oregano I've never had any luck sprouting. I probably love them to death. I'm guilty of that alot lol. Yes mine are in a sunny east facing window. And it has stayed pretty warm down here this year. It's very strange. I'm afraid the summer will be over 100 degrees all year. I've been harvesting my basil for quite awhile but I started it mid summer so it's much older than your plants. The same with the chives and green onions. They were actually started last spring and brought inside at the end of summer. And that's about all the herbs I'm doing this year. I lost the parsley to spider mites in the fall which really upset me so I didn't start anymore. I've just started the par-cel and it has sprouted but it's just green dots on the soil so far lol.

Christina...What are you feeding them??? You are right they may need more light, or possible they need more warmth??? Oregano is very easy to sprout and grow, but it is a slow grower even outdoors, so be patient and I am sure you will be rewarded.

Wonder if I try herbs on my screened in porch when it gets a little warmer. It doesn't get direct sun. Will that be ok? I'd like to have oregano, rosemary, and can I do basil in pots rather than the ground? I had a huge rosemary that stayed outside all year until it got water logged a while back during some torrential rains. Will rosemary get to big for the porch? What do you guys do with sage?

Basil will do fine in a pot. That's usually how I keep mine.

Doesn't pinching them make them start to grow
or send out a growth hormone inside of them,
cause your pinching them????? ????

Are they at the age/stage where you can pinch them???

And how long do you have the light on for each day???

How tall are they???

And what size containers are they in????

Here's a pic. I do pinch them. The basil needs to be potted up and planted deeper obviously. I leave the light on for about 16 hours a day.
Left to right: Basil, Cilantro, Oregano, Thyme

What's the drainage like on those pots???

They have drain holes. I got the pots at the dollar store, 2 for .50 cents but they didn't come with little trays...I was using plastic lids for awhile but I'm very careful about over watering, I haven't had any drainage...well...once...and it just dripped on to the counter. I'm actually not too crazy about them..might hafta' take another trip to the dollar store.

Where did my pic go?

Why I asked is they sorta looked moist..

but if they have holes..

the next question would be,
What kinda soil is it in?????

P.S. Love the pots though, they are very cute..

I might change to a clay pot with them...

I saw your first pictures....

I believe I used Schultz Moisture Plus Potting Soil. Do you recommend something different?

That might one of the problems..

Herbs like to be dry*ish* and that moisture plus soil mix holds alottttt of water cause of the polymere crystals in it....

Most herbs, as I've read up on, like a drier,
stoney type soil.. almost like a crappy soil actually with some kind of compost type incorporated...*but that is outdoor gardening*

I am not an indoor gardener, so I am sorta not 100% sure what kind to recommend...

Well..I'm thinking I should repot them all into clay pots and purchase a different soil, though I still think they need more light!! When I started them last year, they grew wonderfully..of course, I didn't grow thyme and oregano.

Yes, lighting is important...

Sometimes mirror's behind your plants,
so the light you have reflects twice it's
lightening, helps alot with that...

I love your pots. I think the basil is getting to much water. That's what mine looked like when I over did it. The cilantro looks fine. Mine got like that and then shot up the flower stems. No more cilantro leaves grew. Everything went into seed production. But I had a very nice crop of coriander lol.

Thanks for the mirror idea weezie. I may have to try that.

Noneofyourbusiness also helped with the mirror reply.......
Because I used to recommend TINFOIL....
but he said with electricity/lighting, that's not
always a great idea...

I agreed with that idea...

Here is what I think..First of all you need larger pots, and on the Basil- plant it deeper then it is now it will put off more roots and grow better, Too much moisture will be bad for them also, If it was me I would when repotting use a dirt potting or soil mixture without moisture or plant food additives, reason for this is because your plants can't dry out enough between waterings, and the time released plant food will cause them to grow too much or not grow right, Miricle Grow added to the water once in awhile will make your plants healthier also. But it looks like you have done great in spite of these things It really doesn't matter what kind of pot you use, if it has too many drainage holes just duck tape over a couple of them,or you can also place a piece of paper towelor newspaper in the bottom to slow the water drainage, if that is a problem.

I bought some rosemary and parsey seeds to plant indoors. I'm confused though. The last time I planted rosemary I put it in a big pot outside and it stayed outside summer and winter for years without dying and it was huge. What finally killed it was torrential rain for days and I think it got water logged. Does it stay small if you leave it inside?

Good luck with your parsley and rosemary. I don't know the answer to your question Best. I can't even get the stuff to sprout lol.

I can't answer your question about Rosemary either as I have never been able to get it grow for me, But the size depends on the pot, it will only grow as big as the pot allows, I have seen pretty large ones indoors.