A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Chia herb garden Q

They're looking good!!!

I agree your plants are looking better...That many seedlings in a small pot like that is not good no matter what the chia booklet says...They can not all grow in a crowded area like that, some will be choked out (die in other words). It will also make them weaker, since they are competing for water, light and nutrients.

What'd ya think of the mini one a started?

The ones in the little clay pot look good...be sure to keep the plants about 2 inches under the light...use something (box, books, blocks, plastic container, a bowl or anything) that will raise it up to the light to the right level under the light and as it grows, you can move the pots down from the light.

One thing that real gardeners can do that I can't is thin plants. And transplanting them when they are spaced close together is also not easy for me. I guess I'm a tender-hearted clutz lol. So even thought the directions may say that you can plant things close together what I shoot for is the mature spacing at the time I plant. That's why either the peat pellets, or egg cartons or something else that give each seed it's own space is better in my opinion. But that's just me because I have so much trouble transplanting and thinning. I still end up with clumps of plants that have very tinny seeds like petunias, closia and others. With those I lose more plants than I get because I just can't bring myself to thin them. Next year I definitely plan to try adding sand to the seeds and then spreading them. I hope that technique works. I hate loosing plants.

Hello gardening friends! I am back here after a couple of weeks of silence. I was waiting for my fresh set of Chia herb garden I started on March 1st to sprout and boy, did they sprout! Well the only one that hasnt is the Chives but it is coming from the inside of the dirt so I am sure it will come out soon. Anyway, can somebody enlighten me about the Dill? It was the fastest of the five that sprouted. The stems now measure around 5 inches but they are so thin they all slouch on the edge of the clay pot. They are also all tangled up, I feel like picking up a hairbrush and brush them, lol. I wonder what can I do to make them stand up. Please don't tell me to transplant them one stem at a time, like tkhooper, I have a pair of clutz hands, I will never be a surgeon. The rest of the five, seems to be doing pretty good, the Basil, Marjoram, Parsley and Cilantro. I will take a camera and post some pics in the next couple of days. I am just a little embarrassed to show off my Dill at the moment. Any suggestion would be appreciated. A.

Little update guys... they ones that I transplanted in the clay pot all died except one... won't be trying that again for a while. The ones still in the white plactic container all are doing great! The are growing large varigated leaves on the once small double leaves... Pics coming later

Can I ask a question???

When you transplanted them,
how did you handle them??

By the stem or the leaves???

And when you transplanted them,
how did you put the roots into the soil?

Did you have the soil in the pot, and stick
a stick in and make hole, slip the root in and
slightly push in the soil?

Hello friends, as promised, here the pics of my baby herbs. The one on the left, my Dill, is the one I am concerned about. They just cannot stand up. I also took a picture of my window to give you guys an idea on the brightness (or lack thereof) of my living room. I always have the blinds partially as the reflection of the ocean and the glass are glaring. How do I make my Dill stand up??





Any suggestion is very much appreciated. A

Hey Bakingfool,
Can you resize your photos'???
Anddddddddd then when you post them into the
IMAGE BUTTON, delete or back space on the
extra blue http://..
There's a bunch that can help you.. if you need more help!!!

yep... and they all are now officially dead.

Here the ones I transplanted...



Here the ones I left alone... They are growing pretty rapidly at this point...



I think at least for this batch I'm gonna leave well enough alone and let them be tight in there. I just bought 2 grow lights and I'm gonna start some of the other that died or never sprouted again with the lights and see how they do... I just couldn't bear the thought of starting 1 seed... That's going to be hard for me

Ohh.. baking fool... I can't see your pics yet... but if you go back on this topic a couple you'll see my cilantra about a week ago you'll see they were leaning over to... I added a little extra dirt (carefully) and it gave them the exxtra support they needed... I also mist them know instead of water about once a day (which for me isn't to much cause it dries out pretty fast). I think before I was letting them dry out to much... whatever it was the seem pretty happy right now...

Hello friends, as promised, here the pics of my baby herbs. The one on the left, my Dill, is the one I am concerned about. They just cannot stand up. I also took a picture of my window to give you guys an idea on the brightness (or lack thereof) of my living room. As you can see, my herbs are sitting right by my balcony door but I always have the blinds partially closed as the reflection of the ocean and the glass are glaring. How do I make my Dill stand up??

Also, it's been almost two weeks since I set them up and I am hoping my chives will sprout soon. According to the Chia handbook, chives takes the most time to germinate, but isnt two weeks such a long time?? Should I stop waiting and give up?? Too bad, chives is my favorite spice. It is the one on the right.








Any suggestion is very much appreciated. A

I was just reading that if a plant gets tall and spindly it needs more light...
The other herbs look great... myself I would try to stake it up LOL that is just me though

That room from the pic does look pretty dark... I have mine sitting right on the window sill and people are telling me that's not enough light, sooo I'm assuming they will tell you the same thing they told me which is get them under a florescent light....

Ok got my shelf together with lights - I got the "grow light" kind and it was only $9 each... So here's my shelf...



...and here's a close up of the herbs and sprouts...





What do you think...

I'm gonna start the other herbs today or tom., any last minute tips on what to do before I do?

Also I'm using that ugly tupperwear to stack to herbs to get closer to the light any ideas for other more attractive stands... since the is in my home and I'd like it to be functional and adorable...

and I know this is probably not the right place to ask but since ya'll are the ones that told me about the 2" away thing, does that go for all sprouts (including the coleus)?

Thanks for those who answered my question. If we would not open our blinds due to the fact that the hot sun outside warms up our home (I am married to a polar bear you know). Could I just take my baby dill outside?? But we have full hot sun 9 hours a day and that Guam sun is pretty hot. At this early stage, I am afraid it might do more harm to my baby dill than good. Any suggestion is appreciated. A.