A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 herbs out side in containers

I'm trying to grow some herbs but i didnt have much luck inside and not sure if it would be better to have them out side. I read a post that i think i should keep them on the porch or something so they are not right out in the yard getting to much water when raining?? I really need help, I just seem to have bad luck with growning them. Should I cover them with plastic until the come up? while out side or should i bring them up to the porch and try going them up their?? Thanks so much for any info you all are great!!!!! Dee

Hi Dee,

First thing we need to know is which herbs are you trying to grow. Like anything else their are some that are easy and their are some that are hard. So tell us which ones you have and then we can help you.

Herbs need alot of sun and air.
Yes, if they are going to get waterlogged and have poor drainage I would not let them be in heavy or prolonged rain.
Which herbs do you have?

Just read your post again. I wouldn't plastic them unless you poke holes in the plastic and even then you'll cook them if they have plastic over them in the sun.
What's the plastic for?

The only experience I've had with growing herbs outside so far has been by accident. I moved into an apartment above my mom and we discovered a cool looking plant someone had put in the ground, pot and all. We didn't know what it was, but when I moved here I took it with me and plopped it pot and all in the ground. It came back with gusto this year, flowering good and looks great.. while looking at a package of chives seeds on my coffee table someone had given me I suddenly realized what it was in that pot.. chives! I'm in zone 5 and they survived the winter with no special care from me.

Hi All, Thanks for all the help. I planted lavender (true), rosemarie, Parsly, sweet basil, That's it for now. The plant/pot has a black ring thing in the bottom of the pot/ planter the soil i guess sits on that, but doesn't have any hole in the pot/ planter in the bottom. Should i drill some holes??? and i guess i should bring them to the porch and out of the rain for the most part. Yea to much rain, is not good right? Thanks Dee

lavender and rosemary are both plants that I have had no success with yet. The rosemary loves southern california so think full sun and very little water.

Parsley on the other hand is very easy to take care of. Keep it in a sunny place and let it go dry to about your first knuckle then water. I believe I heard that it doesn't grow back once it is harvested you you might want to plant a nice bunch of this.

Basil becomes a bush and a good sized one at that. Again it likes full sun and allow it to dry down about 1/2 inch between waterings. The thing to remember about basil is that once it creates flowers and then seeds it will die. It is an annual. But if you can keep it from flowering by pinching it back then you can keep it for several years. The basil also can be rooted from cuttings with little effort. Pinching the tips will also make the bush much fuller than if you don't which makes it easier to care for if you decide to keep it inside.

I have one basil outside and 3 inside. One is fully mature the other are clones I took from cuttings. One of the cuttings I am allowing to flower for the seeds so I can trade. I'm finding the flowers are very long lived.

TK, I love basil and wish it would grow for me, but it never does. I live right near the coast and I think it just wants more heat to grow large and thrive. Finally gave up and buy the fresh leaves in the produce section.
About the parsley, when I shear it off about an inch above the soil line, it grows right back up again. I never let it go to seed and it lives on for a long time-maybe because it gets cut back severely and has to grow back new from the roots?
The only parsley I like is the Italian flat leaf one.
Yes, rosemary likes it out here, and it's hard to find one that's not in good shape.
I'd MUCH rather be able to cut armloads of fragrant basil !!!!

Hi Deborah,

You have the sun so I'm thinking it may just be about the water. I keep mine inside as well as outside in virginia. One thing that I know is that when it gets hot my inside plants will take up to 2 waterings a day in a pot without drainage. It can really imitate a camel upon occassion. Never for more than a couple of days but definitely every once in a while it will do this. If I don't give it the water the leaves will droop and then begin to wilt it pretty quick time.

I currently just lost one rosemary start that I bought at Lowes and so I bought a different kind from Home Depot. I'm hoping this one does better. So far so good but it's only been about a week so far. I think that part of what did the other one in is that it rained for most of a week and I don't think the rosemary was willing to put up with that. Which means it probably won't last through the winter.

I read somewhere that basil likes heat, and though we have sun it's cool because we're so close to the beaches. I think that's why my basil doesn't do well, it's always weak and thin and pale.
My tomatoes for example, sure, I have lots of green tomatoes now, but they won't ripen until August, maybe July if we get warmer here.
You will all be eating garden tomatoes while I, in "Sunny California", am anxiously checking for anything red on the tomato vines !
It's because I'm so close to the beach. Too much cool breeze, afternoon fogs, etc.

Basil is from the Meditarreanian Sea area originally but is grown all over the world now. You may want to try in inside again and just put it in a sunny window and remember to let it dry out between waterings. It really is easy grow as long as you remember it doesn't like being transplanted. So I always start the seeds in the planter they will stay in permenantly. That's because I don't care for jiffy pots. I never have any luck with them.

I've never had it inside, we don't get heavy frosts here. But, hmmmm.... didn't know that about transplanting. Maybe that was it. I wonder why the nurseries sell it as plants if they would know it does not transplant well? But then they sell large California poppies, and they REALLY can't be transplanted successfully.

Well I have a natural brown thumb so I need all the help I can get. So when the basil wilted on me when I first tried but looked good in the original pot I started planting it in a big pot lol. Now I have some going to seed for future trades that's if I can find the seeds. And then I have another one that I let grow. Although right now all it is growning are buds that I keep having to pinch back. It definitely has spring fever. But next year it will be huge lol.

hi, everyone!
I have only planted 1 herb-chocolate mint- in a pot on my deck(like everything else)I have had it for probably 3 or 4 months now and its doing fine.

I'm up here in Oregon where we have gotten VERY close to 100 inches of rain this year and my mint hasn't complained one bit...luck im sure.

Mint loves water-I bet that chocolate mint is loving the rain !
I like chocolate mint too. Your own Peppermint Patty ! Calorie free ! All you have to do is inhale !

I so want some chocolate mint. But the nursery down here wants 5 dollars for one tiny starter plant. And it doesn't even smell that much like chocolate. So I'll just have to keep wishing.

Hi Ladybug!
I have basil, parsley and sage growing in pots out in my yard, and they seem to be liking it fine. Rosemary and oregano are planted in a flower bed in the yard, too. None of them seem to mind the rain or the sun at all. I didn't start them from seed out there though, but planted them once they got a few inches tall.

I put everything in pots this year, just in case we have a hurricane season like last year. All my stuff wound up standing in inches of water for weeks!