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moonangel12 wrote: »I bought chocolate mint, spearmint, and peppermint this year - all in their cozy pots
lemon balm is potted as well. I remember reading an article years ago about a guy who had a massive mint garden with tons of varieties- what a dream!
Spent all day in the garden(s) getting things cleaned up, seedlings planted, seeds in he ground (someni forgot needed soaking so they will go out tomorrow or Monday). I am pooped! Took some masks to a couple from church and she took me on a tour of her yard. All hardy perennials, most with a story to go with them. She gifted me several things including these massive hens and chicks (or bitties depending on how far south you go). She pulled up a huge sheet of them for me! I have them in a few spots around the yard, really hoping they will take to the rock beds.
(snip excellent photos)
Lemon balm, in case this is your first rodeo: Isolate! Isolate! Isolate!
IME, Lemon Balm is worse than mint, even (same family, Lamiacaeae). Most of the mint I've grown likes to propagate mostly vegetatively, mostly root-runners, but very aggressively. Lemon Balm (Melissa officianalis) seems quite happy to spread that way . . . or to volunteer seed around, which mint is not quite so wont to do.
Don't let this have full rein.
My mom has been trying to eradicate lemon balm from her garden for at least a decade, lol.
Last year I posted about the spot behind my house where the town came and got rid of dead trees and cleared a 30 x 50 or so section. I've been replacing the invasive species I don't like with the ones I do.
I put in about 5 springs of lemon balm last year and it is indeed SUPER AGGRESSIVE. I planted it up near the fence b/c I wanted it as an edible and am concerned about possibly contaminated soil in the lower area.
However, if I leave it there, I'm going to have to give up on everything else, with the possible exception of the bee balm, also in the mint family. I bet the lemon balm would win though...
Went out to take a picture and the lemon has indeed hopped over the the bee.
Looks like I have my afternoon gardening project
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Afterthought on mint cultivation: It can be a freebie. In a good bit of the country, you'll find it growing streamside usually in semi-open shade/partial sun. They're darned close to everywhere in the US, very common, even in cities.
Look for the square (cross-section) stems, look online to recognize the leaf-form, usually a little crinkly and scallop-edged. They're fairly low-growing plants. Here (Michigan) some of the wild forms have reddish stems. If it looks close, pick a leaf and crush: You'll know - strong mint scent. I can't speak for other parts of the country (but I'll bet it's true elsewhere, too ): None of the plants I can think of that cause contact dermatitis (think poison ivy, among others) look at all like it. (Stinging nettle, Urtica sp., is about the closest I can think of, and it's a taller thing with fine hairs, where most common wild US mints - Mentha sp. - are not hairy.)
Make sure you're in a place where it's legal to take wild plant material, dig up a little chunk with some roots, keep the roots damp, plant in similar light conditions at home and keep moist. Easy.
The university rowing team rigger (boat maint. guy) told me he'd never seen mint growing on the river where we row. One day, I pulled a tiny sproutlet that was growing in a crack between plastic-composite planks on our dock, and handed it to him. Stuff is common there, too. 
Also, every year I offer mint and bee balm for free on my FaceBook gardening group and on freecycle.org. People who want any type of aggressive/invasive plant might be able to find or request it online.
I'll be offering lemon balm on my FB group today. 4 -
My OH gave up on trying to get grass to grow on the part of the lawn in the front of the picture and let me have it as a project. (Hooray!) I'm looking for suggestions on how to fill it in.
- I'm in 6b
- The section is roughly 10 x 10 x 16 feet.
- It gets full sun and heat from the driveway and road.
- I'm interested in a mix of perennials, including smaller ornamental grass, and annuals
- I don't want bushes or anything with structure over the winter, as snow gets thrown there.
- I don't want anything particularly attractive to deer as they do wander down our street from time to time although the Irish Spring soap I hang by my hostas does seem to keep them away.
Currently, there are:- On the left five, creeping phlox (only two in bloom.) I also put in some crocus and glory of the snow in between them.
- On the right, dragon's blood sedum.
- In front of the bag of mulch, three daffodils and two autumn joy sedum. One more of the latter to come after I wrestle it out of the lemon balm
I have some baby tall phlox and tiger lilies available I could put in. I also have Siberian iris. I love iris, but perhaps I should use varieties that are less aggressive.
Suggestions welcome!
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I put in my little baby container garden today on my balcony. Nothing exciting as I didn't want a ton of stuff this year and instead I focused on what has grown well in the past and that I am sure to use. It's just me anyway. So I have basil, purple basil, parsley, cilantro, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, slicing tomatoes, romaine, and mixed greens. I do wish I had found some catnip for my boys, but oh well. I didn't have a huge selection as I didn't want to go to more stores then I had to.3
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I have never had an issue the last few years growing it in pots, but I do keep most everything pinched back to prevent bolting so that probably helps (to a fault, still trying to replace a basil variety from 3 years ago... had I let it go to seed I might have had some spring back up... I have Thai basil everywhere from a single plant two years ago!). I did plant some lemon balm in the ground in NC at the back of the property in my then-rabbit hutch - it has since been moved and is mowable yard now, I wonder if it’s still there 🤔 I should ask hubby’s cousin if he smells lemon when he mows back therekshama2001 wrote: »moonangel12 wrote: »I bought chocolate mint, spearmint, and peppermint this year - all in their cozy potslemon balm is potted as well. I remember reading an article years ago about a guy who had a massive mint garden with tons of varieties- what a dream!
Spent all day in the garden(s) getting things cleaned up, seedlings planted, seeds in he ground (someni forgot needed soaking so they will go out tomorrow or Monday). I am pooped! Took some masks to a couple from church and she took me on a tour of her yard. All hardy perennials, most with a story to go with them. She gifted me several things including these massive hens and chicks (or bitties depending on how far south you go). She pulled up a huge sheet of them for me! I have them in a few spots around the yard, really hoping they will take to the rock beds.
(snip excellent photos)
Lemon balm, in case this is your first rodeo: Isolate! Isolate! Isolate!
IME, Lemon Balm is worse than mint, even (same family, Lamiacaeae). Most of the mint I've grown likes to propagate mostly vegetatively, mostly root-runners, but very aggressively. Lemon Balm (Melissa officianalis) seems quite happy to spread that way . . . or to volunteer seed around, which mint is not quite so wont to do.
Don't let this have full rein.
My mom has been trying to eradicate lemon balm from her garden for at least a decade, lol.
Last year I posted about the spot behind my house where the town came and got rid of dead trees and cleared a 30 x 50 or so section. I've been replacing the invasive species I don't like with the ones I do.
I put in about 5 springs of lemon balm last year and it is indeed SUPER AGGRESSIVE. I planted it up near the fence b/c I wanted it as an edible and am concerned about possibly contaminated soil in the lower area.
However, if I leave it there, I'm going to have to give up on everything else, with the possible exception of the bee balm, also in the mint family. I bet the lemon balm would win though...
Went out to take a picture and the lemon has indeed hopped over the the bee. 3 -
I love the pictures, looks very nice @moonangel12 and @earlnabby !
I am very naive in the world of gardening. I'm not a spring chicken, just probably late to the game. I did not know you could grow stevia or honeysuckle and I'm hearing other things thrown around I'd like to try one day.
Screwed up. So I went outside this morning to look at my seedlings and in the one egg carton of Bell Pepper there were Roly Poly bugs. Not in anything else, so I got all visible bugs out. I did some research on those bugs and they eat decaying plants so they help aid in decomposition but they also eat seedlings. I can see some of my seeds have popped out of the soil to the top so I did not plant them correctly, not deep enough. Lots of trial and error going on but I'm glad I have plenty of seeds and soil, although, I need to buy some more pots. Everything else looks good, as good as any dirt or soil could look...
Maybe, maybe not, if it's just that the seed-case is starting to poke out of the soil. (Yes if you see roots on top of the soil.) There are quite a few things that germinate, send a root down, push a stalk up, and the seed-case stays attached to the initial leaves (for some, all you see for a bit is the seed-case on a green stalk). As those first leaves open and grow, they push the seed-case open and off.
Here is an example:
That happens to be an Aristolochia sproutlet, I think A. tomentosa, in an egg carton. It will one day grow to be a 30-foot porch-eating (but non-destructive) vine with weird little flowers. Not a food, just a seedling example.2 -
I love the pictures, looks very nice @moonangel12 and @earlnabby !
I am very naive in the world of gardening. I'm not a spring chicken, just probably late to the game. I did not know you could grow stevia or honeysuckle and I'm hearing other things thrown around I'd like to try one day.
Screwed up. So I went outside this morning to look at my seedlings and in the one egg carton of Bell Pepper there were Roly Poly bugs. Not in anything else, so I got all visible bugs out. I did some research on those bugs and they eat decaying plants so they help aid in decomposition but they also eat seedlings. I can see some of my seeds have popped out of the soil to the top so I did not plant them correctly, not deep enough. Lots of trial and error going on but I'm glad I have plenty of seeds and soil, although, I need to buy some more pots. Everything else looks good, as good as any dirt or soil could look...
Maybe, maybe not, if it's just that the seed-case is starting to poke out of the soil. (Yes if you see roots on top of the soil.) There are quite a few things that germinate, send a root down, push a stalk up, and the seed-case stays attached to the initial leaves (for some, all you see for a bit is the seed-case on a green stalk). As those first leaves open and grow, they push the seed-case open and off.
Here is an example:
That happens to be an Aristolochia sproutlet, I think A. tomentosa, in an egg carton. It will one day grow to be a 30-foot porch-eating (but non-destructive) vine with weird little flowers. Not a food, just a seedling example.
Thank you! I only have seeds planted and they've done nothing yet. I think i just didn't plant them deep enough and watering them brought some to the surface. I may also be overwatering.1 -
19 lavender seeds, next time I post a picture of this pot I hope there will be growth in there. I'm planting parsley seeds tomorrow.
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My gardening efforts are a little pathetic compared to everything I see here. However, I am happy with progress on pea and popcorn shoots being grown for microgreens (day 15 after sowing). I planted a slice each of a cherry and plum tomato on the weekend that will hopefully germinate in a week. The roasting tin is out on the balcony as i have switched to bottom watering because I noticed water collecting within the fragile tubular corn shoots.
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My gardening efforts are a little pathetic compared to everything I see here. However, I am happy with progress on pea and popcorn shoots being grown for microgreens (day 15 after sowing). I planted a slice each of a cherry and plum tomato on the weekend that will hopefully germinate in a week. The roasting tin is out on the balcony as i have switched to bottom watering because I noticed water collecting within the fragile tubular corn shoots.
@acpgee clearly you are in a city...when all I had was a balcony, I was less ambitions than you
Where did you get your peas? Pea shoots were a staple somewhere I used to live, and I always wanted to try them. Back then, it was hard to get the proper peas for making sprouts.0 -
I love the pictures, looks very nice @moonangel12 and @earlnabby !
I am very naive in the world of gardening. I'm not a spring chicken, just probably late to the game. I did not know you could grow stevia or honeysuckle and I'm hearing other things thrown around I'd like to try one day.
Screwed up. So I went outside this morning to look at my seedlings and in the one egg carton of Bell Pepper there were Roly Poly bugs. Not in anything else, so I got all visible bugs out. I did some research on those bugs and they eat decaying plants so they help aid in decomposition but they also eat seedlings. I can see some of my seeds have popped out of the soil to the top so I did not plant them correctly, not deep enough. Lots of trial and error going on but I'm glad I have plenty of seeds and soil, although, I need to buy some more pots. Everything else looks good, as good as any dirt or soil could look...
Oh my gosh, I'd bought a stevia plant before and if you're growing one be careful, aphids love it and took it out even though I was constantly spraying it with soap and water. I bought seeds about 2 months ago and it's supposed to be hard to start so I started all of them. I have about 8 seedlings but they're tiny! Good luck with your bell peppers!2 -
kshama2001 wrote: »My gardening efforts are a little pathetic compared to everything I see here. However, I am happy with progress on pea and popcorn shoots being grown for microgreens (day 15 after sowing). I planted a slice each of a cherry and plum tomato on the weekend that will hopefully germinate in a week. The roasting tin is out on the balcony as i have switched to bottom watering because I noticed water collecting within the fragile tubular corn shoots.
@acpgee clearly you are in a city...when all I had was a balcony, I was less ambitions than you
Where did you get your peas? Pea shoots were a staple somewhere I used to live, and I always wanted to try them. Back then, it was hard to get the proper peas for making sprouts.
I grow pea shoots from dried marrowfat peas sold for cooking. Easiest to find in a health food store although some mainstream supermarkets stock them here in London. Probably because mush peas, classic accompanimentto fish and chips are made from dried marrowfat peas. I actually got my last batch online from amazon. They do need soaking for 24 hours. My popcorn shoots are from soaked popcorn kernels also sold for eating. I now deviate from these instructions a little in that I cover my compost trays during germination for warmth and darkness.
https://verticalveg.org.uk/how-to-grow-pea-shoots/3 -
I think everyone's endeavors look great!!!
If I had experience, I would be more likely to spend more money on a better garden. But since I have no experience, I bought minimal supplies to get started. Once I know what works for me, I'll spend more.
What's normal? Or better question, what has your experience been like planting seeds? I have 100 bell pepper seeds, 100 rosemary seeds, 200 lavender, and I'm not sure how many parsley seeds. I am not planting them all at once. How many do you usually plant and what does your success or lack of usually look like? Plant 15 seeds and one succeeds... that's the response I'm looking for with your own experience.
@Katmary71 Thank you! No, I'm not planting any stevia plants any time real soon. If I did, though, I'd probably keep it in the house to avoid the bug issue. Even if they're small, I'm glad the seeds took off for you!
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I think everyone's endeavors look great!!!
If I had experience, I would be more likely to spend more money on a better garden. But since I have no experience, I bought minimal supplies to get started. Once I know what works for me, I'll spend more.
What's normal? Or better question, what has your experience been like planting seeds? I have 100 bell pepper seeds, 100 rosemary seeds, 200 lavender, and I'm not sure how many parsley seeds. I am not planting them all at once. How many do you usually plant and what does your success or lack of usually look like? Plant 15 seeds and one succeeds... that's the response I'm looking for with your own experience.
@Katmary71 Thank you! No, I'm not planting any stevia plants any time real soon. If I did, though, I'd probably keep it in the house to avoid the bug issue. Even if they're small, I'm glad the seeds took off for you!
This is completely opinionionated. Others will disagree.
Unless you use parsley like a twee restaurant (one little ornamental sprig per plate, not really for consumption) , I'd recommend direct-sowing all the parsley in a band (seeds on 2-4" centers, basically a non-fussy grid pattern in a square, rectangle, or pot). If you like, you can phase them (a few bands, a few weeks apart, or some early then some late for fall (they're pretty tough cold-wise). For germination, soil over 50F outdoors should do fine.
Even though they're kind of slow to germinate (10+ days, probably), the maturity time is 70-90 days, and you can start thinning it and using the thinnings waaaayyy before then. It's possible to start some plants a couple of months before last frost date to get a head start on the season, but in most of the US, it's already too late for that to be meaningful anyway.
When they come up, you can start thinning them for use when small if you like, but they'll also do fine if you let them crowd. There's a bit lower yield from that, but IMO not enough lower to be worth planting them out out for the recommended elbow room. They tend to be heavy feeders, so richer soil, or some fertilizer along the way, could be good.
It's a bienniel, comes back in year 2 but IMO is kind of ratty the second year, not worth the bother. I'd treat it as an annual. Just plant swaths of the stuff, time-phased if you like, and use it.
This is really curmudgeonly advice on my part. I don't understand the tendency that's common now to grow relatively short-season annual herbs, especially those grown primarily for foliage (vs. flowers or seeds) as precious little individual plants in little individual seedling pots. I personally like these herbs a lot - parsley, cilantro, basil, dill, others - so if I bother, I want plenty. A seed packet is pretty cheap. For these kinds of things, I'd just set aside a 1'x4' band or even 2'x2' block, or bigger, just sow them all in there about twice as thickly as the packet says to thin them to, and let them go. For the very short maturity things like basil, I think I mentioned earlier that the planting band can be the outer edges of a square set aside for a tomato plant or similar thing, because the herb will be bolting before the other plant needs all the edge-space or shades out the herb.
Others' mileage may vary.
On the other things like peppers and tomatoes: The few times I bothered, I usually put 2 seeds per starting thingie (cube, pot, egg carton, whatever) a little bit apart, and after they germinated and got a good start, I'd snip the one that looked less robust. It wasn't super unusual to get only 1 seedling from the 2 seeds, but quite rare to get zero from two. That's if nothing systemic happened (damping off fungus, say), in which case pretty much everything is toast, and germination rate doesn't matter.
In general, I've found the germination data on the packets (usually present) to be reasonably accurate, as long as the seeds were for the current planting season (not old). Whether things do well after germination is more a matter of conditions and care, so I'm not sure others' results will generalize, but I can understand why you'd ask.2 -
To be honest, I gave up doing much of anything from seeds. The plants are really cheap around here, typically $4 for most herbs and veggies like tomato’s and peppers are 4/$10. The only success I had from seeds is my forget me nots. Now that they are established they spread so fast I have given mature plants to 5 different people in 2 years.
I guess it would be different if I had the space for a large garden but for my space plants are perfect.2 -
@AnnPT77 Lots of knowledge, thank you very much... To be honest, I really did no research whatsoever on what herbs to buy. It was an impulse buy and I bought herbs I know how to use. I saw others, like thyme, but I have no idea how to use it even though it's common.0
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Last dirt pot, I promise but this one has parsley seeds in it. I'm done now and just going to see what comes about...
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@AnnPT77 Lots of knowledge, thank you very much... To be honest, I really did no research whatsoever on what herbs to buy. It was an impulse buy and I bought herbs I know how to use. I saw others, like thyme, but I have no idea how to use it even though it's common.
You may want to sort out in your mind which herbs are perennial (long-lived) and hardy in your area, so will over-winter and live many years, vs. annual (set seed the first year and don't come up next year) or biennial (vegetative growth in year 1, set seed in year 2, then they're done) - though some in any of those groups may self-seed and grow new plants the next year on their own.
Your rosemary and lavender are almost certainly perennial, but may not be Winter hardy in your area (don't know; most aren't here, though some lavender varities are marginal here so sometimes last through less intense Winters). Ideally the seed packet will likely give a hardiness zone (I think you're in the US) or a minimum temperature for hardiness. A hundred or two seeds is quite a few, probably.
If you're growing everything in pots, hardiness in a pot outdoors may be less than in the ground (because the roots get more cold with less soil-insulation, basically). (You can sink the pot in the ground in Winter in some random spot for protection; the pot may crack). Some things not hardy can be grown in big pots and brought indoors - I do this with rosemary here in Michigan - but it depends on things like their light needs & your indoor conditions.
A few perennial herbs are invasive thugs: Most things in the mint family (mints, lemon balm, monarda/bee balm/lotsa other names) are an example. Chives and garlic chives can be invasive (by seeding), but a little less hard to beat back than the mint fam. Confine the mint family!
Generally, you want the perennials in some area of their own, because you probably don't want/need to rototill them up every year and start over; you just deal with them like perennial flowers and such, weeding, feeding, maybe pruning, etc. Mature size is relevant here for planning spacing/light. You can mix them in with ornamental beds: I do. Most hardy perennial herbs I've grown, it's a longer-term investment, so I buy plants so I know they have the scent/flavor I want, they're usually only a few bucks a plant, and for many common types a plant or two is plenty. (Possible you may want more lavender than 2 plants, dunno.)
Most annual herbs - unless they're too long-season for your area & you're pushing your luck - I'd suggest buying seeds and planting a bunch by direct-seeding outdoors, in general. Seeds are inexpensive.
Have fun!2 -
You all are an inspiration and just being here is helping me to learn and do more!
I have a question...
First of all I just bought my first sprouted plants - cherry tomatoes and jalapenos. I bought three types of herb seeds - lavender, parsley, rosemary plus I bought bell pepper seeds.
Here's the question: have you ever bought a piece of fruit or a vegetable from the store and were successful in planting the fruit's seed to watch it grow? I can't plant an apple tree in my tiny backyard. But even if you did, I'd love to hear about it. I'm looking for something that doesn't take up much room. Thank you!
I don't have a green thumb at all but I've had really good luck sprouting scallions, onions, celery, and lettuce from scraps that I would otherwise have thrown out. Celery bases that looked really old and dead were doing really well in pots and are now thriving in my garden. Not fruits of course, but an easy way to get some garden success. The scallions grow well indoors. There's a video that I found helpful https://lifehacker.com/how-to-grow-vegetables-from-kitchen-scraps-1842858616
I've tried to plant seeds from my grocery store Meyer lemons and they never grow. I figure I'll eventually get some good seeds if I keep trying. I want a free lemon tree. lol
Do you put your scallions in water in the sun? I just started some in the house but don't have a sunny window. They come out real thin in the house so I'm thinking of keeping them outside and later planting in a few pots, I go through a lot in my salads.
If you all can find it I found a new-to-me mint in Green Acres, not sure if it's in other places aside of this area. It's berries and cream and it's amazing in water. I had a chocolate mint but rarely used it and normally use my other mint in water, should've bought peppermint too but already went crazy buying every basil variety. Also have stinky catnip but my cats don't care for it, only one who does is one of the ferals I feed.
I've been growing the scallions in soil, both outdoors and indoors. The ones that are outdoors might be doing a bit better than the indoor ones now that the weather is warming up. That mint sounds wonderful!1 -
Question: I planted green/red pepper seeds from a couple peppers we'd had. None of the seeds planted in dirt have poked through and it's been well over 3 weeks now. But I also put some in a plastic bag in the window, with a wet paper towel and they're sprouting so I can plant those. Why the difference?? I'm hoping putting the seedlings into dirt won't kill them.
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