Help with herb growth/growing

Discussion in 'Herbs and Wildflowers' started by clum111, Jul 2, 2021.

  1. clum111

    clum111 Gardener

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    Hi,

    Last year I sowed some sage, parsley, thyme, etc. seeds, a few grow, so I potted them on. But as you'll see, they aren't growing much. I've used 50/50 compost and perlite to plant them in. I've snipped off herbs for cooking, but they just don't seem to be growing. Do you feed them, nip them out often, water them lots of little, etc? Any help would be great. Thanks.

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  2. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    Perlite is inert so there is very little goodness in that mix. Feed with a general purpose fertiliser I would use miraclegro or equivalent. Have you space in a bed to get them into soil, the trouble with small pots is getting watering and feeding right.
     
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    • clum111

      clum111 Gardener

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      Hi @JWK

      Thanks for your reply.

      I thought herbs needed porous soil though? This is why I did 50/50. Should I remove the plants and repot them in general purpose compost. I don't have a spare bed sadly.
       
    • Macraignil

      Macraignil Super Gardener

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      Sage and thyme like good drainage but they still will need some nutrients and with roots restricted in a container they can't stretch deep into the soil to find them like they might do in open ground. Compost mixture is usually sold with just enough nutrients to support growth for a few weeks so much of these could be used up already. If you are using a commercial liquid feed it may be better to dilute it a bit more than you would for more nutrient hungry flowers or tomatoes. Rate of watering depends on the weather and as mentioned in containers the roots can't go deep into the soil to find water so are dependent on what you can provide.
       
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      • clum111

        clum111 Gardener

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        Thanks @Macraignil, for your reply. I'll start changing things about and start feeding them.
         
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