11
votes
Accepted
"Softening" plants before they go inside?
I've never heard of the need. The issue with hardening is that you're taking a plant in a largely controlled environment with low light levels, and a steady temperature, no wind, to a highly varied ...
11
votes
A dark blight is eating my Basil. What to do?
That might well be slug or snail damage - given there's lots of leaf litter laying around your plant, you've created a perfect environment for slugs to hide beneath during the day, and then appear at ...
11
votes
Accepted
Plant recommendation for gift for kindergarten students
I recall doing something like this each spring (for several years) growing up, and the plant of choice was Marigolds (planted in a paper cup, as far as I recall) which were grown in class and then ...
10
votes
Plant recommendation for gift for kindergarten students
My two suggestions; Scarlet Runner Beans and the second is Carex testacea or Orange Sedge. Easy to grow, very pretty no matter its age, wonderful to tuck into any plant bed or pot, nice just left in ...
9
votes
Accepted
Caring for & maintaining thyme
First, there are lots of 'Thymes'. But the most common culinary thyme is Thymus vulgaris. It's a small perennial woody shrub or subshrub (having only some woody stems, near the base), native to the ...
9
votes
Accepted
My basil is "rotting", here's all the clues I have gathered
Looks like a heavy whitefly aphid infestation - they're usually underneath the leaves and suck the sap within, causing the leaf to shrivel and die. You can't treat with pesticide because it's an ...
9
votes
Plant recommendation for gift for kindergarten students
Have you considered something as simple as Garden Cress (Lepidium sativum)?
You can simply hand out a pack of seeds and a piece of cotton wool. The kids can then "plant" it themselves (really just ...
8
votes
Accepted
UPDATE: Is there a tarragon lookalike OR can tarragon be flavorless?
There absolutely is a tasteless tarragon. It's usually called Russian Tarragon. The plant that you want for cooking is French Tarragon. Russian tarragon grows from seed and reseeds itself easily. ...
8
votes
Accepted
Why use landscape fabric in a raised bed?
Without looking at your video, I would expect the landscape fabric is being laid as a weed mat to inhibit weeds from regenerating from roots left in situ and coming up in the middle of the raised ...
7
votes
Accepted
How to prepare herbs for winter?
The term you are looking for is perennial, describing plants that can live for many years.
Your rosemary, thyme and peppermint fall in that category.
Of these, rosemary is the most frost-sensitive, ...
7
votes
Accepted
Is it OK to plant flowering plants near my herb garden?
If anything, I have heard arguments (likely anecdotal) that plants like Tarragon and Basil actually repel some insects, possibly at a range of a few feet. Roses on the other hand, tend to be ...
7
votes
Accepted
Can annuals work like perennials if you keep using cuttings?
Well, yes and no, or maybe. Annual plants have one purpose - to grow, flower, be pollinated and fertilized, set seed and die, all in a year. Then there's biennials - these form, usually, a basal clump ...
7
votes
"Softening" plants before they go inside?
Some plants are sensitive to light changes (such as Shark Fin Melon). I think this is partially because Shark Fin Melon is supposed to rely on light changes to know when to set fruit, but even though ...
7
votes
Accepted
Is if safe to use this insecticide (d-Allethrin, Permethrin, Piperonyl butoxide) on my edible herbs?
It's extremely helpful that you included the actual ingredient list in your question, rather than a brandname - thank you!
So you know, I grow anything that I eat organically and this question is one ...
6
votes
Accepted
Can indoor mint grow all-year round?
Mint does this when constrained within a pot - its natural growth habit is to throw out long runners up to 18 inches under the ground and pop up a good distance away from the original clump, which is ...
6
votes
Why is my basil doing poorly after I split it a month ago?
You can't actually "split" a basil plant as they grow from one stem. What you probably had is a pot of seedlings / small plants like they are sold in grocery stores or garden centers for cooking. ...
6
votes
Accepted
Can I revive my basil that wasn't watered for a week?
"Worth it" is often personal taste. Of these plants (in those store-bought pots are many young plants, not one), the smaller ones with the large leaves on top will probably bounce back and grow a bit ...
6
votes
Accepted
Are Majorana hortensis and Origanum majorana the same plant?
Yes, they are the same species. Moench put it as different genus (Majorana), but still keeping references to Linnaeus' Origanum majorana.
So they are the same species, and both are acceptable (and ...
5
votes
Accepted
Can I use ladybugs on herbs while treating trees in the same garden with imidacloprid?
It's a complicated picture, because the ladybug population is affected differently depending on how often you're using imidaproclid and how soon after application the ladybugs are around. In general ...
5
votes
Is it time to thin these cilantro seedlings?
I would suggest not thinning them yet either. As @michelle suggested, wait at least until the true leaves appear. You can thin by harvesting once a second set of true leaves develop. (In the time ...
5
votes
Accepted
What do I have to pay attention to with pre-potted growing sets of herbs?
The pots you have look quite small (maybe 9 cm across?), but you should be able to keep your herbs in them. I have 3 herb pots on my window sill that are about the same size, and my herbs have been ...
5
votes
What do I have to pay attention to with pre-potted growing sets of herbs?
With most plants indoors, insufficient light is one of your greatest enemies. It can lead to etiolation or, plainly long, lanky and pale stems and unfortunately a higher tendency to attract pests or ...
5
votes
Why use landscape fabric in a raised bed?
One of the main reasons people build raised beds for vegetable gardens instead of planting directly in the ground is because it's often easier to fill a raised bed with a good soil than it is to try ...
5
votes
Should I prune a basil plant as it's growing?
If you see flowers starting to form, you then need to remove those otherwise the energy of the plant goes into making flowers and not leaves.
It's generally recommended that you want to make your ...
5
votes
Accepted
Can a Mexican sage survive losing all its stems?
These things happen (in my case, my cats get excited and "boticidal").
They just might survive. I would leave any leaves that are still on the plants there, protect them from any further damage, ...
5
votes
Accepted
Minty smelling plant with white and pink flowers
Yup. It's Salvia "Hot Lips"
"Delicate red and white blooms create a stunning show throughout summer. Some flowers will bloom in solid red color attracting bees and hummingbirds. With a little ...
5
votes
Accepted
The correct way to prune a rosemary
I would add some fertilizer. Not much, rosemary is a plant of poor and dry soils. On the other hand, if it is a lot woody, probably it has eat most of nutrient in the soil.
I would also check if ...
5
votes
Accepted
Will Sage, Oregano and Thyme grow well together in the same pot?
They can be grown nearby one another, they prefer the same conditions, but in a pot, the three together will quickly outgrow the container. Sage is a shrub that can get 2/3 feet wide by a couple of ...
4
votes
How do I get rid of white flies on my basil?
I regularly bring home whiteflies on organic farm stand greens. I used to wash those greens in the kitchen sink, and the aphids would fly up to the potted herbs in my kitchen window, and so my ...
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