Question about growing Herbs in Pots

[Holka]

Hi

I'm new to the whole gardening thing and want to grow herbs for cooking purposes. I don't have a garden and so am planning on growing them from seed in pots on the balcony.

The main herbs I've thought of growing are Parsley, Thyme, Corriander, Mint, Basil and Rosemary although I'm sure others would be useful.

I really have no idea about this - how many seeds of each should I put in pots of which sizes? which ones are annual and which pezrennial? which can I put in pots together (and how)? etc. etc.

I'm sure there is a good book out there somewhere which would explain all of this for me - any suggestions?

Oh yes, I live in the North West of France (weather similar to the South of England).

Any ideas, help would be most welcome!

Thanks in advance

[pat]

There's a *great* book out that will explain all this very nicely. The information on herbs in the book is particularly good - thorough, helpful. One of the authors is the owner of Nichols Garden Nursery, long-time herb specialists.

Below is the information on it from Amazon.com, but you can probably buy it online, used, for considerably less (I did).

I really recommend this book *very* highly for anyone interested in any aspect of edible container gardening.

The authors live in the Pacific Northwest of the USA, and their climate is (I believe) fairly similar to that of England. Still, you might need to make some mental adjustments for this. But everyone has to live somewhere, this can't be helped!

"McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container: A Container Garden of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, and Edible Flowers" (This is the full title, I've generally seen it referred to just as "Bountiful Container") by Rose Marie Nichols McGee, Maggie Stuckey, Michael A. Hill (Illustrator) Paperback: 400 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.19 x 8.96 x

6.08 Publisher: Workman Publishing Company; (February 1, 2002) ISBN: 0761116230

Cheers, Pat

Copyright © 2004 Patricia Meadows All Rights Reserved

If you are reading this message on a website, it is without my permission and is a violation of my copyright.

[Frogleg]

You may have to buy more than one book. :-)

Corriander (cilantro) is a short-lived annual. Goes to seed quickly in hot weather.

Basil is a frost-tender annual. It likes lots of sun and warm temperatures.

Parsely is a biennial -- grows leaves the first season, then flowers and goes to seed the second.

Mint is a perennial, and invasive. Will grow in shadier spots than most herbs.

Thyme and rosemary are perennials, 'though rosemary is a bit picky about extreme cold.

There are thousands of herb sites on the web. For info on simply growing them, search with:

herb-name cultivation

or

herb-name germination

Combinations? Up to you. Here's a site you might find interesting:

[Bpyboy]

I grow mint in pots and ONLY in pots!! It took over a bed I had going a while ago.

It didn't seem to require any special care, other than keeping it on the north side of my house, where it would get about 2 hours of direct sunlight a day.

I used a mix of some (albeit rather poor) garden soil, with a product we have here called Pro-mix, which is basically just a potting mix of peat and perilite, and it worked well.

I don't see why similar techniques would work for other herb. A neighbor of mine grows dill in an old wiskey barrel too.

[tmtresh]

Sure. It keeps it from spreading. I planted a 2 inch plant in a 2 gallon black plastic pot. After a couple of years, it grew so much it broke the pot. I'd rather plant it in an otherwise unused area (pretty hard to find in the city) along a fence or ditch bank.