I realize this is a really broad question but I was wondering when to start herbs in TX. I have heard to do it in the Fall, even dill, but if I have one more plant in the house my family will have me commited and then move all my plants outside. I have always started them in the spring but.....?
When to start herbs?
I know that dill and cilantro are cooler weather herbs, so you want to do them in the fall.
Will they freeze? I have alway started dill and cilantro in the spring but theey do bolt when it gets hot
I have no idea! LOL I'm not an experienced herb grower, but I have both planted! I guess I'll just wait and see.
I'd go with sowing a few more every couple of weeks. The seeds are cheap, compared to a bunch of the fresh herb, and it really is a little fluky - it only takes one early frost or super hot day and they're done. Those recommended planting dates are just playing the odds, if you HAD to plant all at once, over the years, that would be your best bet.
Do you mean sowing direct or in containers? I REFUSE TO COVER ANY MORE STUFF UP WHEN IT FREEZES. Even my neighbor's dog thinks I'm crazy. he barks at me every night I go down to cover everything up. I have always sowed them in the spring, but I recently read they should be sown in the fall in TX.
I don't think they'll freeze unless there's a hard freeze. Try scouring Ann McCormick's website and blog for more info. She's local here in Fort Worth and you may find something.
http://ann-mccormick.com/wordpress/
http://www.ann-mccormick.com/
Well, like everything, it's how bad you want it... Dill for me isn't a biggie either way...
I think the official fall dill sowing date is past - I think it would be mid-Oct or so, the same time you're doing all the other leafy things. Average first freeze is Dec 1-ish, so that gives them seven weeks to mature. On the average. Some winters it never freezes, even though it might be cooler than normal. Who knows? Starting this late, maybe you'd want to up the odds a little by choosing a warmer site, or making a little stone or rock wall to the north. (Blocks the cold wind, soaks up sun and radiates it back a night. Just a little wall, a few inches. Just get it off when the weather wams.)
The official spring sowing date I think is two weeks before the last frost - on the average, Mar 1-ish, so plant mid-Feb. Maybe it freezes at Easter and they die, maybe it's in the 90s and they go straight to bolt. Maybe we have an average year and you harvest. Your guess... Would you feel worse if they froze, or flowered (or got devoured by caterpillars)?
Winter sowing says the seeds know, on the average, when they're supposed to grow. So if you go that route and it doesn't work out, you can blame it on the seeds...
It's all good...
Thanks everyone