Herbs grown from seed (especially Stevia)

So, a month or so ago I started a bunch of herbs using Jiffy peat pellets and they seemed to all come up, show their first true leaves and die off. My Lemon Balm looked great, until I planted the peat pellets in 6" pots and the Lemon Balm died within 4 days. Stevia was similar though even more fragile. Most herbs I am not too worried about and will try seeding directly outdoors with some instead. But Stevia seed packs have only like 6 to 8 seeds in them, so I will try outdoors with seed, but hope to find established Stevia just as I just got established Rosemary and Lavender. Has anyone seen established Stevia plants for sale anywhere or can anyone talk about their experience trying to grow Stevia from seed?

The easiest and most hardy herbs from seed indoors, for me this attempt, seems to be sage, clary sage, thyme, echenacea, and I thought lemon balm (but they died as I mentioned). None of my cinnamon basil even sprouted. :(

K3n ~ I suspect what you ran into was called 'damping off'. It is not uncommon with seedlings. To quote Twiggybuds on the vegetable forum

I go with dark, fat seeds for most things I grow from seed or do float tests and get rid of floaters. Thanks for the info about adding Hydrogen Peroxide, I never heard of this. I do think rot has been my problem with herd sprouts, but it is odd because I was not over-watering to start and they were doing bad, but then as I tried to keep them moist they got even worse...so it seemed I was doomed either way.

Luckily I have just today found live Stevia plants for sale at a local shop (they even have Peppermint and Chocolate Mint, yay!) and will go that route as with other herbs. I think planting outside in a good weather period will help me with growing other herbs from seed. Most herbs seem very delicate when young compared to standard vegetables.

Damping off sometimes just happens ~ no rhyme or reason.
Glad you found some plants, good luck with them.

I live in Portland Oregon and I found 4" pots of Stevia at my local Bi-Mart!!! I was surprised because they usually don't carry anything unique. Also in the Nichols Garden Nursery catalog they offer a book entitled " Stevia Sweet Recipes" by Geoffery Goetemoeller. Over 168 tested recipes using Stevia. $16.95. I bought two Stevia plants at Bi-Mart and they are doing beautifully. I hope that you find some plants in your area soon.

Oh - another thing - when I start seed indoors - there is a heating vent on the floor of my kitchen near the window. At night I like to set my seed tray there(not on top but right next to it) because we don't keep our house warm enough for seeds. It really helps them sprout. I have a cover for my seed tray but only put it on when I set the seed tray on the ground to avoid rotting out. I have to cover it on the ground because we have an australian shepherd dog who would think that these were dog treats otherwise. Just mentioning the temp of the house as a consideration. It is also a challenge when making pizza - I have to crank up the heat so the dough will rise properly. We can't afford to keep the house toasty warm all of the time.

Good luck with your 2 new Stevia plants. I bought 2 as well. I am hoping to try rooting some cuttings too. One is blooming, so I may try growing from my own seeds then too.

Today I started 15 Merlot Lettuce plants from seed and I still probably have 75 seeds left to plant later for a continuous supply and to be able to share the bounteous harvest with the Sunshine Pantry. It was everyone's favorite last year. The leaves are deeply frilled and waved and deepest wine red color, rather open, Bavarian-like heads. Holds up remarkably well to summer heat. It's just downright beautiful. I am always amazed at the abundance of food that can be grown from an inexpensive handful of seeds. Always planting an extra row for the hungry.

Well, we've let ourselves be inserted (or born) into an artificial world where we have thought we need to buy everything from big corporations. I just saw a commercial for a concentrated fish oil advertised as the only FDA approved high potency fish oil, by prescription only. I can see where this is headed...demonizing of over the counter fish oils along with all other herbals and supplementals. We have corporations trying to make illegal (hemp and more), refine, and patent or monopolize off of the natural world rather than harnessing the natural world ourselves. I am glad many of us are hanging on to nature. More family gardens or small farms would help everyone.

Here's an article about damping off that helped me tremendously: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/277/

In addition to sterilizing the growth medium, many people recommend starting with a quality, soilless, peat-based mix. They say the some of the cheaper stuff doesn't work for them. I had a moderate level of success with seed starting in the peat-based mixes, but when I switched to coconut coir, I had excellent results. (I do wet the coir and pop it into the microwave for just a bit to sterlize it. Not sure if it's necessary, but I do it just in case because it's so disappointing to lose a seedling to damping off.) You can sometimes by coir in the big-box and gardening stores, depending on what they stock in your area.

Herb seedlings do tend to seem delicate when you compare them with some vegetable seedlings, which can be amazingly vigorous. (There are lots of flower seedlings, too, that seem really puny when you compare them with, say, a bean or squash seedling.) Regular basil is usually very easy to start from seed. But I was surprised that the lemon basil I started indoors didn't make it. Not sure why that is. I've had good luck starting thyme and marjoram from seed, as well. And cilantro and dill.

I've done some reading and found that some herbs, though, either have such a long germination time or don't come true to seed, and most people start them from cuttings. Parsley, tarragon, and oregano are the ones that come to mind. So before I buy any herb seedlings, I look them up to find out my chances of success.

Hope that helps. I think that when you get the damping off problem under control, you'll be in pretty good shape.

I notice that herb seeds grown outside seem to do much better than those started indoors.

French tarragon can only be grown from cuttings or rooted cuttings. Personally, I've had dismal failure keeping tarragon alive.

Honeybee, I got a tarragon plant from a garden store last year, and I suspect that it might have been Russian (grown from seed) instead of French. I'm not sure what it's supposed to taste like, but this thing just tasted like leaves, not an herb.

k3n, now I'm curious about the stevia, so I looked it up. Check out the Propagation/Sowing section here: http://usagardener.com/how_to_grow_herbs/how_to_grow_stevia.php

Same deal as with the tarragon and oregano. It's best to propagate it by cuttings to make sure that you get the same flavor as the parent plant.

If you go to the Plant Files page http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/316/ you can click the 9 Vendors Have This Plant for Sale link. I haven't dealt with the other vendors, but I can say that even though Territorial's shipping rates tend to be high, it's an excellent company to deal with. My order with them was shipped promptly, and their catalog has lots of great growing information.

k3n: your Jiffy peat pots might be holding too much moisture. Many herbs like to be on the dry side (stevia especially needs well-draining medium to germinate). Stevia is also a notoriously slow germinater, and slow to get started (takes weeks to get first true leaves after cotyledons appear). It also is not known for high rates of germination. My experience is that fresher seed does best; I tried some seed from last year with 0% germination; new seed got me to about 60%. Once it takes off, it does fairly well.

Also, many herbs do not like a lot of fertilizer, so you don't want a lot of compost in your soil/potting mix. They do like lots of light and warmth, though, so consider that when you are growing from seed and planting it out.

Dividedsky: French tarragon cannot be grown from seed; it's easy to tell if it's true French tarragon by the taste (it should have a slight licorice taste to it). Leaves are narrower on the French. Greek oregano can be grown from seed (and is fairly easy), but you need to read the packet carefully to make sure you are getting the correct variety (Origanum vulgare hirtum)

I looove Greek oregano. I had the real deal last year and now I can recognize it when I smell it!

My goal this year is to learn more botanical names so that I can be more knowledgeable in what I'm doing with plants - and with which plants in particular.

I have Greek oregano that's determined to take over one of my beds, others that are sprouting in pots that I'll dontate to my neighbor as soon as they get large enough, and still others next to the house that I transplanted last fall! To say this herb is easy to grow is an understatement :)

I notice that some basil has self-seeded in pots - I also have some under lights indoors that are ready to transplant.

Sage is returning after a cold winter, which is just as well, 'cause only one of the seeds I planted indoors actually grew.

The tyme doesn't look good, but I think it will survive.

The mint is struggling, but who ever heard of mint actually dying?

The parsley outside has died - but the ones indoors have been doing well for several weeks - I'll have to set them outside soon.