I have thought of planting some herbs for the first time this year but know NOTHING about doing herb gardening. I live in zone 7 where it is very hot and dry in the summer. What herbs would do best in this weather? I would like to have thyme,rosemary and cilentro are my favorites. Any advice people?
New to herb gardening and need advice
All 3 are terrific for your zone. Most herbs prefer warm, dry climates.
I'm zone 8a and even drier than you if you can believe that :). Some other easy ones: french tarragon, oregano, sweet marjoram, english lavender, culinary sage, and for the flowers I love feverfew.
Herbs are weeds. All of them grow really well in hot climates with the exception of cilantro. It will bolt as soon as it gets hot. I am growing culantro this year. The tarragon does not do super great in hot weather either.
You can buy an herb garden seed pack at Home Depot for about $9. That will take care of most of them.
I grow in potting soil and fertilize with Osmocote for vegetables. I would advise buying an analog moisture meter for about $5 at Walmart or Home Depot. That way you can keep from overwatering (the most common mistake for first time gardeners).
If you plant in pots, put quarter sized rocks on the bottom two or three inches of the pot and then put a single layer of weed block to keep the dirt from getting into the rocks. You can then fill the pot with soil. This keeps the soil moist and not wet (to prevent root rot). Plants like moist, however, they don't like wet.
These tips should make herb growing really easy.
Ack, someone forgot to tell my tarragon...it's trying to take over the world here :).
Several days of 100+ last year caused my tarragon to fail. I had two separate plantings. I love tarragon. I am growing it again this year.
Odd, 100+ for at least a few weeks is the norm here. Maybe it's your humidity??
I've always lived in one high desert or another (NM, CA and now NV) so I'm lost anyplace that gets actual rain. Totally clueless about growing anything anywhere average humidity is over 10%.
Interesting! I have not had any problem with anything else except for the cilantro.
Thyme, rosemary, oregano, & other Mediterranean-type herbs should all do well in a hot, dry climate. Cilantro may be iffy because it likes cooler temps, but if you keep it well watered & sow seed every couple of weeks for a fresh crop, you should do ok.
I cant thank you all enough for your help. I am going to do the pots and am going to try the tarragon and see what happens and will see if cilentro will grow for me. Those are two of my favorites. I work at Wal Mart but prefer Home Depot for most things. I will give you a progress report. We will have freezing temperatures until about the middle of March so should I wait until then to plant or could I plant in pots and leave inside until after frost? It is still in the 20's at night but gets to 75-80 in the daytime and will get over 105 during the summer. By the way Pahrump, I know your temperatures very well having spent 20 years in Las Vegas and Henderson where I was a blackjack dealer. Didn't learn a thing about gardening during those years! Thanks again and I will keep you all posted.
Your best & most economic way to grow Cilantro is definitely from seed. It's an annual & bolts to seed fairly quickly. That's why I usually sow seed every couple of weeks during the growing season. Even tho it likes cooler temps, It IS quite frost sensitive, so I wouldn't sow it if your nights are still dropping below freezing.
Cilantro (sown directly into the ground) has done really well this winter in partial shade ammended clay soil. We are having a mild winter with only three separate 72 hour frost periods. In really hot weather 100+, I am finding that "full sun" plants, including herbs, tend to do better in partial shade-maybe 6-8hrs sun instead of ten-14.
I have a window box beneath my kitchen window...love to open the window and snip any herbs I may need. Problem is...fairly shaded. Living in Zone 9a/b, what are my best choices for herbs that will flourish in partial sun?
Is it true that some herbs cannot be grown side by side?
Many thanks...
Partial sun herbs for zone 9 would include mint, cilantro, chives, saffron, violetta odorata. Mint and cilantro are usually very easy to grow. Cilantro tends to prefer cooler weather, but mint is very hardy. Violetta odorata can be slow to grow from seed (requires freezing period which can be accomplished artificially in the ice box) But once violetta odorata starts growing it can be invasive. Saffron (crocus sativus) is a bulb which blooms in the fall. Can be propagated by division of bulbs. Chives are average developers.
I have not heard of difficulty growing herbs together, but no expert. Some herbs are very invasive (mints especially) and could definitely "take over". As a general rule it is healthy to mix herbs in the same planting bed. This creates a diverse micro environment more resistent to pests, bugs, and disease.
Couple of suggestions, plant mint in pots to restrain them, or as i do, but then i do NOT have a controlled garden, i turn it loose where it can be mowed or driven over when it gets out of hand. Tarragon likes it limey and if you put a handful a foot down when you plant it, just like clematic, it will tolerate tye heat better, best tarrogon i even had was in 1/2 pea gravel and 1/2 horse manure, just went bonkers
I'm going to disagree with FoolControl on herbs in the South--Tarragon, definetly only over the winter; also dill, fennel, cilantro,and thyme will turn its feet towards the sky in July-Aug. Alot of what the rest of the nation can grow in cool, moist springs we can only grow over the winter.
Get this book for the south--
Southern Herb Growing by Madalene Hill and Gwen Barclay
This message was edited Mar 15, 2006 7:27 PM
Haven't loged in for awhile but got one of those Herb Kits at our local Walmart and have Thyme, Cilentro,Chives,Parsley and sweet Basil planted in small pots that sit on a plastic stand. Since our weather is still below 30 degrees at night I put them out in the sun during the day and bring them in the house at night. Now IF they make it I need to know how you dry them. I also have an Oregano in another pot and want to dry it but as I have said before I know NOTHING about growing herbs so somone HELP please and tell me what to do.
robinredthumb, drying oregano is easy - I have that plant growing loose in one of my raised beds.
Just cut a bunch of stalks, tie them together, cover them with a paper bag and hang up and let dry.
More info on how to dry herbs is here http://www.brigids-haven.com/bos/herbs/drying.html
If you're drying them as a way of keeping them for cooking with next winter, I have another method that we prefer... I mince fresh herbs in my food processor (much as you would do with basil for pesto), add a little oil to make a paste, add garlic or hot pepper if desired, and freeze in ice cube trays. Mini cube trays are good for strong flavored herbs like rosemary. Pop them out once frozen and store in plastic freezer bags. Pesto can be frozen the same way -- that's where I got the idea!
It's a good idea to measure the amount you started with and divide by the number of cubes so you can mark your bags with equivalents such as "1 cube = 1/4 c. fresh basil."
Robin
We are in Zone 6 and the chives are thriving and the oregano is beginning to take off. In your zone 7 you be able to set both out....they are perenniels. Do it in the early morning....lots of water when you set them out. Trim off your oregano and dry it per other suggestions so your transplant doesn't have to support long growth while it is getting used to the ground. Ditto the chives....snip them into little bitty pieces with scissors and mash them into softened good butter. put a globs of butter (glob being a technical term :-) on some waxed paper and roll them into logs and put in the freezer for next winter.
You may get away with the parsley and cilantro as well...trim and transplant. If it is going to go really cold at night....put a hotcap on them....a gallon milk jug with the bottom cut out.
HM
Thanks everyone for the great advice. I am going to try both methods of drying but first they have to start growing so I will keep you posted. It's so nice to have a place where you can go and ask advice and get so many nice people willing to help you. I really appreciate you all. Robin