Eternal herbs?
- Thread starter Entropyfx
- Start date
Heat mats set on low and grow lights should be all ya need Entropy. And depending on the overcast - you may not need the lights much. Let them go dormant outside - or start to - bring inside and let them acclimate a few days. Run lights during normal daytime hrs - not close like you were starting seeds. Start the heat mats at night when the room temp is in the low 40s. Run those 24 hrs during cold snaps. That's if you don't have a heat source in that room, that is.
I used to bring in chives and parsley, rosemary in big clay pots over the winter. We heated with wood and while they were close to a sliding door, I never supplemented the light. Cut and use regularly to stimulate growth.
But, an alternative method for annuals is to have enough seed on hand to run successive batches. Window boxes were good for that and spinach and salad greens do OK that way too. The perrenials, unless not natural in your zone, don't need to come inside. For instance, I had Lemon Grass, Lemon Verbena, a sweet Bay tree and an avocado tree that even bloomed one year. In the WV mtns.
I used to bring in chives and parsley, rosemary in big clay pots over the winter. We heated with wood and while they were close to a sliding door, I never supplemented the light. Cut and use regularly to stimulate growth.
But, an alternative method for annuals is to have enough seed on hand to run successive batches. Window boxes were good for that and spinach and salad greens do OK that way too. The perrenials, unless not natural in your zone, don't need to come inside. For instance, I had Lemon Grass, Lemon Verbena, a sweet Bay tree and an avocado tree that even bloomed one year. In the WV mtns.
Annuals follow the seasons. They grow, flower, seed, and die. You can prolong their life a little bit if you nip the flower buds but you are in a race against time once they start trying to flower, because they are following the patterns of life for their kind. If you want a continual supply of an annual herb, you need to start new seeds on a regular basis to keep a supply. A much easier alternative, is to take advantage of that plant's cycle and grow several during their best time of the year and harvest them. Dry the leaves, flowers, or seeds, depending on the plant, and have enough until it's time to plant again. Some plants produce two different products. With the cilantro plant, the leaves are cilantro, the seeds are called coriander.
Perennials will grow more year round, but depending on your location, it is much less work to grow some of them as annuals. An easy way to tell an annual and a perennial apart, is an annual will have a soft stem, a perennial has a woody-looking, firmer stem.
Some perennials die back in the fall and come back in the spring. Being perennial doesn't necessarily mean it is in a growth phase year round, for some of them it means they will die back and come back.
Ginger, ginseng, and turmeric are perennials that you dig up part of the root, leave some in the ground and it will continue to live and grow more roots. It is toward the end of the second year before you can harvest any of the roots without risking the plant, but it grows pretty quickly. I planted a 3-inch piece of ginger in early April and it has put out growth in about an 10" inch area already and is getting ready to bloom. Ginger blossoms are not edible but they have an appearance similar to an orchid. I think that's their way of apologizing for the fact they are just about to take over your yard or garden...
Ginger and turmeric leaves are also edible. Both have the flavor of the root, but much milder. Ginger leaves are high in anti-oxidants, not sure about turmeric leaves. Ginger leaves can be added to cooked dishes and in small amounts (due to their strong ginger flavor) can be added to raw dishes such as salads. Turmeric leaves can be dried and then ground for a milder flavored spice and coloring in recipes. Turmeric leaves are also wide and are used as wraps for foods.
There is such a variety of herbs (leaves) and spices (roots, seeds, flowers and bark) that no one answer for growing plans works for them.
Perennials will grow more year round, but depending on your location, it is much less work to grow some of them as annuals. An easy way to tell an annual and a perennial apart, is an annual will have a soft stem, a perennial has a woody-looking, firmer stem.
Some perennials die back in the fall and come back in the spring. Being perennial doesn't necessarily mean it is in a growth phase year round, for some of them it means they will die back and come back.
Ginger, ginseng, and turmeric are perennials that you dig up part of the root, leave some in the ground and it will continue to live and grow more roots. It is toward the end of the second year before you can harvest any of the roots without risking the plant, but it grows pretty quickly. I planted a 3-inch piece of ginger in early April and it has put out growth in about an 10" inch area already and is getting ready to bloom. Ginger blossoms are not edible but they have an appearance similar to an orchid. I think that's their way of apologizing for the fact they are just about to take over your yard or garden...
Ginger and turmeric leaves are also edible. Both have the flavor of the root, but much milder. Ginger leaves are high in anti-oxidants, not sure about turmeric leaves. Ginger leaves can be added to cooked dishes and in small amounts (due to their strong ginger flavor) can be added to raw dishes such as salads. Turmeric leaves can be dried and then ground for a milder flavored spice and coloring in recipes. Turmeric leaves are also wide and are used as wraps for foods.
There is such a variety of herbs (leaves) and spices (roots, seeds, flowers and bark) that no one answer for growing plans works for them.
We have gutters mounted on the glass walls inside the green house to grow herbs.
Right now we have Peppermint, Cilantro, Thyme, Oregano and lettuce growing in the gutters.
The sage made it through last Winter in a large planter in the green house and we had Basil come up as a volunteer from last year in another planter.
Right now we have Peppermint, Cilantro, Thyme, Oregano and lettuce growing in the gutters.
The sage made it through last Winter in a large planter in the green house and we had Basil come up as a volunteer from last year in another planter.
I leave my sage out year round and have had 3-4 ft wide bushes; I'm in the northern part of WV. Even temps below zero don't kill sage or lavender, if you keep them mulched and a bit sheltered from the prevailing winter wind on a south slope. I harvest and dry herbs, but some things like chives or parsley, I like to keep growing in a winter all year. If you germinate seeds in pot in late Aug/early Sept you'll have lots of yummy stuff to cut for cooking.
