Herbs Update!

I have not updated my blog on the status of my herbs for a while.

They are not growing very well, because i don’t get adequate sunlight at my house, especially since now it is winter – the very max that they can get is only 2-3 hours a day and usually much less. So i’m looking into adding a grow lamp which will give them the light that they so need. but i’m going to diy that, so i’ll be going down to bunnings soon.

You can really see that they’re not doing well without enough sunlight. The chives, spring onions, thyme and rosemary are not growing much after their initial growth spurt. The only one that seems to be still resilient is the parsley.

This was the parsley about a week ago.

 
You can see little parsley shaped leaves growing out of the other leaves. AND LOOK! I have an albino parsley at the top left hand corner! It is absolutely white.

I took the next pictures just yesterday.

You can see the white leave obviously is unable to survive and has died down. The parsley is growing bigger and looking quite good. but i do believe that their growth is still quite slow. The rest of the herbs look exactly the same. almost no growth at all. i must get the lamp quick.

You can see next to the parsley is the chives (i think) – but look at how short and weak they look in comparison with the parsley.. they haven grown much and since it’s really cold, dry and windy outside, their tips keep yellowing and drying out. I have trimmed them and they seem to grow a little more. but a little really is a little.

Well. i can’t wait to get the lamp and give my herbs the boost it needs before they die on me. :)

Progress on my Herb Garden!

So. a few weeks back i started a little herb garden. I started them out from seeds and i grew 5 different herbs. On their little packages, most of them state that they will take about 2 weeks to germinate.

It has been 2 weeks 5 days. and i’m so happy to say that they’ve grown through the horrible weather here. We’ve had wind, rain and cold temperatures. I also don’t get much sun here at my front balcony. so i’m very satisfied and happy at their progress.

After 1 week

I totally forgot where i planted what. so i was so happy that these on the left hand side grew out first – but i have no idea what they are until they grow big.


Nothing much going on on the right hand side.

After 2 weeks 5 days

I took it opposite – so this is where the right hand side was. I have a feeling the long long stems should be spring onions.

This is da centre. So we have a little growth there too. I think it should be rosemary? Cause they grow the tallest, so i kept them in the middle. Not 100% sure though.

The left hand side – little sprouts with little leaves.

Had to bring them inside the balcony instead of nearer to the pavement, where there is more sunlight, but unshaded, so when it rains, i think it gives them a little too much water. I had to run out and save them on tuesday.. haha!

And to suit the green thumb!

Green nails! The colour’s not too right though. This is really green. the classic green. grass green. rich vibrant green.

Okie! So i can’t wait to see them grow even more!

Herbs in a Container

I’ve been wanting to grow herbs for a long time. but we used to stay in an apartment with no balcony and fish and hui said no.

so. i didn’t.

but now. i have a front porch and a front balcony. and so i set off to get my herbs growing.

i am growing them all from seeds. i praying really hard that they will grow. considering that it has been really really cold these days. and the sun doesn’t really get into the balcony that much. the sun shines on the other side of the road, not mine. We’re also going into winter time soon, so it’s really quite cold these few days.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning, the 7th of May 2011. the sun was out shining. so i decided to start.

I used yates premium potting mix and a self watering trough. I poured the soil in and mentally divided the pot into 5 sections – for my 5 different herbs.

These are the herbs that i will be growing – these are the ones that i use more often. Parsley, thyme, rosemary, chives and spring onions.

Here are pictures of the seeds close-up. they are really tiny!

Really small seeds.

They take around 2 weeks to germinate. so i am crossing my fingers. i am slightly afraid though, cause i might have overcrowded it with too many seeds. We’ll see how it goes, if they manage to grow perfectly, i’ll weed out those that aren’t growing too well to thin it out.

For now, i’m just anxiously waiting. it’s like a baby. because we don’t get much sunlight and when we do, it moves across the porch, so i have to leave it nearer to the pavement at night, cause that’s where the sun hits in the morning, then move it into the front balcony when it’s late morning/afternoon for it to get as much sunlight as possible.

Today was really cold and cloudy though. and there was no sunlight at all. and i decided to bring the pot into the balcony instead of in the open where the sun would hit it, cause the wind was really strong and i didn’t want my growing seeds to feel too cold. (sounds weird eh.)

but yah. i’ll keep you guys updated on the status of my herbs. hopefully they grow soon!