Potted Herbs
How Do You Grow Herbs in Pots?
GROWING HERBS IN CONTAINERS INDOORS & OUT
Pots, tubs, baskets or any other type of container can be a great way to grow your herbs. Container gardens offer a great deal more flexibility than growing in the ground. You can move your garden about continually changing it's appearance, bringing plants to the foreground when they are at their best and hiding them when their appearance deteriorates. This is a particular adavantage with many herbs which die back to nothing but roots (leaving the pot bare) at times of the year.
Herbs grown in containers are ideal for the person who has limited space such as balconies and patios, and provides easy access for those people who find ordinary gardening difficult. Kitchen herbs are particularly handy in a tub by the back door, or in pots on a kitchen bench or window sill. Container growing allows you to change the appearance of your garden, firstly the variety of containers available offers new textures, shapes and colours that can be added to your garden, and secondly by growing in containers you can change the profile of the garden plants can be grown at different heights.
If your soil is poorly drained or infertile, container growing is one way to ensure good growing conditions. Large and invasive plants can be kept to a manageable size, and when conditions get too harsh (eg. on blistering hot days), the plant can be easily moved somewhere more protected.
CARING FOR HERBS IN CONTAINERS
1. Watering
Pot plants dry out faster than those in the ground. Check the growing medium every few days (even more often in hot or windy weather), by feeling an inch or so below the surface. Water pots thoroughly. The best way is to immerse the pot for a few minutes in a bucket or tub full of water.
2. Feeding
Because nutrients wash through pots and are lost fairly rapidly, potted herbs should be fed regularly. Use slow release fertilizers, two to three times a year and regularly apply a liquid fertilizer such as Maxicrop or Aquasol during the active growing seasons.
3. Pruning and Harvesting
Most herbs withstand ruthless pruning, in fact the best growth for cooking is lush young foliage which sprouts straight after a hard prune. This lush growth is susceptible to wind, heat and cold, so move your pots into a protected place when you prune them.
4. Potting up
After a year or two, most potted herbs start to become pot bound (ie. there are too many roots in the pot), and repotting is necessary. Plants can be put back in the same pot if you remove some of the top growth, and cut away some of the old roots. This allows you to add some fresh, fertile, new soil. Alternatively pot up into a larger container.
5. Ventilation, Light & Temperature.
Plants in pots need the right temperature and light conditions. For most herbs, that means something between 10 and 30 degrees celsius. Too hot or too cold is just no good. Fresh air is also important, particularly in humid climates. Keep space (about 10 15cm) between pots so air can circulate, and problems with disease will be greatly reduced.
6. Overcoming Problems with Containers:
The most common problems with pot plants are overwatering or underwatering. If you overwater, the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot will always be wet, and if you knock the plant out of the pot the tips of the roots may be dark and starting to rot. If your pot plant is drying out too quickly, try spreading some mulch on the surface, moving it to a more sheltered place, or incorporating more well rotted organic matter into your potting mix the next time you pot up.
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[22/05/2012 13:31:56]
