Organic Gardening - Grow Organic Vegetables in Your Home Garden

Growing Herbs? Use Pots!

 

People often ask me about growing herbs in an Instant Organic Garden and I explain that herbs don’t need the rich soil that most vegetables require. They do best in lean, well drained soil.

Instead of a raised bed garden, I recommend pots for your herbs. They’re attractive, you can keep them near your back door where you’ll use them, and you can move them around at different times of the year if they get too much or too little sun.

So here are three ways to make your pots more productive.

1. Don’t use clay pots.

Clay pots dry out VERY quickly. You may end up having to water twice a day and your plants will go from very dry to very wet all the time. Not good. Instead go with plastic pots – many look just like clay, they’re lighter and less expensive.

2. Use a high-quality potting mix.

Garden soil is a no-no. It’s way too dense and will have all sorts of bugs and diseases that you don’t need. It will quickly harden into a cement like substance. Use a potting mix WITHOUT any synthetic fertilizers added. These would release too quickly in the heat, cause unnatural growth and will burn your plants. Instead add a slow-release organic fertilizer like Plant-Tone. This will give your plants what they need as they need it. You can also use organic foliar sprays like fish emulsion to feed your plants as they grow.

3. Use water crystals.

Add the crystals to your soil as indicated on the package. They absorb water and release it slowly as the plants need it. They’re available at garden centers under different names like Terra-Sorb and Soil Moist.

If you follow these three simple steps you’ll have happy plants that you’ll only have to water every two or three days.