Herbs bought from Supermarket

[JILLY JACKSON]

I bought a pot of Basil from the supermarket and cut a long piece off ,removed the lower leaves then put it into a glass of water.Result ,a new plant .Both neighbours now have freebys, my daughter as well and i just keep repeating so i always have fresh Basil .

[nilling]

Supermarket herbs are raised quickly and so have an underdeveloped rootball. This explains why it usually dies when planted out. I usually buy my herbs from the garden centre for about 50p each. In my widow box I have rosemary, chives, thyme and mint.

[Chicken Run]

Shop Herbs

We have had some success with both Parsley and Basil but only when in a sheltered spot with really good drainage. The soil on my allotment seems to be too heavy so we use a trough in the garden with multi purpose compostand soil mixed and plenty of crocks at the bottom. Neither like the cold so they have to be covered later in the season to keep the crop going and we have never kept them over winter.

In the border we have Bay, Rosemary, Chives, Sage and Thyme which all thrive in the ordinary soil. We occassionally mulch the soil in autumn to give it a bit of a feed.

[fwuffydragon]

I've had parsley and coriander overwinter under cloches, but not basil.

[Alexx]

I went to my local Lidl today to do my weekly shopping.

They usually have potted basil and parsley in the herbs department which i sometimes buy for the kitchen. Today though they had a vast selection of potted herbs - oregano, thyme, chives, mint, marjoram, tarragon - all priced at either 69 or 99p.

I was sooo tempted to buy one of each variety but ended up getting a thyme plant (a nice big bushy one). Will probably go back tomorrow and get some more.

[MrsC]

Hi all, I grow lots of herbs here. Depends why you grow herbs, I grow for cooking and also wildlife/flowers they produce, also looking into the medicinal side. Basil can be sown from seed and always tastes the best. I have taken cuttings (courtesy of Valmarg) who said to put them in water to root, you can have a year round supply. I have grown lots from seed and also bought from garden centres, they thrive. I also feed some of my herbs. I have bought shop potted herbs and planted, especially chives. I have started a social group on this subject if anyone wants to take a look.

[vwilson]

Just wanted to know if i keep my herbs in pots on the window sill will i have to seperate them i was told that mint grows as big as the pot it is in i remember my parents having a huge mint bush in the garden which was beautiful every year just left there but will indoors plants be the same.?? plus i saw someone using cooking seeds to grow plants wil this be ok or not.?ive forget who it was on tv who did it

[MrsC]

Just wanted to know if i keep my herbs in pots on the window sill will i have to seperate them i was told that mint grows as big as the pot it is in i remember my parents having a huge mint bush in the garden which was beautiful every year just left there but will indoors plants be the same.?? plus i saw someone using cooking seeds to grow plants wil this be ok or not.?ive forget who it was on tv who did it

What mint is it, it is invasive and better in the garden IMHO, let me know if you want any mint cuttings

[Alexx]

Just thought I'd post a piece of info.

Right now my local B&Q have a herb offer - five small pots for £5.

The herbs actually come under the umbrella of "patio plants". I bought two varieties of thyme (a purple one and a lemon one) and a curry plant, plus some other plants which aren't herbs but... urm... patio plants.

They look lovely as well, now I just need to build a patio

As for my Lidl-bought herbs, the top part of the thyme has died but there are some tiny green shoots appearing at the bottom. And the chives decided to flower!

mrsc, could you post a link to your group please as at the moment I'm very much into herbs.

[BrideXIII]

I have bought expensive, I have grown from seed, and I have bought from nearly all the supermarlets, all with similar results.

Basil: last a while, but I forget to water or overwater, and the leaves get all spotty, so this one I replace as often as necessary, I do use a LOT of basil in cooking, so the plant never really gets a chance to establish, and is probrably traumatised by the amount of harvesting.

Mint , cant stop it growing.

Rosemary, loves me, I take cutting regularly by sticking them in a glass of water till it has roots then stick it in pots for a year before planting it out, never fails.

coriander hates me, i cant keep it alive, nor dill.

Thyme only likes me if i do NOT harvest it, so I grow it, and buy in what i need for cooking ( again I use a LOT so this is a good compromise)

anything else I can manage really well after taking a tip from a friend, herbs are basically weeds, on the whole most of them like poorish soil and will thrive, pinching off what you need is less traumatic than cutting, always ask first and thank afterwards

[Sky-Dreamer]

I've had quite a bit of success with my Asda plants...the mint and chives especially, the basil did fairly well when repotted into a bigger pot on the windowsill but didn't last outside. The coriander just wilted every time....mind you i had chopped a fair old hunk off for my salad!

I think that perhaps the plants might by chilled during transport and that it might affect some types more than others?

[SueA]

If you buy the supermarket pots of herbs they've been forced & are not intended to live more than a week or two, largely so you'll have to go back & buy some more! If you take them out of the pot however & split them up you can usually get about 5 or 6 clumps out of each & if you pot each of these up in 3 or 4 inch pots of multi-purpose compost they will grow happily on a windowsill. The best ones I've found are parsley, chives & basil & as these can be difficult to germinate from seed sometimes it's worth the little bit of expense buying the potted plant.

[VJay]

Can you seperate the chives and parsley anytime or is it better repotting into bigger pots for now, and then seperating out in October for a winter crop?

[annacruachan]

The basil bought from the supermarket always dies on me too. This year I have grown my own - much cheaper and much more of it - on a sunny south facing windowsill and watered it twice a day It is thriving, and I'm still sowing more for when the first pots get tired or used up.
Have turned two pots into a scrummy hazelnut pesto today.

[VJay]

I read somewhere that parsley likes a good deep root and plenty of drainage, so that might be the reason why some people don't sucessfully replant it at home.