How to grow happy herbs

By Jaci Hicken

Apr 12, 2024

A 10cm pot of basil — Growing herbs from seed in 10cm pots is the easiest way to grow herbs Photo by Jacican

WALKING THROUGH OUR HOME’S JACI HICKEN’S KITCHEN GARDEN, YOU CAN FIND MANY DIFFERENT HERBS, SOME PLANTED AS ANNUAL PLANTS IN THE VEGETABLE GARDEN, SOME AS HERB BORDERS AND PERENNIAL COMPANION PLANTS.

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The easier way to grow your herbs for seed is using a packet of herb seeds that come in-bedded in a seed mat.

You can purchase parsley, basil, oregano, coriander, chives, thyme, and mint seeds this way.

Place roughly 6cm of seed-raising potting mix in a round 10cm x 10cm high pot, as the seed mats fit perfectly.

Place the seed mat on top of the soil, then cover it with an extra 5mm of seed-raising potting mix.

Only give them a light water, then leave them in a sheltered place and keep them moist until the seeds have sprouted in five to 10 days.

Once they have sprouted, how you grow herbs first depends on what type of herbs they are, annual or perennial.

Annual herbs you grow each season from seed, include parsley, basil, coriander and chives.

You can keep these annual herbs in the 10cm pots you have sprouted them in, if you like, keeping the water up to them until they die off, harvesting what you need and having the plant bounce back over three months.

If you would like, you can plant your annual herbs in your vegetable garden as an annual vegetable crop, but they will only last a season; then, like all yearly vegetables, they must be replaced and rotated through the vegetable garden.

Perennial herbs that you could have sprouted from seed include oregano, thyme and mint, with more varieties of perennial herbs available in pots at nurseries.

You can keep perennial herbs in pots or garden beds and continually harvest, but they will still need care including pruning, feeding and watering to have the best tasting and healthy plants, that may keep you in fresh herbs for years.