Returning AGer - Herb Questions!

[danastl]

Hello!! It’s … been a few years!

My first garden pretty much defeated me with Tomatoes and Lettuce.

Due to “life happens”, my AG sat in the basement for a few years, and now it’s back up in my office and ready for me to get going again!

I love to cook, so this time I’m going with herbs. We have a Farm 24XL, so TONS of room - BUT I also don’t want to over-plant where I am unable to maintain or use the plants.

We also have a cat, so we will be limiting which herbs we plant in case he decides to go snacking (not likely, but better safe than sorry).

My question is around spacing…

“Could” someone fill all 24 spots with herbs? Or should they be spaced out (depending on herb)?

Here are the ones we are thinking of, in case it matters:

• Genovese Basil
• Thyme
• Sage
• Rosemary
• Thai Basil
• Cilantro

I feel like there should be Parsley in there But not great for kitties.

Anyway, I’d love some input on the above herbs, spacing and/or placement (better use of both lights?). I know that the Basil is going to go crazy, so I plan to be rather heavy handed on the pruning, hoping to keep it in control.

PS - I’m SO happy that this forum is still going after these years, y’all are one of the friendliest and most supportive communities I’ve seen! 

[maskedsonnet]

Welcome back to the addiction!

I am TERRIBLE about pruning my herbs, so I wouldn't put more than 1 of each of those plants, for a total of 3 plants on each side of the machine. Rosemary and sage tend to go nuts when I grow them (and when I can get the rosemary seeds to sprout, which can be hit or miss for me), and get very large. I've never successfully grown cilantro in an AG, but I know others here have. It's practically a weed outdoors where I live, so I admittedly didn't try all that hard with the over-abundance I get in my outdoor garden.

I'd also suggest putting your thyme out front, where you can get to it without having to fight your way through the other herbs.

I'm sure someone with better pruning habits than me will be able to give better advise on whether or not you can plant all 24 slots! I personally wouldn't do that.

[danastl]

Thanks for the advise!!! I was thinking about 3 per side, but was curious how many I "could" fill if I found more herbs I wanted to grow. I know that cilantro doesn't do well, but I'm not all THAT fussed about it - we already have the pod, so might as well give it a try.

[maskedsonnet]

Here's a couple of old threads from Shawn , who keeps their herbs trimmed much better than I ever could! I think 4-6, depending on plant size, would be the absolute max you'd want to do on each side, to avoid over-crowding. Otherwise you'll start running into problems with mildew or mold in the leaves, due to lack of air circulation. Edema could also become a problem from lack of air-flow, I find it's best to keep a fan on in the room with my AGs to keep the air moving. I learned about mold the hard way during an experiment with growing a zucchini plant in a Farm. The plant got too big, with no air circulation around the center the way it would get outside, and a bunch of mold grew in there. My allergies went NUTS over that.

I believe the secret to success for cilantro is germinating the seeds in a damp paper towel in a ziplock, here is a good thread about that, if you want to try dumping the seeds out of the pod and germinating them that way.

[lynnee]

[Source] danastl said:

Thanks for the advise!!! I was thinking about 3 per side, but was curious how many I "could" fill if I found more herbs I wanted to grow. I know that cilantro doesn't do well, but I'm not all THAT fussed about it - we already have the pod, so might as well give it a try.

When I was growing lettuce, chard, and herbs in a Farm 24 Plus, I planted in every other hole--that would be 6 plants in each side. With peppers, 3 plants in a side is the max, I think, and that's pushing it. You need to keep the peppers pruned. With cherry tomatoes, 4 plants will fit in a side.

Of course, I am prone to overcrowding, and I terminate a lot of weak plants to make room for stronger ones.

[danastl]

May 1, 2024 16:40:11 GMT -5 lynnee said:

[Source] danastl said:

Thanks for the advise!!! I was thinking about 3 per side, but was curious how many I "could" fill if I found more herbs I wanted to grow. I know that cilantro doesn't do well, but I'm not all THAT fussed about it - we already have the pod, so might as well give it a try.

When I was growing lettuce, chard, and herbs in a Farm 24 Plus, I planted in every other hole--that would be 6 plants in each side. With peppers, 3 plants in a side is the max, I think, and that's pushing it. You need to keep the peppers pruned. With cherry tomatoes, 4 plants will fit in a side.

Of course, I am prone to overcrowding, and I terminate a lot of weak plants to make room for stronger ones.

Thank you!! Just ordered some cherry tomatoes, the smallest size (6 pack), so I'll stick to herbs on one side and 3 tomatoes on the other.

[Clovis Sangrail]

I don't grow a lot of herbs, but I do have a couple of favorites. Here's my basil and cilantro in a couple of Harvests -- 



In the left Harvest, Thai basil on the left and Genovese basil on the right. The Genovese will get pretty big (up to the lights and then some) and will easily overshadow anything next to it. The Thai can get tall, too, but not quite as dense a leaf coverage as the Genovese. There are six holes in that Harvest, but those two eventually took up all the space. I would not have wanted to have anything else in there.

This garden has been terminated, and when I replant, I'll probably plant just one basil. (And maybe one mint just because we are coming into mojito season.)

In the right harvest are three cilantros. These eventually reached the lights and made a dense little cilantro hedge on the left side of the Harvest. When I replant, I will probably reduce that to two and space them farther apart.

I did not soak my cilantro seeds, but I did give each one a little hug until I heard that tiny little popping sound before I put it in the sponge. 

My first Harvest, I planted all six of the herb pods that came with it. The Genovese basil crowded out everything but the mint, but I don't think it is possible to kill mint without using fire.

Leave some space. You'll be glad.