So my friend Lenny stopped in today and suggested I do a bit on planting an herb container- what a fabulous idea! Thanks Lenny! He was most curious about how many you can plant in a container, but as I pondered and chewed on the idea, I thought of a few things to really increase your success.

Let’s start with the pot. Terra cotta pots are the classic look, but tend to dry out quicker. So if you are an "under-waterer" this type of pot is not for you. Plastic pots come in all kinds of colors, and don’t dry out as fast. They are also light weight, so easy to move around. Glazed ceramic pots are available in wonderful glazes, sure to tempt any gardener. The glaze keeps moisture in, the weight of the pot will help keep it from blowing over on windy days. We will get to what size in a paragraph or two....

Next decision is potting soil. Cheap potting soil is just that-cheap. It will most likely drain poorly and once it dries out, it pulls away from the sides of the pot and doesn’t re-hydrate easily. If you are going to go to the trouble to do a container garden, use good potting soil. You will notice a huge difference in the happiness of your plants! My favy-fav is Gardener’s Gold. It is a medium bodied potting soil and all my annuals love it the best. It holds moisture while still draining nicely, the necessary balance for a potting soil. My second choice is any of the ProMix soils, always my go-to until Gardener’s Gold stole my heart. Some of the ProMix mixes also contain the polymers which help your plants have a water supply when your soil dries out. No, I am not going to support Miracle-Gro soils.

So how many herbs do you want to plant? That will determine the size pot you will need. You must be careful not to over pack your container at the onset. You expect your herbs to grow, right? So if you put too many in the same container, they are going to start fighting each other for water, space and nutrients and some of them are going to die during the battle. A 12 inch container could hold as many as 4 herbs, 3 would be more appropriate. But now we have another factor to add to our calculation. Some herbs are more brutish (think mints) and some just don’t have the strength to go on all summer (cilantro dies as soon as it flowers and has to be replanted). So a 12" pot could hold one mint. Yep, one. Or it could hold a sweet basil, a dwarf oregano and a creeping thyme. A ‘Valentino’ Basil (huge leaves) and a creeping rosemary. Think of it as landscaping your container. You have to have an idea of how big you expect each herb to get to make proper decisions on how many you can grow together in a space. Or/and, of course, you can always buy more or bigger pots, like I did.

I like to fertilize my herbs with liquid seaweed/fish emulsion mix. I prefer organic fertilizers -always- but especially on things I am going to eat. That’s why you grow your own, right? I fertilize every two weeks.

Even with your pinching and pillaging, the roots are going to keep growing and require more frequent watering, even once a day thru the heat of the summer. Most herbs are quite drought tolerant, however, so don’t over-mother them and drown them!

Find a nice sunny spot and aaahhh....just plucked basil on a tomato sandwich, summer savory or thyme chopped over scrambled eggs, fried sage leaves with green beans, nasturtium flowers stuffed with cream cheese and chives, fresh lemon verbena tea. Oh my- is it summer time yet??!! :)

Grow your own! ~Erica