Starting Your Herb Garden – Part 1

The plants you start in the garden must not be planted until after the last frost is over.  The ground must be warm and ready for growing.  If you plant too soon the seeds will only rot and not germinate.  The most successful way is to start the seeds indoors.  This way there is no chance of the weather turning and having the seeds die.

To start the seeds indoors, it is best to use gardening trays.  You can mark each tray with the seed variety you have planted in them.  This makes it easy to know which is which.  At an early stage they will all look the same.  The trays can be purchased in either a self watering variety or you can maintain a constant watering source for them.  The herbs are not really hard to grow at all.  You just have to have patience.

You will want to use a sterile medium for starting seeds.  This can be as simple as a good potting soil.  One that is full of sticks and other debris may still hold contaminates.  This is not a good potting soil to start the seeds in.

You can use this soil for later use when potting the plants, but do not use it to start your seeds.  Some people have had success with it, and some have had major disappointments.  It is always safer to just buy a good potting soil with no contaminates.

The soil can be put into the trays for the seeds at about two inches deep.  This will allow the new plants to generate a good rooting system.  The plant's life is in its roots.  You need to make sure the roots will be able to expand.