The Gardening Thread

[Fluffyfinance]

Any advice for growing cilantro? I just planted some chives and cilantro in my (hopefully) soon to be a full herb garden, and then it got really hot. My cilantro is wilted within the first day of it being outside so I moved it to some shade. Should I move it inside for now or just water it more? It said they liked full sun but this little guy doesn't seem to, at least not the hellish texas sun.

Also, basil seeds, any tips you may have about growing them are very welcome.

[wavewright62]

Any advice for growing cilantro? I just planted some chives and cilantro in my (hopefully) soon to be a full herb garden, and then it got really hot. My cilantro is wilted within the first day of it being outside so I moved it to some shade. Should I move it inside for now or just water it more? It said they liked full sun but this little guy doesn't seem to, at least not the hellish texas sun.

Also, basil seeds, any tips you may have about growing them are very welcome.

My cilantro does best as a late winter/spring crop, and my climate is ever so much cooler than yours!  But even then, and even with harvesting of leaves, it does get leggy seemingly overnight.  (Our UV is very strong, though, particularly in the spring.)   I would not water it more, but the partial shade was probably a good idea.  I also find staggered plantings to be very effective, to keep the season going longer, in which case you will need to keep the watering going to aid the younger ones.
(I always get basil plants, no help from me on seeds, sorry.)

[thorny]

If you've got plants that you started inside, whether cilantro or something else, you generally have to get them used to being outside gradually: before transplanting them out, put them out the first day just an hour or so, the next day a couple of hours, the day after maybe a half day, then you can plant them out. Full sun is a lot stronger than even proper plant lights and they need to get used to it.

Cilantro is going to bolt whatever you do; some varieties faster than others. Get seed of a strain meant for leaf, not for seed production; but it'll still bolt. I never grow that from transplant as the shock of transplanting can bring on bolting even faster; I direct seed it. And yes, you need to do succession plantings; about every three weeks is good.

There are a lot of different kinds of basil, with different flavors. Some might do better in your area than others (I've got no useful advice about Texas in particular, I'm in upstate New York.) Basil generally likes it warm, though I don't know whether some strains don't like it too warm, we don't get out of the 90's F or at least I certainly hope not, I don't like it that hot myself. It's very frost tender. Bolting's not a problem with basil; just keep cutting it back as you want to use it. Unlike cilantro, the flavor won't change if you don't cut it back enough and it goes into bloom. Basil flowers are also edible, and can make quite a pretty garnish.

[Róisín]

Yeah, basil flowers are extra nice in pesto or salad. And something else about basil: despite being a fleshy herb, it dislikes being overwatered. Also, like tomatoes, water around the roots rather than onto the leaves (however nice the wet leaves smell) because leaving water on the foliage overnight leads to mould. If leaves are dusty, water in the morning so leaves have time to dry. If you catch the mould early, water with cool chamomile tea, otherwise pull the affected plants out so mould doesn’t spread to the whole patch. This also works on pumpkins, melons and other cucurbits, if you catch the mould early.

Basil grows well if planted with tomatoes, which is handy, because those also combine well in the kitchen.

And yeah, cilantro does well if you grow a variety best for leaf rather than seed (unless you actually want the seed for pickling or making dukkah). Don’t transplant it or it is going to bolt, and do succession plantings. Texas may be like Australia, where I will be planting mine as the weather gets cooler.

[Fluffyfinance]

Thanks, everyone very much for your advice! I didn't even think about bolting or letting them get used to the new environment! (I'm very new with this) It's very nice to have the extra information

[thorny]

Information is fun!

Basil does well with tomatoes, yes; but don't just interplant it between tomatoes on the same spacing, at least not if the tomatoes are large types. The tomatoes may crowd out the basil or overshadow it so that it doesn't dry fast enough after rains. Try a patch of basil at the end of the tomato row. (Maybe this is less of an issue in climates with fewer cloudy and rainy days than we have during the growing season?)

If your area has tomato worms, get some tall variety of marigolds (you can start those from seed also) and plant those inbetween every few tomato plants. The scent of the marigolds seems to discourage some pests; and the taller marigold varieties don't seem to get crowded out.

[Róisín]

Yep, Tagetes marigolds especially. Calendula marigolds help, but Tagetes ones are better. Tagetes marigolds are especially good to repel root nematodes.And in our climate of extremes, basil has actually a better chance when closely interplanted with tomatoes, since the big tomato leaves shelter the basil from the blazing Summer sun, and later from the first early Autumn frosts.

[Fluffyfinance]

Well, now I'm going to see if I can get tomatoes and marigolds after I get my basil seeds growing! (I think I want to start them inside and move them out later)
I don't know if I have tomato worms but even if I don't I can still feed some marigold to my chickens for really golden yokes in their eggs, and they really love it already. I will have to keep the tomatoes away from them though...
One last kinda weird question, If I have a patch of dirt and I weed the top of it, do I need to do anything else with it before I start planting or is that enough? I know sometimes the ground doesn't have the nutrients for certain plants but this is assuming it is rich in nutrients already.

Thank you all very much!

[crowbarrd]

Hello ! Does anyone have advice on managing pests ? I've been having tiny greyish insects plaguing the soil of my catnip plants, which I grew from seeds and keep indoors, so I'm not sure where they came from.
So far they haven't seemed to harmed the plants, but they crawl out of the pot and get everywhere- I searched for some DIY pesticide recipes but I'm not sure how effective or harmful towards the plants they may be; this is the first time I've encountered such insects.

Are there any alternatives I could go about to remove them ? Or should I just leave them be ?

[Róisín]

Are they winged? Might they be fungus gnats? Or whitefly? I can’t make links, but it should be possible to find pictures of both online.

[crowbarrd]

they're really small so I can't really tell; but they don't seem to fly- from what I've observed of them, they could potentially be springtails ? I will try to get a picture of them !

[Vulpes]

they're really small so I can't really tell; but they don't seem to fly- from what I've observed of them, they could potentially be springtails ? I will try to get a picture of them !

Springtail was my first guess. Are you over-watering?

If they are springtails, I would try either diatomaceous earth (least threat to the plants, easy, but I've no idea how vulnerable springtails would be) or drench the soil with safers soap - any soap, really - let it sit for a bit, and flush thoroughly with clean water. If you have >1 plant, definitely test that first on one before risking them all. I would guess anything mint family would stand up to it, but you never know.

There's some other insect that is likely, but my brain isn't interested in sharing what that might be. I'll check in if it comes to me!

[Solokov]

Urea in minute traces is good for plants right?

I'm thinking of using a diesel exhaust fluid container as a recycled planter.

[crowbarrd]

Springtail was my first guess. Are you over-watering?

If they are springtails, I would try either diatomaceous earth (least threat to the plants, easy, but I've no idea how vulnerable springtails would be) or drench the soil with safers soap - any soap, really - let it sit for a bit, and flush thoroughly with clean water. If you have >1 plant, definitely test that first on one before risking them all. I would guess anything mint family would stand up to it, but you never know.

There's some other insect that is likely, but my brain isn't interested in sharing what that might be. I'll check in if it comes to me!

Thank you so much Vulpes !! I live in rather humid/hot conditions, so the plants get a bit droopy if I don't water them every few days, and the soil probably doesn't dry out fast enough between waterings. I'm no professional at gardening :') I'll check if they have it at the florist/gardening store nearby, thank you again for your help !!!!!

[Jitter]

Solokov, please make sure to not grow anything edible in it! Properly cleaned, almost anything can be used as container for decorative plants, but with edibles you have to be more careful.