Any Gardeners Among Us?

[matchstickman]

My girlfriend and I recently thought it would be a cool idea to try our hand at gardening since we have a little extra space outside of our apartment. Yesterday we planted some cilantro seeds and some basil seeds. Anybody have any experience growing these plants and can offer any advice? If this works out I may try planting some tobacco next year.

 

[matchstickman]

Well, what we have is far from a full fledged garden, its just a couple of plants sitting off to the side of the building and on our front step.

 

[tbradsim1]

You don"t need a big space for a garden, but you need good soil, soil prep and black paper, to control the weeds, watering is critical, tell me what you want to plant and maybe I can help out, the old cajun

 

[matchstickman]

Were trying to grow some cilantro and some basil. I think I have optimum spots for each plant. I was told the basil plant needs a lot of sunlight, ideally 6-8 hours a day, and thats about what it's getting. I was also told that cilantro likes partial shade, so it is in a spot where it is only getting about 4 hours of sunlight a day. My only worry is that I was led to believe that cilantro likes to grow in a medium warm climate and I just happened to plant when it was hotter than hell outside.

 

[papipeguy]

We got an Aero-Garden (hydroponic garden) some years ago and my wife grows various herbs with it. It's prety amazing how fast this stuff grows. She uses it in her cooking. Weather does not matter with one of these things.

 

[spartan]

I've been doing the exact thing you've been wanting to do for 3 years now Pipe Novelist. lol
Outside my apt I have two plastic tubs on the back porch that I filled with soil and planted whatever I wanted to see if it worked.
I've planted jalepeno peppers, serano peppers, cherry tomatoes, flowers, right now there's some cucumber growing by accident because when I'm not planting stuff I'll use them as mini compost piles and turn the soil every so often so all the organic matter and incorporate itself into the dirt.
I don't have any earthworms... which I've been thinking of, but there are plenty of ants and roly-polies everywhere lol
I don't take it too seriously so I let the bugs do what they may because it's where I smoke so it makes things interesting when I'm out there with a pipe watching the biodiversity interact with eachother.
While I was doing the compost thing and I turned the soil to see how well everything was breaking down I was expecting a horrible rotting smell, but I only through in fruits and veggies, and I was surprized by a very sweet smell. Not great, but definately not horrible.
Will post pics in a few min here.

 

[tbradsim1]

Miracle grow , granules mixed with water is a cure all for bad soil, you can get it at any hardware or home improvement, get sme big juice cans punch a bunch of holes in them bury them between your plants and pour the miracle grow liquid in the can, viola you have watered and fertilized in one step the old cajun

 

[pstlpkr]

Were trying to grow some cilantro and some basil.

Here's a list of what's growing in my humble garden.

Two varieties of "Heirloom" tomatoes

Seven of the top ten hottest peppers on the planet.

My Trinidad Scorpions didn't come up. Scoville rating up to 1,400,000 :crying:
Next hottest that DID come up... Naga Ghost Chilies Scoville rating 330,000–1,000,000 :D
Then six types of 7 Pots.

Seven Pot Brain Strain, Seven Pot Jonahs, and others.
And, the bottom rung of the hot pepper ladder... "Chocolate Habaneros".

::

 

[spartan]

Here is a pic of one of the bins in compost mode.

Here's an old pic of... something growing, I forgot what it was. Quite a while ago.

These are some cherry tomatoes that grew pretty well. It was my first thing growing, planting, then eating lol.

This is the current thing growing now, and I THINK it's cucumbers. Again, it was an accident.

As soon as I clear out one of the tubs and put in some new fertalized soil I'm going to try my hand at planting a few of the tobacco plants I rec'd as seeds from a very kind member here.

 

[loneredtree]

Never grew cilantro but they are related to tomatoes so I think sunny is OK. Basil has been easy to grow here. They do like water. Do you have drain holes in your tubs/pots?

 

[winton]

If you have a tiny space, then herbs are a great idea. Cilantro will re-seed itself each year. Mint and dill are easy to grow, but will take over.
Most of my gardening, is my wife points, and I dig the hole. Oh yeah, I pay for the plants.
Winton

 

[photoman13]

My girlfriend has been growing some herbs but she didn't get them from seeds. She used miracle grow in a pot and they are doing very well. From working landscape I know it is better to water plants in the morning or at night. That is about all the help I can give lol

 

[buster]

Cilantro is easy to grow it just bolts(goes to seed) fast. Just keep cutting them back. Or plant a row, two weeks later plant another and so on. Basil is easy but snails and slugs will wipe it out in one night. So watch out for them. Dead line, snail bait or copper rings around the base of the plant. Snails will not cross copper.
Spartan, citrus is not good for compost. It is good to cut the bottom of the bin out and set it on the ground. That will speed things up a bit.
Since I was busy this spring I did not get much of a garden in but will start planting soon for fall. Carrots, turnips, tall top beets and lettuce. I have three kinds of tomatoes kale, chard, squash and a bunch of cucumbers in the ground at the moment.

 

[tbradsim1]

Herbs are generally easy growers, plant and they will come up, if you have trouble with snails or cutworms, little containers with beer in them kills them, dissolves them, plant a hot pepper among them and some bugs will not come around the old cajun

 

[buster]

Cheep beer like Hams or PBR. The bugs seem to like them more than I do and why buy good beer for bugs? :D

 

[hobie1dog]

The only thing that grows good at my house is Weed........I mean weeds in the yard, yeah, that's it

 

[eaglerico]

I do bonsai. I would suggest starting your seeds in a plastic bag with a wet paper towel. This will help the hard outer seed coating soften quicker so the plant can root. Once you have a few roots then gently transfer it to your pot.
Sine you have already planted your seeds I would suggest watering a lot until you see some green. Just make sure you have good drainage. You want it wet but not standing.
Another good tip, since you have limited space is, once it gets to a reasonable hight. Cut the tip off. This will cause the plant to work on growing out and not up.

 

[matchstickman]

Wow. Thanks for all the tips guys. Figured there had to be some green thumbs in the group here. I had read that cilantro likes a little bit cooler climate, and since the heat here has been hellacious, I scooted to container over to a shady spot. I keep the soil moist but not with standing water, and I tend to give the basil plant a little more water since I read that it likes a lot of water. The soil on the cilantro plant started to dry out on me so I gave it another little dose of water. Im only getting ready to start day 3 of this experiment and Ill keep everyone posted on how it turns out. I hope its not too hot here to get these plants going.

 

[gwynclan]

I think cilantro seeds= coriander. If they go to seed quicker than you use.

 

[ohin3]

Cilantro is easy to grow in high heat and so is basil. Do watch your cilantro and don't let it go to seed as others have mentioned. Best to keep pinching off herbs and using them. They will constantly throw out new leaves if you keep them moist, warm and in plenty of sunshine and keep them pruned. Oregano and mint will come back every year. Thyme is also very easy to grow as is sage and summer savory. I am an avid gardener and this year I have a butt load of cucumbers planted, cherry tomatoes, full sized tomatoes, egg plant, cabbage, cayenne peppers and carrots on the go. We had a very mild winter here so everything is doing very well here. Even my lilies are blooming early and plentiful this year. Should be a bumper crop.