Growing some herbs

I have this herb kit that I purchased last September from a giant garage sale. I have thought about planting the herbs, but have been skeptical because I didn't want to fail miserably at growing them. Since I now have a tomato plant that is doing well, and I began growing some green onions that are doing well, I gained some confidence and thought maybe it was time. The kit provides you with 5 pots with 2 coir discs per pot, a stand, and the 5 types of seeds (Basil, Cilantro, Parsley, Oregano, and Chives). I put the water in the pots with the coir discs and they softened and became this beautiful seed starter. The seeds say to sow them in sunlight which is where I became a little confused. Does this mean that I should wait until tomorrow during the daylight to plant them or can I plant them now and just make sure they get plenty of sunlight? Will the seed starter still be good if I do not plant them today or is it ideal to plant them right away? It doesn't spoil, does it? Do I need to mix any other soil with the coir or should I wait until they begin to sprout? Any help would be very much appreciated!

 

GGBeth, first, don't sweat this. Now... breathe. It is okay to worry a little, but don't stress too much. First, check your seeds. Is there any kind of date on the package or on the seed packs? If they are old you may experience failure due to them having actually died. If you bought it at a garage sale you don't know how old they are, right? You may get some germination or not. It may have nothing to do with your inexperience of growing seeds.
1) Coir is not my favorite seed starting medium. It ranks right up there with jiffy seed pellets.. easy, but not the best thing to start with. I always use a sterile seed starting soilLESS mix. When I have used the jiffy's the plants seem to struggle to thrive, usually looking a little yellowish no matter what.
2) starting them in sunlight means to start them in a spot that is fairly bright all day long, just keep them out of direst sun as this is generally too warm during mid day especially if they are under a cover of plastic to keep the moisture in the container.
3) as soon as the seeds sprout uncover them and let the air get to them, but make sure they don't dry out.

Basil- generally easy to germinate.

Cilantro- if this is still good seed don't start it in your pots, start it right in a flower bed or the garden. It will do much better. If you start them in containers as soon as you try to transplant it the plants will bolt ( go to flower) immediately.

Parsley- a little harder to start. These seeds sometimes take weeks to germinate, maybe even longer. This is a biennial and will grow as the leafy part the first year and the second year it comes back to go to flower thus ensuring another seed cycle.

Oregano- fairly easy to start too, but the seeds are very fine making them a little harder to sow evenly in those little pellets.

Chives- easy to start and can become invasive in your flowerbeds/herb garden. When they flower use or pick off and discard the flowers before they go to seed.

Now please don't fret or sweat starting any of these. I would really recommend getting fresh seeds to start, though. You will have much better success with fresh seeds.

 

Thank you so much for the advice! It never occurred to me that they may expire. I thought that seeds didn't expire. The date on them says to sell by 2013....so, I'm guessing that I need to go purchase new seeds. At least this time, I can choose which of them I like. I am not big for parsley, but absolutely LOVE basil and cilantro. Well, to be honest, I love chives and oregano also, but I think I could use basil and cilantro more frequently. Thank you again!

 

2013 is still an acceptable date to try them, to me. So, give them a try, but don't stress if they don't germinate.... especially the parsley. I think the rest are fairly stable for a couple of years as long as they weren't exposed to excessive heat. I would recommend new parsley seeds, but still try the old ones, too.

 

Thanks again for all of the advice. I am going to try them! I will keep everyone updated on how they turn out!

 

Hey, everyone! Thought I'd bump this thread seeing I have recently purchased some herb seeds that I wanted to start and plant when I move to my new home in late April .

I purchased basil, cilantro and parsley. I won't be starting an official garden until next summer because I'll have my hands full with some updates I plan on making to the house, but in the meantime, I wanted to plant these herbs in pots. Unless that's not smart? Since it's been literally decades since I've started plants from seed, I really am clueless. I saw Carolyn's advice above and wondered since she specifically mentioned cilantro being an herb that you should plant in the ground.

Also, should I start the seeds 8 weeks from the last frost? Like I do with the flower seeds?

Thanks

 

Sylvia, we did about the same thing you are planning--when we moved here we had so much to do that we didn't have an "official garden" until the next spring, but I started herbs in pots. We still have in-ground and container herbs.
Cilantro gets pretty big, so if you can't put it in the ground, put it in a large (5 gallon bucket?) container. I keep parsley and basil in containers on the patio, just outside the kitchen door since we use a lot of parsley and basil and the herbs are handy when I have a sudden inspiration to use some in a dish. I also have it in-ground in any garden spot that can give it a bit of space.
There are all sorts of varieties of parsley and basil. I plant Italian flat-leaf parsley because it has more flavor than the curly leafed variety. I also plant Basil Genovese, a large-leafed Italian basil, because it is very sturdy and survives our hot summers.
The herbs you mentioned can all be started from seed in pots. I'd suggest you start them in smaller planting cells in a location where they get good light, and when they get their second set of real leaves, transplant them to larger cells, or directly into the pots you plan to keep them in.

 

Thank you for all the good info and advice, Marlingardener! I'm not positive on what type of basil seed I bought, but I know the parsley is the curly leaf type since that's the kind we always use to make tabbouleh salad .

I will make sure to have a large pot ready for the cilantro - I'm safe to use medium sized pots for the other herbs? We have a small deck outside the kitchen door that faces east, and another deck on the back of the house that face south. Do you think those will be good places for them? Otherwise which do you think is the best exposure?

Thank you again!

 

For the basil and parsley, a one or two gallon pot will be fine. Just make sure it has good drainage (I usually have a catchtray with a layer of gravel under pots so the plants don't sit in water.
I'd put the herbs on the east deck, mainly because it is close to the kitchen and more convenient when you get the urge to use some herbs. Either deck would be fine--if the plants tell you they'd prefer another location, just move them. I had a parsley threaten suicide last year until I moved it to morning sun, afternoon shade.

 

Good to know! Thanks! Here's a photo of the house and the decks I was speaking of on the south and east sides