Herbs

I said I was going to plant herbs (well actually I called them spices).   So far you've seen the Jamaica and epazote.   So where are there rest?  You've probably seen a glimpse of some others but here they are specifically.

Here is a pot I plan to keep in my kitchen mostly.   It contains cilantro, basil and parsley. These came in a beautiful little pot that I bought from Big Lots with the soil and seeds.  I thought it was the cutest thing.   I think its meant to leave in the kitchen and pick when needed.  I cant wait to use it and harvest my herbs.   It really is a nice idea and a nice kitchen decoration.

Oregano

The Oregano so far that I planted seems to be a big flop.  The little seedling planted below ended up wilting.  Maybe too much exposure to sun or the pellets they were planted in did not have enough nutrients to sustain them any longer.  The pellets I grew them in were moved into this container with some potting soil added.   I planted some more and we'll see what happens.

Lavender Seedling

The Lavender has also been a big flop.   I found that Lavendar has a very low and slow germination rate.   That's why I haven't gotten much to come up.  I have one labeled as lavender that did come up but from comparing it to the Laveder at the store I'm not sure it really is lavender.  But I'll give it and myself the benefit of the doubt that its not a stray seed from somewhere else and that I labeled correctly.

Chamomile

One that I have not mentioned put decided to plant and has been coming out nicely is chamomile.   In Spanish, Manzanilla.    This one seems to be coming along nicely.  I personally drink a lot of this tea and was curious to see how it grows and comes up and see if I can harvest some fresh chamomile for some tea.

Lastly spearmint.  This one hasn't been a complete flop.   Just got one seedling to show though.   Another came out but died.

Spearmint

I mentioned flop a lot in this post.  So if a lot of this was a failure the only thing to do is to learn from your failures.  Here is where I think I failed.  First off I don't think herbs do well planted in pellets.   Pellets are basically plain soil with no nutritional value.  Last year I tried planting some cilantro in soil similar to pellets and they kept dying on me after a few weeks.   It was probably lack of nutrition.  I bought some more pellets and the instructions on the box were, after the seedlings have germinated water with fertilized water at half strength that what is directed on the instructions for the liquid fertilizer.  I really didn't think this was necessary until I experienced dying herbs over and over.  So next time I think the herbs seeds are going directly into good soil.  Pellets are great for other things but probably not herbs.   I do think that basil is an exception because I got an exception crop last year out of a pellet, but it did eventually transplant into good potting soil. 
Another problem was watering.   Watering form the top seems to damage the seedling and kill it.   Even if I use a sprayer.    Watering from the soil up may be a better alternative.

I also need to mention that in no way have I given up.   I will plant some more and try to get these going.   Worse comes to worse, to the nursery I go.