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Old 09-29-2010, 10:55 AM
 
Location: Neither here nor there
14,810 posts, read 16,145,930 times
Reputation: 33001

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If you plant oregano, basil, etc. in pots, will they just keep growing if you bring them inside for the winter? Or will they die after flowering and producing seeds?
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Old 09-29-2010, 11:48 AM
 
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Oregano is a perennial, and will not die after growing seeds. Basil and cilantro/coriander are annuals, and will die after going to seed. You can prolong the basil by clipping off the flowers, but this doesn't always work for more than a finite period of time. Parsley is a biennial; it takes two years to produce seeds but then will die. Mints are all perennial--oregano, rosemary, lavender, lemon balm are all in the mint family. Most herbs with a square stem are in that family and are perennials.

I've found that some herbs grow better inside than others. Virtually all of them need about as sunny a window as you can get, but some are easier than others. I've had very good luck with rosemary indoors. Basil and parsley are do-able but not quite as easy as rosemary. Oregano can do well indoors but again, I've found it's harder than the others for some reason. It may like a cold dormancy period, I'm not 100% sure. Thyme is not too hard indoors. Mints, on the other hand, I've found do not do well indoors.

Be cautious about bringing plants indoors. I've had best luck when I bought a new plant or started one from seed indoors. The reason is that outdoors there is a natural balance of pests (which include aphids, whiteflies, and all sorts of other things) that are kept in check by natural predators. Indoors, there are fewer predators, and sometimes these pests can get out of control. I've found this is more of a problem with the softer-leafed plants...which is why Rosemary does so well, it has very tough leaves. Another reason bringing plants indoors can be harder than starting them indoors is that plants leaves adapt to the specific lighting circumstances. A leaf growing outdoors will be smaller, tougher, and waxier than an indoor leaf, which tends to be larger, thinner, and more tender. This is because the higher light levels outdoors require the plant to produce more protection against water loss and UV damage, whereas indoors, the lower light levels require the leaf to have more area to capture enough light. This also may partially explain why pests become a problem indoors on some plants.

Good luck! I'd say, start with rosemary first and try the others but don't expect them all to succeed!
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Old 09-29-2010, 03:21 PM
 
Location: Neither here nor there
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What a wealth of information you have!! Thanks so much for this detailed and informative post about growing herbs indoors.
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Old 09-29-2010, 06:14 PM
 
Location: Spokane via Sydney,Australia
6,612 posts, read 12,801,213 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cunucu Beach View Post
What a wealth of information you have!! Thanks so much for this detailed and informative post about growing herbs indoors.
I second this

Looks like I'll have a jungle INSIDE this winter now LOL
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Old 10-01-2010, 05:34 PM
 
Location: Southern Charm
231 posts, read 698,115 times
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I wish I knew how to add photo's...I have pics of my Sweet and Cinnamon Basil. Cinnamon has already started flowering, which is ok cause I had no plans on eating it.. but sweet basil I have kept the tops trimmed.. the plants are huge
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Old 10-03-2010, 09:21 AM
 
Location: Neither here nor there
14,810 posts, read 16,145,930 times
Reputation: 33001
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChickeyDuck View Post
I wish I knew how to add photo's...I have pics of my Sweet and Cinnamon Basil. Cinnamon has already started flowering, which is ok cause I had no plans on eating it.. but sweet basil I have kept the tops trimmed.. the plants are huge
I would love to see pics of your indoor herbs.

Here's a quick tutorial on adding photos to a forum posting.

Upload your photos to an online photo service that provides the ability to link to them in forums. I use PhotoBucket as this one lets me add a link in a forum post that links to the photo in PhotoBucket.

To add a picture to your forum post, be at the photo you want to link to in your online photo album. Place your cursor anywhere on the picture. A small window will appear beneath the picture giving you options to click. Place cursor in the "IMG code" box and left click. This highlights that line. Right click the highlighted line and left click "copy". You now have the link copied. In the body of the forum posting, place cursor beneath your message (or wherever you want the picture to appear) and right click. Select and left click Paste. You will see the link posted but when you click "Submit Reply" the photo itself will appear in your post.

This is easier if you have two browser pages open, one on the CD page and the other on your photo page, instead of clicking back and forth from your CD page to your album page.

Here is what the photo in PhotoBucket looks like when I have placed the cursor on the photo. It's the "IMG code" line I want to copy and paste to my CD posting. Good luck.


Last edited by Cunucu Beach; 10-03-2010 at 09:30 AM..
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