herbs & romaine, tips/advice?

lovethebeach16

I decided to plant some herbs on our balcony. I thought growing them from seeds might be too difficult for my first time, so I bought the plants. I have rosemary, mint, oregano and parsley. I watered them and then transferred them to larger pots with an organic soil. I also bought romaine and have that in a long planter.

I read the instructions on the herbs, but does this look right? I'm worried I may have put too much soil. 

I know absolutely nothing about gardening. How long should I wait before I begin using the herbs for cooking? Are there any techniques to cutting off what I need? And just any other beginners advice, tips and suggestions you may have would be great!

 

CollegeGrrl219

There's no such thing as too much soil. I put my herbs straight into the ground. If you think about it, they have the entire earth to dig into.

Anyway, cut whatever you want, whenever you want. I don't know about most herbs, but I do know with oregano and basil, you need to be aggressive with cutting. Don't let it flower, or else the taste will change. You can practically mow them down and they usually grow back.

Give them lots of hot sun, and lots of water. This is especially true if you have them in pots. For some reason, containers dry up fast.

living_insanity

Dont let anything flower or that'll end your herb growing season.

When mine did go to seed I collected all the tiny seeds, put them in a ziplock baggie and ended up planting them this year with some success.

 

Rosemary you can cut anytime, even if you dont use it right away just let it dry out.  It still beats using the dry stuff you buy in the spice aisle of the grocery store.  I cut mine in big chunks and it triples in size throughout the summer.  The only thing I wish I did was dig it up in the fall and bring it inside.  It cant survive the winter. 

 

I'm sure you can dry out the oregano and parsley too but I've never done it before.  Check the web. 

alycedale10

They look great! Just make sure that the pots that you are using will allow for them to be well drained. You will probably need to water them daily (I know I have to). Like the others said make sure you cut them often because it helps them grow.

Magdala9

In addition to what everyone else says, never cut more than half the plant at a time.   Removing herbs is a great way to extend the the herb life as PP said. 

pdxmouse

Depending on your climate, the rosemary may be evergreen and fine to leave outside. Be prepared for it to get very big and need a larger pot. Ours is in the ground, started from a 2 inch pot two years ago and is now about 3'x3'. It tastes fine when it's flowering too. For your herbaceous herbs be careful about letting it go to flower. Mint might come back on its own, but don't plant it with anything else, it's aggressive. What everyone else said about cutting back frequently.

pdxmouse

Er, mint might come back after winter that is. Also, lettuce is crazy easy to grow from seed, try it for your next batch. And if it gets hot, moving the herbaceous plants to a bit of shade should help keep them from bolting.