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charlieee_gw

window herbs in winter : )

charlieee
17 years ago

Can anyone recommend some herbs that will grow well in a west window in winter. I recently bought my first house and have since filled it with dozens of house plants. I love plants and cooking and for the most part have had no luck growing herbs in the kitchen. IÂve tried a few types of basil (all dead), sorrel (not looking too good), different oreganos (some are ok, most are dead), different sages (looking ok), broad leaf thyme (Growing simply amazing but not edible?), rosemary (still looks the same as the day I brought it home) and finally a few types of parsley, which havenÂt impressed me much either.

I bought these all as seedlings from Richters herbs in mid October and none of them have shown any changes other than death (except for the broad leaf thyme which almost needs the weed whacker every week or so.)

I have also bought dozens of varieties of herb seeds for my outdoor gardens in the spring and IÂm hoping (with a bit of someoneÂs advice here) to start a few indoors to pick at in the winter and to look nice in the kitchen.

Can I grow chives or green onion? Maybe some cilantro or???

Thanks for your time

Charlie

Comments (4)

  • corgicorner
    17 years ago

    What do you have the seeds/plants growing for a "soil" medium. I'll be grad to try to assist you.
    If you wish to respond PLEASE put only the word "GardenWebber" in the subject area. Doing this will keep your emails out of my junk pile. THANK YOU

  • Judy_B_ON
    17 years ago

    The winter Ontario sun is not bright enough to be successful with most herbs, even if it was direct all day. In a window the sunlight is even more diluted. You will need an indoor light set up for herbs. Lee Valley has a small table top model but still it is likely too large for the kitchen.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Lee Valley Indoor Growing

  • imagooch zone 6b/7a Chatham ON
    17 years ago

    the herbs all have differnet needs for light and temperature and indoor light is too weak for most, so you will need a grow light. If you go to cbc.ca and click on radio 1, ed lawrence, you can hear his call-in show and even call in and ask him specifically about your herbs. One of my friends was going to plant hers in one of those pots with lotsd of insert holes, but after asking him about it, didn't. LOL

  • den_vic
    17 years ago

    I have less winter daytime light than southern Ontario in the Greater Victoria area but I grow parsley, winter cauliflowers (deers eat them in open gardens), winter savory and of course rosemary outside all year. No winter is exactly the same but I notice beets and leeks in other Victoria gardens. Some gardeners here use rosemary as an evergreen shrub that can flower in winter. I grow Chinese onions in a cold greenhouse. I saw a garden in Victoria where cabbage was left out for winter. Some seeded the next spring but are not edible when that happens -so I'm told. Take a look at this winter garden in Vancouver.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Veggies