If it hasn't germinated fertilizer won't do anything. How long ago did you sow the seeds? Are they indoors or out in the garden?

First don't do anything other than keep it moist and warm. Also remember that it can be given a dose of fish
emulsion and/or sea weed emulsion, but over fertilizing tends to make it grow large leaves with little fragrance, i.e. flavor.

This is another one that surprised me. I had a pest infestation of the container lemon balm last year. The leaves got red spots on them. So I hacked it down, and just planted it in the planting bed, close to the cilantro and basically forgot about it. It was just three sticks sticking up out of the ground.

Now, it's about 1 1/2 feet fall and around 2 feet wide and lush, and full. Amazing. All it's gotten from me is water.
I probably will end up feeding it sometime during the summer.

I also planted lots of marigolds around plants this year, knowing that certain garden "pests" despise them and will stay away. A little tip from Paula Deen from the Food Network when she talked about planting her tomato plants. "Scatter a few marigolds around." She was right. The people at my nursery confirmed it.

Well, Lemon Balm is a member of the Mint family, and we should all know that the mints have a desire to take over the entire planet. It really is hard to kill. It also dies down in winter, sometimes even where I live in the subtropics (or it just looks sad), so what might appear to be a just pot of nothing, will be a pot of lemon balm sleeping and waiting to bounce back in spring with renewed vigour.

As for the marigolds around tomato plants, it's part of the Companion Planting theory (which often holds up!), but you must make sure they are French Marigolds (Tagetes spp.), NOT Calendula, which are also called marigolds, or Pot Marigolds.

The French Marigold deters nematodes in the soil. It stinks, and you can't eat it. But you CAN eat the flowers of Calendula officinalis, and it has a myriad of medicinal uses.

I really think when people give advice about gardening, they should give the botanical names of the plants, especially when there may be some confusion, as in this case. But that's me on my little hobby-horse.

Sowed it about 3 weeks ago. Still is not even up.I will water it. It is indoors under a light.

Are you giving it any bottom heat? That may help speed up the germination. Germination period is 12-21 days. Or you may have sowed the seeds too deep. Patients...

Seeds are slow to germinate, about 40 days, and should be barely covered as they need light. Refrigeration for 2 weeks before sowing, followed by sowing in a warm place, may hasten germination. Ideal temperature for germination is 20°C. (that's soil temp, BTW, not air temp.)

Ok, I don't know if it's ok to post here, but I have a lemon balm question, too. I bought mine at a nursery, and it's planted with other herbs in a window box that I have outside on my porch. Some of the leaves' edges are turning dark brown, and also there are some spots of brown (very small spots) on the middle portions of some of the leaves. Last week, it got terribly windy. I'm wondering if it could have burned the leaves, or whether I'm watering too much or not enough. I have parsley in the same planter, and some of its leaves turned dry and whitish on the edges, and some fennel has yellowing of the outer leaves.

I haven't let the planter get bone dry, but I have waited until the potting mix is pulling away from the sides a smidge before watering. But also, it's rained quite a bit at times, too... So I'm not quite sure what the culprit is.

Anyway, sorry to hijack, if that's what I'm doing, but I'd be grateful for any assistance.

Tracy

Mint and parsley are bad companions for each other, for starters.

Wind could have burned the leaves but I think your main problem is lack of watering. Mint should always be in moist soil, never allowed to dry out, and parsley likes a bit of moisture, too. If the soil is pulling away from the sides, it's dry. When allowed to dry out, potting mix actually comes water-repellent, and compacts very tightly so that the roots cannot access whatever water you might give it.

Also, lemon balm is subject to the same rust fungus that affects mint. This fungus almost always attacks an ailing plant - a healthy one can fend it off most of the time.

You have fennel in the same container? Fennel has the reputation of being a bad companion for most plants.

When putting plants together in a container, you must make sure that they all like the same conditions. However, it's a bad mistake to do it, because sooner or later one plant will dominate the others to the point of smothering them. Mint (and lemon balm, being closely related) are both very aggressive growers.

I suggest you repot the whole arrangement, using fresh potting mix (discard the old stuff), and keep your plants separate from one another, out of the wind if possible. Wash all of them in barely-warm soapy water with a teensy dash of bleach, removing as much of the soil from the rootball as possible without being too rough on it. Wash the container the same way. This should kill of any fungi or bugs.

Of them all, fennel is the most likely survivor. It's hard to kill, and can tolerate wretched conditions. But it still needs a drink! Having said that, however, remember that fennel has a long tap root, so doesn't like being transplanted. Did you know that fennel can get up to 2 metres (roughly 6ft) tall? Not really suitable for a window box.

Karen b: I will try the bottom heat thing.I did not sow them too deep. I have then like just at the surface because light aids the germination.

And the soil is just about continously wet.

How's this for a botanical name...

Analius Retentus?