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Herbs in pots combinations

17 years ago

Hi there,

I just bought several herbs. I am living in an apartment with a balcony and thus have limited space. I was wanting to plant herbs as well as filler annuals, and peppers in containers. I bought a couple of square pots, 24"x24"x24." (I can buy more if needed). Here're the herbs I bought:

genovese basil

thai basil

globe basil (I like basil)

dill

epazote

pinapple sage

cilantro

italian parsley

spearmint

hierba buena mint

rosemary

I know that I'll have to pot the mints separately as they will take over the containers; but which of those herbs can I combine? Will any of them be antagonistic to each other? I was planning on planting peppers (jalapeno, bell, poblano) in the containers, as well as ornamental annuals. Any help will be great, any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Also, please feel welcome to talk about your personal experience with herbs in containers. :-)

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Comments (5)

ronalawn82
17 years ago
I grew six herbs in an "Earthbox" and only Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis?) was aggressive in that it grew a large canopy and had a very large root system after 3 months. Previously I had grown herbs individally in hollow concrete blocks. They grew very well but they could dry out very quickly. I am toying with the idea to put some (cardboard) separators in the earthbox to confine the root systems and limit topgrowth (bonsai?). If I were to grow mints in a pot with other herbs, I'd plant them around the perimeter and confine them on the inside by trimming. They can cascade over the edge as much as I'd allow them to.
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Judy_B_ON
17 years ago
You will need more pots. In a 24" pot you can grow
1) four cilantro/parsley or
2) two to three basils or
3) one to two bell peppers or
4) two mints or
5) two parsley and a dill or
6) two parsley and a sage

You can combine mint with annuals, just keep cutting back the mint. Does your balcony get direct sun for at least 6 hours a day? All your plants need full sun. Balconies can also be windy and dry, so try to find a potting soil that includes water a retaining substance like vermiculite, coir or peat and keep them watered. Peppers are heavy feeders, so fertilize every two weeks with a dilute liquid fertilizer.

Try posting on the Container Forum and the Balcony Gardening Forum as well.
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I grow herbs in containers and also in a regular garden. Started Rosemary from seed about 20 years ago with little trouble. The original plant is alive and happy, and through layering and cuttings, we have seven more Rosemary bushes. I grow Thyme, Oregano, Sage, Chives, and Mint in containers, all started from seed. I bought cuttings of Tarragon at the Farmers Market, and rooted some of it, and it comes back each year. It is Mexican Tarragon and it tastes fine plus has the most beautiful flowers late in the season. I enjoy starting plants from seeds and cuttings, and I'm retired so time is not a problem for me. One of the reasons I keep herbs in containers is the years of drought we have been through. They are easier to care for and easier to get to when I need them for cooking. Over the years, I have tried combining different herbs in large containers. It can work OK for a season, and you can get some pretty combinations, but I have found it works best to have them in their own container. You have to watch Thyme if you place it near another container. I found out it will jump over and root itself in any soil it can touch. I plant multiple containers of basil each year, starting it from seed. It is very easy to grow from seed, but in my opinion should always have its' own container. The root system will completely fill any container in one season.
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I grew lemongrass in a 24" pot & it got about 3' tall & overwintered for 2 years indoors until I tried to divide it & killed it (it got too big for the pot). I've grown basil routinely to 2' in 12" pots, but it doesn't get all that bushy & I'd rather put it in the garden. I have chamomile in a 12" pot which I left out all winter by accident--It has reseeded & I will have way too much chamomile for it this year so will have to transplant when it's a little bigger. Chives volunteered in a pot of garden sorrel, (a temporary situation that turned permanent also because I forgot it) so I left them there & they're about to bloom. The sorrel is struggling & needs to go back in the big dirt. I bring the rosemary in during the winter & it gets very woody, but blooms, too! I have had little luck with lavender overwintering in pots & only marginal success with sage. Last year, my kids and I grew peanuts in a 24" planter-- the plants looked horrible & sickly all summer long but produced a handful of peanuts each... Basically, I think if you baby them right, you can grow just about anything in a pot. My neighbors go fantastic, wildly overburdened tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets, but I can't do it worth sh*t, so in the ground they go... Wild Mullein only grew to 3-4' in planters one year (it can get 7'+ in the wild)-- which made picking the flowers very easy & gave the deck a kind of exotic look; the reseeds went into the garden, where they promptly died. They come up great in the cracks in the sidewalk, however...
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claudosu
Original Author
17 years ago
Yes!! When I started planting my herbs I noticed how I would twice as many pots! I opted not to plant my peppers with the herbs as I was reading that herbs didn't like to be fertilized as much. Yes the balcony is quite sunny, so I'm planting trailing plants on the edge of the pots so that they can shade the pot and keep it cooler. Also, it looks more interesting.

Also I read that dill doesn't transplant well. Oh well, we'll see how it goes. Maybe our comfortable temperatures will allow the plant to withstand the transplanting better.
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sherinyc
17 years ago
What happens if you plant too many in one box? They will just not grow as much, or will they die from overcrowding?
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Daisyduckworth
17 years ago
Too many plants in a pot quickly leads to overcrowding - not just the bits you see, but the important bits under the surface - the roots. The roots are the feeding/drinking vessels of a plant, and if they get squashed, it's like trying to drink through a bent straw. Can't be done.

They either suffocate each other or starve the competition to death. Usually a bit of both.

I'm a one-plant-per-pot person, having learned how not to do it.

Any plant which has a taproot resents attempts to transplant it. Usually it's because very few people bother to dig down deep enough, and they just yank out the poor plant without giving a thought to its vital parts. Even if you're careful, they don't like being disturbed.
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