was the manure composted? Okay... don't mind me, I am just screaming... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
okay, next time don't use any dirt in pots... never never never! :o) This is why they make potting soil. :o) Second of all, most herbs, cept for basil, like soil on the lean side... meaning not too fertile, not too much fertilizer. Oregano likes a lot of drainage... so not too much water... water when top inch of soil is dry.
Good luck! You aren't doing too bad for a first timer... :o) I am trying not to cry...

First off, thanks for your reply.
Second, the manure/dirt was the dirt that is from our barn that our horses live in. The manure/dirt that I shoveled was dry and older so it wasn't fresh, which would have been gross. It was just the best dirt around.
Third, why is it bad to use dirt in pots? I understand about the potting soil being less of a hastle, but will the herbs not grow in plain dirt? It is cheaper, and plentiful around our house. If potting soil is healthier for the herbs, then I will definitely go get some.
Any info is greatly appreciated.
I am so used to just growing a garden of vegetables in our back yard, and have never delt with herbs before.

Another thing, aren't there different types of potting soil?? If so, do you have any suggestions on what kind to use/ which kind works best??
Thanks alot,
AR_Dramaqueen

Oh yer welcome... well unless manure has been composted, it is so strong it can burn plants... so I'd stick your wonderful manure that i wish I had, out in a pile... let the rain and sun hit it, turning it once a week and eventually you will have GOLD!
Okay, not EVERYONE'S soil does this, but the reasons that potting soil is better than dirt in pots are that A) especially if it's clay, it can shrink when dry, and then it is very hard to rewet. So when you water, the water just runs down the outside. B)unless it's tested, you don't know what nutrients it's short of C)It can clump and not let air get to the roots... and others that I can't recall at the moment.
Everyone has their favorite potting soil for different reasons... I like Supersoil, it rewets easy... Also, for plants that are mediterranean and are growing in non mediterranean climates, like yours, perlite is good to mix in, gives drainage to plants that are getting more water than they should be. If you have a Home Depot nearby, you can get these HUGE bags for cheap... probably last your lifetime. :o) They also have smaller bags.
I hope that you realize I was just teasing you... you are doing fine as a beginner... :o)

Thanks for all of the advice.
I don't know if there is a Home Depot around. We have a Lowe's a couple towns over though. Would they have the stuff you mentioned?
As for the HUGE bag. No matter how huge it is, I doubt it would last my WHOLE life. I'm only 20 yrs. old. Surely I would use atleast one bag in my lifetime.
I know you were joking.
I will ask Mama if she will go get some, if she wants to.
Since I have already planted it all in the Horse dirt, should I replant in Potting soil or just leave it as is? Should I plant all new seed?
Thanks again for all your help.
AR_Dramaqueen

oh no problem dear! Well, that's up to you... I'd say YES transplant it, due to burning... how big are the little guys? Are they little seedling with true leaves yet? If not, I'd wait... You might plant another set of everything in case of crop failure, the worst that could happen with that would be an excess of your favorite herbs.
Lowes should have everything you need... Home Depot is just one that came to mind.
About using that one bag... I don't know, I've had one for a few years... and I plant a LOT. :o) It's only half gone... but I HAVE gone through one of the bags...
I am really jealous of your horse poop... MAN! you have free compost for next year... your garden will be NICE! But remember, disregarding a lot of herbs that don't need much fertilizer, a lot of plants need Potassium and Phosphorus... the nitrogen, which horse manure is high in, is good for growth... potassium and phosphorus are good for root growth and flower production... for example, a couple of years ago, I accidentally over nitrogened my tomatoes... I got HUGE vines and teenie tomatoes. So, plants where you want to harvest the leaves, even though they too need potassium and phosphorus, will make you happier if you give them more nitrogen... but veggies and fruit will need a balanced fertilizer to make you happy.

Mom said that she would get some potting soil. I guess I will plant a new set of seeds cause the others aren't up yet. It will be a couple days til she can get the stuff though.
This may be a stupid question, but you mentioned that Horse manure has a lot of Nitrogen. So, how would I get the Potassium and Phosphorus? What has those in it?
Would the potting soil have that in it?
As you can tell I am so new to herbs. My dad usually does most of the gardening, but all he ever tells me is, "water this for a while and make sure to water this over here too."
I guess time, experience, and a lot of help from this forum will give me the knowledge I need to be a good gardener, for both veggies and herbs.
I know I have a lot of questions. Thank you for helping me.

No problem! I like sharing... makes me feel really knowledgeable. :o) Okay... now, I myself compost, so I don't have to worry so much about fertilizing. I compost food scraps and flowers, everything biodegradeable that I can get my hands on. Now that works fine for your information for next year... This year...
well, at first you won't have to fertilize in pots for a while... seedlings don't need fertilizer, PLUS the potting soil should provide enough for awhile. Now, I am Miz organic, but because you're a beginner, I'd suggest Miracle Gro... You don't have to be too much of an expert to use that... and it will give you time to learn about fertilizers, for next year.
N-P-K... these are the numbers that you will see on the front of fertilizer packages... for example you see 10-25-25. That will mean that it has 10% Nitrogen, 25% Phosphorus and 25% Potassium... which means, because it's lower in Nitrogen, that it's probably for blooming, fruiting and such... You can pick what you need this way... though for next year, if you use COMPOSTED manure, you can cut your fertilizer down quite a bit. Compost is a longer term and slow release fertilizer that also provides the plant micronutrients that say a fertilizer like Miracle Gro doesn't provide. To make it more complicated, nitrogen is water soluble, so tends to wash out of soil, while the other two, potassium and phosphorus don't tend to wash out so much, so you don't have to fertilize as much.
I wouldn't worry too much about fertilizers, I am of the humble opinion that Americans over fertilize like crazy, looking for the perfect over sized vegetable.... and herbs, being actually weeds, like soil on the lean side, and won't grow well with over fertilizing.
The art of gardening is to find out the needs of your plants and try your best to provide it. So, I'd suggest you take for example, your oregano... Google "how to grow oregano". You should find out that it is a mediterranean herb, meaning it likes it hot and dry during the summer... so, not living in a mediterranean climate, how you provide that is by giving the plant full sun and depending how much natural rain it gets, you might want to put in about 1/3 perlite mixed into the soil... to give it great drainage so it won't get root rot. Then not water it until it's dry an inch down when you stick your finger in the soil.

Thank you, this is so helpful.
So what I need to do is shovel out my barn and let that sit out in the sun and rain for a while and turn it every few days? That would make it composted manure. Then, that would be good for my herbs after a little while due to the high Nitrogen content which is good for the growth of the plant. So, I would mix a little of the COMPOSTED manure to my potting soil to get good herbs?
Does that sound like I am getting it right?
For veggies, I would get a fertilizer that has a balanced N-P-K, right? And I would mix that into my garden. That means that the N-P-K numbers would all be the same??
Or would the composted manure be good for the garden too?
Do I sound like I'm catching on at all?

As for the natural rain, in the summer we are very dry. I live in the North Easternish part of Arkansas. Right on the edge of the Ozarks, So we have rocky soil, cold winters, and dry hot and humid summers, with Fall and Spring being stormy, not really wet, but stormy. We occasionally get a good rain, but mainly we have to water.
Thanks, I know I am thinking of this in a way to complex way.
AR_Dramaqueen

No... you're actually doing very well for a beginner! I am in California, so it's good that you describe what your weather is like... I mean here, we have 100º temps and NO rain whatsoever in the summer.
For veggies, what you should do, is take that wonderful composted gold that you will have. (It will be dark and crumbly, like soil, you will probably have to water the pile, like I do, since it is dry there) and mix it into the soil a couple weeks before you plant... then you won't need to fertilize much after that.
Sounds to me, like you have pretty much gotten it down. A little compost goes a long way with edible herbs. They really don't need much, think of them growing along side the road, which most do... no fertilizer out there, and they've adapted.
Then, when you're done, send me some! :o)
Watering is a different problem... some plants need more, some less, which is why googling can help... anything that says "needs drainage" or "mediterranean" means it likes it dry and you should stick your finger in the soil to see if it's dry an inch to two inches down before watering.Plants that say "woodland" and that often are from the northern areas of the US tend to like a lot of water, and not necessarily will need full sun. some plants, like basil and such, like water and you won't have to worry too much about overwatering. Watering on a schedule is not a good idea, no matter how much easier it'll make your life. Sticking your finger in the soil is the best way to know if they need water.
You should have seen when I started... I was pretty good at putting together plants that needed full sun, but I had dry loving plants next to water loving plants and that made my life rather difficult. :o)
Did I say send me some compost? :o)
Happy gardening! Ask as many questions as you want... don't be afraid.

You have been so helpful, thank you.
Sounds like you have about the same summers as we have here. We get almost no rain. It is sooo dry, but also very humid. You know the good old south. It gets into the 100's some days, but most days is around mid 90's (which isn't a lot better).
I never realized it was so humid here until a couple years ago when I was a Junior in high school. We went on a trip for our choir during the summer. We went to Branson. I had been to Branson a lot of times, but this time since it was a school trip, we went on a very roomy bus that was well air conditioned. Well, the trip went very well, but when I stepped back off the bus when we got back to AR after being in the nice cool bus and the nice weather of the Ozarks, My first breath off the bus felt so heavy. The air was just so humid. I had never noticed before.
The dryness makes our water bill a bit high, but in the end we get good vegetables and hopefully herbs, so I guess it's worth it.
My dad picked up some Landscape timbers today, so tomorrow, I will be helping him build a few long planter beds for our strawberries.
AR_Dramaqueen

We don't have humidity here... have to go to the coast for that... last week, when we were 108º we only had 13% humidity.... very mummifying. :o) One thing that you can do that both improves soil and helps with watering is MULCH. Mulching can really improve your soil, though as it decomposes, you will need to add more. Also, to help you even more, you can put soaker hoses under the mulch... that really helps with water evaporation, if, with all that humidity, you have evaporation. I think, and I am not sure this is in your area, we call it something else, but do you have something called pine straw? That's a long lasting mulch... here in California, we call them just pine needles, and here it's free for the taking.

Hello Fellow Arkansas Gardener!

Welcome to the board. I've been here about 3 years and it's an awesome place to get help for any problem you can think of :)

What zone are you in though? Since we range from Zone 6b-8a I would reccomend adding it to your signature line as it helps responders answer any question you may have. Here in Little Rock we're in zone 7B :)

USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map

Best Wishes
Amino-X

It is nice that you are trying this for your mom. Some plants do better from plants. thyme, oreganos, mints (which need to be in containers). Somethings like the cilantro, dill, caraway are better if you sow small amounts at a time. They quickly form seeds and their life cycle is over. But the seeds can be used sprinkled in so many things. Sneek a peek at your mom's spices to see what she already uses to give you an idea of what to grow. If you start training your mom right by the time you leave home she may be serving exotic things. As funny as it sounds I can remember when pizza was a special food because only Italian resturants served it.

A suggestion for later this year and next when you visit your friends ask their parents and friends if they raise herbs. You might come home with plants that you can add to your moms garden. Enjoy experimenting with plants.

Here, Pine Needles are the needles that fall from pine trees. If that is what you mean. We have them things all over the place.

I live in Bradford, which is a couple towns over from Searcy in White county. This is my mom's user name, that's why I sign AR_Dramaqueen. I just use her login. I don't want to change any of her settings. I have been coming here since I was 16, so about 4 yrs. I'm 20 now. I used to only go into the stepfamily site.

My mom uses every spice under the sun. We make Mexican food all the time, Pizza, Chinese, you tell Mom about it and we try to make it. I can't plant all of that.

Hope this helps, Remember, It's me if it says...
AR_Dramaqueen

"My mom uses every spice under the sun. We make Mexican food all the time, Pizza, Chinese, you tell Mom about it and we try to make it. I can't plant all of that. "

Now why not? Hmmm? I may be a bit of a plant addict.... but well.... I try to grow everything! :D

I would try to grow everything, but I can't take care of it during the school years very well. I am in college. I come home on the weekends when school is in, but that time is generally spent doing laundry and trying to see my boyfriend.
Plus, I don't seem to be doing very well with the plants I have. None of them have come up yet except for a couple onions and a couple basil. I guess either I over watered or the soil was either too hard or too fertile. I will try again though. That is, as soon as I get some potting soil or something.
I guess it is just one of those things that takes time and patience to get results.
AR_Dramaqueen

yeah... and don't worry... with gardening, the best way, unfortunately, is to learn by one's mistakes.... take my word for it... I have made some spectacular mistakes. Well, gardening during the winter is really, almost nonexistent. Luckily, nature takes care of a lot of itself during the winter. Maybe you could train your mother to do some too! :D

Yeah, the Winter is not so difficult, but I go back to school in August.
My mom would help, but she works odd hours. She works at night, and the scedule is weird.
We finished making the strawberry beds a couple days ago. WeShoveled out more of the barn and transplanted the strawberries today. There were so many more of them than we thought. We thought there was about enough to fill 2 of the 3 beds we made. No, we used all of the beds and still have a planter full of them.
I don't know what we are going to do with them, they are crowded in the planter right now.
AR_Dramaqueen

My Basil that I planted is Growing!!!
I had to replant it, but now it is coming up. The rest of the stuff, which I replanted also, hasn't come up yet, but I was so happy when I walked outside and had baby Basil.
Thank you guys for all of your help so far.
AR_Dramaqueen

Yay! yay! Take pictures! :o) Your first babies deserve a picture!

Congrats on your new gardening adventure!! I wish I had easy access to horse manure for composting. Too bad you're not my neighbor AR Dramaqueen, I'd GIVE you all the perennial herbs you could want. Every year I beg friends and family and yes even strangers to come and take divisions from my yard. Herbs are very, very easy to grow in the ground but in my experience hard to keep happy in pots. If you can make a herb bed somewhere in the yard your herb gardening venture will be so much easier. Particularly when starting seeds, moisture levels are critical.

You may want to check locally to see if there are any other herb gardeners close to you. Most gardeners are thrilled to take you on a tour and provide you with starter divisions. I still remember my dad taking me to a "yard sale" when I was about 10 years old. An elderly lady was selling her daylily plants in preparation for moving to a retirement village. We took an instant shine to each other and she spent a lot of time showing me how to pollinate flowers to make new hybrids, how to divide and set plants, etc. You could see that she had a lifetime passion for gardening and was happy to "set the seed" in another person. By the end of our visit to her yard I had a station wagon full of lovely plants and a head full of information. I don't know that she even let my dad pay her for the plants, I can't remember. I do remember that 6 or 7 years later my high school science project was on hybridizing daylilies and that I credited Pansy Corriher for the information and starter plants.

Thanks for your reply, Granite.
If I plant them in the ground, would I need to build up a bed with potting soil?
Our ground if very dry right now, and it rarely rains during the summer. Plus, our ground is really rocky. We live right on the edge of the ozarks.
AR_Dramaqueen