You might find more help readily available for you if posted over on the Growing Herbs forum here at GW. I linked it for you below. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Herbs forum

ksrogers, you have basically reiterated and confirmed everything I already said in my previous two posts. For purposes of this forum and this thread I was merely pointing out that plants do not use UV light for photosynthesis. You made several mistatements regarding UV light and I was merely correcting those. You said there were visible and invisible UV, I was correcting that statement: there is only one meaning that UV is invisible. I didn't mean that there weren't other types of UV light (UVA, UVB, UVC). I apologize if you thought I was questioning your methods. I've been doing this long enough to know that there are many ways to grow healthy, vigorous plants. This is how I do it and how my father did it before me (he wrote an award winning book on herb propagation and I learned from him): Although I grow 100,000 plants a year (approx. 60,000 from seed the rest from cuttings and purchased plugs), the methods were devoloped when my father was producing far fewer plants. My seedlings are started under florescent tubes. I use a lot of them-four, eight foot long fixtures with two 60 watt, cool white lamps per fixture, per shelf. This accomodates eight flats per shelf (I have 15 shelves). The lights are set about 2 to 4 inches above the seedlings for 14 hours a day. For me, grow lights would be too expensive and unnecessary. There were studies done many years ago that showed that cool white florescents were as good or better than standard grow lights for starting seeds. You are corrrect that the lights lose their effectiveness as you move them away from plants so they wouldn't be used to grow plants on to maturity. When the seedlings are transplanted into pots, they go in a heated greenhouse-30 X 60. When the greenhouse bench space is full, I grow under the benches using 400 watt high pressure sodium Agro sun lamps that have more blue in their output than standard HPS lamps. To clarify, I use HAF fans for circulation. When it is warm enough, both sides open their entire length (creating a 4 foot wide opening 60 feet long) and the roof vent opens to allow the hot air to escape. The open vents create their own circulation-as hot air escapes from the top cooler air rushes in the sides to replace it. Other commercial growers use large fans on the end of the greenhouse to draw air through the entire house. Yes mercury vapor puts out UV. However, some (if not all) lamps have a coating inside to prevent their escape and to convert much of the UV to a more useful (and less harmful) wavelength in the visible spectrum. The link you provided is to a light fixture that uses both HPS (high pressure sodium) and metal halide lamps (similar in technology to mercury vapor) in them to take advantage of their light output in the different ends of the visible light spectrum. Metal halide is generally used when there is no natural light, HPS when the natural light is being supplemented ie to extend the long days of winter. They are used this way because of the spectrum of light emitted from them. When my fixtures where purchased (25 years ago) MH technology was not as good as it is today and lamps (bulbs) had a tendency to explode in damp environments like a greenhouse among other drawbacks. In some ways I wish I had MH lamps to take advantage of the blue spectrum but replacing 30 or so fixtures and lamps is cost prohibitive which is why I use the special blue spectrum HPS lamps now.

Really, you can harvest these herbs at any time, provided you don't remove more than one-third of total growth at any one time, and allow the plant to regrow before harvesting again. So if a plant has 3 leaves or sprigs, you can take one of them. It's usually recommended to harvest in the morning, after the dew has dried from the leaves. An exception is lemon balm, which is best harvested in the afternoons according to some (but don't ask me why!). There are optimal times to harvest if the plant is to be used for medicinal purposes, or dried for future use. This especially applies to herbs where the roots, flowers, berries, bark etc are used, but it does apply in many cases with leaves, too. The medicinal properties may be stronger when the plant is in flower, or just before it flowers, or just after, or when it's 3yo, or whatever. There are really very few hard and fast rules, simply because there are so many herbs (around 20000). You can find out by googling for something like 'harvest(ing) mint'. However, this might get you started: Oregano - Pick leaves whenever available to use fresh. Begin harvesting when plants are about 10-12 cm high. They can be dried or frozen, or put in oil or vinegar. Flavour is best just after the flower buds form, usually mid-summer. Parsley - Leaves can be harvested as soon as the plants reach about 15cm tall and produce leaves with three segments. Lower, outside, leaves should be harvested first, leaving the centre top leaves to mature. First season of growth has the best flavour. Roots may be harvested once plants are mature. Coriander (which you call cilantro) - Leaves should be harvested as soon as they are large enough for use. They may be frozen, but do not dry well. To harvest seeds, let the plants grow until the first set of seeds begins to turn brown and dries enough to crack when pinched. Sage - Harvest leaves at any time when the plants are flourishing to be used fresh but before the flowering shoots develop in summer if they are to be dried. Take the stem tips with several sets of leaves. Cut in the morning after the dew has dried but before the heat of the afternoon. Snip off and dry the whole flowering stems of older plants for decorative or culinary use. Rosemary - Leaves can be harvested at any time, preferably before flowering, in summer, on sprigs about 10cm long. Never take more than 20% of the plant at any one time. They dry well but care must be taken not to use excessive or prolonged heat during the drying process as the oil is very volatile. Freezing is not recommended. Garlic chives - Cut off clumps of young leaves at ground level. Chop and freeze the tender shoots for winter use. Stop harvesting in early autumn to avoid weakening the plants. Thyme - Leaves can be harvested for fresh use throughout the summer but the flavour is best just before flowering. To dry, cut the stems just as the flowers start to open and hang in small bunches. Harvest sparingly the first year. Lemon mint - (as with most mints.) Pick leaves as required throughout the growing season to use fresh, or in summer before flowering if for drying (cut back 3-6cm above the soil line). The edible flowers can be harvested as required.

I find that freezing certain herbs retains the flavor better, especially basil and parsley. For basil, I chop it and mix with a little olive oil. I use a muffin tin for the little tiny muffins to freeze the mixture. Each individual "muffin" is about the right size for what I need. When frozen, I pop them out and put them in a freezer baggie. Do the same with parsley. I also find that freezing hot peppers makes them better to use in winter salsas. They are almost like fresh. Just pop those in a freezer baggie without blanching and take out what I need throughout the winter. I do dry peppers also. I have an electric smoker and find it very useful for drying peppers (and the left over smokiness gives them a nice flavor!)