I can out do the spammer. When I was a little kid in first grade, we took some bean seeds (not the magic kind) and some cotton and placed the cotton in the bottom of a styrofoam cup. Then put the seeds on top of the cotton and water it. After a few days the seeds sprouted. Eventually the plants got big enough we had to transfer them to a big glass jar. We got to watch the plants grow up and roots grow down. Then it got too big for the jar and we had to transplant it to actual dirt. It grew for quite a while like that. I thought it was a lot of fun watching the little plants grow up. And the costs was pretty much nothing. So why buy a kit. When we got older we were introduced to sweet potatoes. Take a sweet potato and put a tooth pick in each side just off center. Then put the potato in a mason jar with the toothpicks supporting the potato so that the shorter end sticks out of the jar. Fill the jar with water. Fill it up as it needs it and watch it grow. We used to grow them to over 8 feet. Started off with the jar in a window sill and as the vine got longer we had to raise the jar. The vines would hang down to the floor. And the potatoes drank water like crazy. It was another really neat project for kids. So don't send money to spammers. I know what NOT to buy. If the product was that good they wouldn't need to spam forums to sell it. Pooh Bear

Do nepetas call cats into your garden? Ive always wondered, I think they are so pretty but I HATE cats! Sorry cat lovers noting personal just dont want them in my garden. Wendey

Thank you gourdfriends. Yes it was a mother's day gift. I don't want to plant all seeds(cilantro, marjoram, and curly parsley) because I am already growing cilantro in a container, and I don't use the other two very much. So I only planted basil, chives, and thyme. I badly want that basil to sprout sooon. I am too impatient when it comes to waiting for the seeds to sprout. Any idea how long the basil would take? I guess it will be worth the wait.

For many years I have given programs to groups interested in learning how to grow and use herbs. One of the first things I tell them is to avoid commercial herb kits - a terrible joke foisted upon an unsuspecting newcomer to gardening as they are almost invariably doomed to failure. First let me note that this is NOT the best time of year for starting your herb seeds, with the exception of the cilantro - but as rhizo_1 noted, none of the herbs you list should be planted together in that box. Scatter your cilantro outdoors if possible, but if not, just put that into the planter you have and fine other containers for the other herbs. Your kit contains coriander, sweet basil, and chives. The first is a fast-maturing annual that easily may grow to 3' or more in good soil. In my garden, it gets planted every few weeks throughout the summer from early spring through late fall in order to ensure a steady supply of young plants with usable leaves - though I always let a few go for the seed, which is coriander (making cilantro a plant that is both an herb and a spice). Once the seeds mature and turn brown & hard, they will self-sow or you may harvest them for culinary use. Seed sown in late fall in my central Ohio garden will sprout and the young plants will go dormant but survive the winter for an early crop the following spring. It frustrates me that nurseries sell small 3-4" pots for $3- 4 sown with a dozen or more cilantro plants - none of which will amount to anything useful left in the pot and which may or may not successfully transplant into the garden, but gullible inexperienced growers do not know this. Usually upon transplanting, if they survive at all, the plants will bolt to seed within a very short time and without yielding enough cilantro to garnish an enchilada. I have seen these pots of small plants offered for sale in produce sections in the grocery store only a few feet from generous bunches of freshly-cut cilantro selling for 50-89 cents - far and away the better bargain! I broadcast seed thinly in the garden; leave at least 6-8" between seeds and then use every other one as they grow to give the remaining plants more room. Basil (Genovese being the choice of most chefs for pesto) is an annual that, properly pruned, will yield a lot of fresh flavor the whole summer. Just one plant deserves a gallon pot of its own; a plant in open ground easily can reach 30" or more. For best yield, as soon as there are several sets of leaves start pinching out the topmost leaves just above the next pair - even if you have no use for the leaves at the moment. Continue as all the side shoots develop, a pleasant task that needs to be done every 4-5 days in full summer, perhaps even more often if watered regularly. Note that your kit most likely came with a packet of basil seed; only sow a few and save the rest for next spring. All the seeds you have will remain viable for at least 3-5 years if properly stored (in paper packets, in a cool, dark, dry place). A better candidate for container-grown basil is a cultivar such as Spicy Globe or Greek Columnar basil. I have had excellent results with each, and the columnar basil can winter over indoors. Other basils have a finite life span and will not survive long indoors. One should plant a number of chive seeds, whether in open ground or in a container. Chives are perennial and winter-hardy so may go into open ground where they will return each spring or into a generously-sized pot (a quart, at least). I never have brought any indoors, but they may well survive on a windowsill, though I suspect they would become yellowed and thin. They undoubtedly need a period of dormancy in order to produce edible pink balls of flower clusters in spring (followed by enough seeds to start your own chive business!) Clumps of chives will grow to about 15-24" depending on soil and variety. For growing in containers, I like to use Pro-Mix organic soil mix to which I have added 1/3 measure of good leaf compost since I do not use chemical fertilizers.