You’ve decided on the herbs you want to grown in your herb garden. Now, it’s time to go shopping.
Here’s what to look for to ensure you buy the healthiest herb plants at your local garden center.
1. Choose lush and perky herb plants — be sure to stay away from wilted herb plants. Wilted herb plants are stressed and may not grow well when you bring them home.
2. Choose herb plants with healthy green foliage, and few to no brown leaves. Herb plants with yellowing leaves, large numbers of brown leaves, or leaves with dry brown edges should be avoided.
3. Choose the shorter bushy herbs, rather than the tall lanky herbs. The tall herbs may have grown lanky reaching for sunlight, and are not as strong as their stocky cousins.
4. Avoid overgrown herb plants — the ones with lots of floppy foliage spilling over the edges of the pot. These plants are tempting, because they often appear lush and healthy. Problem is, they’ve overgrown the pot and the plants may have difficulty adapting to their new environment when you transplant them to your garden.
Be especially cautious of full grown dill, cilantro, and basil herb plants, as they may be close to sending up flower spikes, which will drastically shorten your enjoyment time of the herb.
5. Avoid pot-bound herb plants. Check the bottom of the pot. If there is a mass of roots growing out the bottom of the pot, or wrapped around the bottom of the pot, the herb plant has overgrown the pot, and has a slimmer chance of growing well when you get it home.
6. Avoid herb plants with signs of disease, or insect damage. Tell-tale signs are: mottled dying foilage, holes in the leaves, black areas or spots on the foliage or stems, moldy looking leaves, sticky leaves or stems, leaves that are curling and turning yellow. Check both the top of the plant, and the undersides of the leaves for damage, and insects.
Be especially careful if you are purchasing the herb plant to be grown indoors. Any pest brought into your home will multiply quickly and also spread to your other indoor plants.
Enjoy your herb garden shopping trip!
Warm wishes from the Herb Garden Gal,
Barb
PS – Leave a quick comment and share your herb shopping adventures.
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