Container herbs are easy to grow and sell.
Selling herbs in containers is a profitable enterprise. Herbs are easy to start in flats and transplant into small pots. Bring these transplanted herbs to a farmer's market and buyers will stand in line to bring a bit of fresh-grown goodness to their own windowsill or kitchen garden. Make up a flyer with instructions for care and a couple of recipes as an extra bonus to keep your buyers coming back. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Fill the flats with growing medium. Growing flats are usually made of black plastic with ridges on the bottom to help with water distribution and are available from home and garden stores. If you are reusing flats from last season, make sure to wash carefully with soap and water and rinse well.
2. Plant herb seeds on top of the growing medium. Follow the instructions on the seed envelope for depth and spacing. Draw a map of each flat with information about which seeds are planted where, or write the name of each herb on a flat craft stick and stick into the flat for each row. Dampen the soil and set in a warm, dark place until the seeds have germinated. Cover the flat loosely with plastic film to help keep the moisture in.
3. Move the flats to a sunny place once the seeds have germinated. Thin the seedlings at this time. As the seedlings continue to grow, thin more, until you have one plant with its second set of leaves per inch of soil.
4. Use a spoon to help transplant the herb seedlings to small pots. Place a small stone or broken piece of pottery over the hole in the bottom of each pot. Add an inch of sand to help with drainage. Fill the pot with growing medium and plant a seedling in each. Add liquid fertilizer to water and feed each transplanted herb. If you are reusing small pots, wash with soap and water and dry before planting your herbs in them.
5. Set the small pots back in the flats for easy transportation to market.
Tags: small pots, growing medium, have germinated, help with, seeds have, seeds have germinated, soap water