Anywhere to buy herb seeds?

FledNanders

Hi

Sorry if there are other posts/threads with this question, I'm very new to this!

Could anyone tell me if there are any shops open at the moment which would sell herb seeds? Just the basics - parsley, basil, coriander etc.

Looking to plant now if possible and still a couple of weeks before garden centres open.

Thanks

jaffa20

www.irishplantsdirect.ie

They have been the quickest at posting seeds for me. I got them within a few days. By comparison, i ordered seeds from sarahraven 4 weeks ago and still haven't received them :eek:

Fleetwoodmac

FledNanders wrote: »

Hi

Sorry if there are other posts/threads with this question, I'm very new to this!

Could anyone tell me if there are any shops open at the moment which would sell herb seeds? Just the basics - parsley, basil, coriander etc.

Looking to plant now if possible and still a couple of weeks before garden centres open.

Thanks

Two good irish companies.. seedaholics and brown envelope seeds.. both organic, non GMO.
Also irishseedsavers

Tamar organics are a UK based site, their seeds are also fantastic quality .
Good luck with it... seed sowing is addictive!

jaffa20

Fleetwoodmac wrote: »

Two good irish companies.. seedaholics and brown envelope seeds.. both organic, non GMO.
Also irishseedsavers

Tamar organics are a UK based site, their seeds are also fantastic quality .
Good luck with it... seed sowing is addictive!

Seedaholic is great but they seem to be closed for ages now. Shame because they have a great collection of seeds

Fleetwoodmac

jaffa20 wrote: »

Seedaholic is great but they seem to be closed for ages now. Shame because they have a great collection of seeds

Ah didn't know that.. I got seeds from them in March. They give really helpful information on sowing, position etc. Alot of the seed companies were overwhelmed due to covid. I know brown envelope seeds had stopped taking orders for awhile due to increase in orders.

FledNanders

I did look at a few sites to buy online, but they were either sold out or not taking orders.

Will try the ones mentioned above.

Thanks for the replies.

Murt10

I take the lazy option. I actually buy the small plants in Tesco/Aldi/Lidl etc. (€1-€2 each). I take them home and repot them into larger flower pots and they come on fine.

Coriander for some reason doesn't work, but parsley, sage, basil, mint, bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, chives etc absolutely no problems.

After a while, I plant some of them into a flowerbed in the soil and they thrive.

You have to be careful, as some want to grow into bushes or large shrubs (rosemary and bay leaf).

Mint has to be kept in a container or it will take over.

Parsley has to be replaced every year, but you'll get a huge crop out of it.

I put the basil on a sunny window ledge in the kitchen and hack away as and when I need it. It helps if you put the pot it a very wide pint glass or something, with water in the bottom. The roots start to grow down into the water so they can drink as much as they want. Basil is a very thirsty plant and this means you don't have to keep watering it every day.

I only take the top leaves and buds off the shoot. Don't use the whole stem and make sure there's a few leaves and buds left on the stalk. Once I've taken a lot off one basil plant and it starts to look a little bare, I put it out into a little plastic greenhouse and let it recover while I start on a new plant. By the time the 2nd basil plant is bare, the first one has recovered, so I keep switching them around.

FledNanders

Murt10 wrote: »

I take the lazy option. I actually buy the small plants in Tesco/Aldi/Lidl etc. (€1-€2 each). I take them home and repot them into larger flower pots and they come on fine.

Coriander for some reason doesn't work, but parsley, sage, basil, mint, bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, chives etc absolutely no problems.

After a while, I plant some of them into a flowerbed in the soil and they thrive.

You have to be careful, as some want to grow into bushes or large shrubs (rosemary and bay leaf).

Mint has to be kept in a container or it will take over.

Parsley has to be replaced every year, but you'll get a huge crop out of it.

I put the basil on a sunny window ledge in the kitchen and hack away as and when I need it. It helps if you put the pot it a very wide pint glass or something, with water in the bottom. The roots start to grow down into the water so they can drink as much as they want. Basil is a very thirsty plant and this means you don't have to keep watering it every day.

I only take the top leaves and buds off the shoot. Don't use the whole stem and make sure there's a few leaves and buds left on the stalk. Once I've taken a lot off one basil plant and it starts to look a little bare, I put it out into a little plastic greenhouse and let it recover while I start on a new plant. By the time the 2nd basil plant is bare, the first one has recovered, so I keep switching them around.

Some good tips there, thanks

Clarabel

I've did the same last week. The only thing I'd recommend is to split the pots up as they are totally over planted.

Thyme and chives are doing great.
Basil and dill not so much but I I did plant them directly outside.

Which super markets did you buy sage, rosemary and bay leaf from?

Murt10

Rosemary, Bay leaf and thyme from Tesco.

From memory, they only seem to have coriander, parsley and basil in at the moment. I'd imagine these would be the easiest and fastest for them to grow from seed.

The others, are probably grown from cuttings as it would take too long for them to reach a size where they could be sold, if they were waiting for the seedlings to mature.

No doubt, later in the season they'll have the others back in.

As far a I remember Super Valu used to have bigger herb pots than anywhere else. More expensive too, but if you're buying something like this for re-potting, then an extra 50c or a euro doesn't really matter if the pot is bigger and more suitable.

On the other hand if you're going to grow them over a pint glass or something similar, then the wider pot will require a bigger glass, which may be harder to come by.

Just make sure that the glass is narrower at the bottom, so the plant doesn't slide straight down into your water reservoir.

Also, as Clarabel said, if you're re-potting them, then separate the ball up to give the plants more space before replanting.