I have a plot of tarragon that’s in very poor soil, gets full Arizona sun, and freezes back to the ground in winter, but in spring it comes back and gets at least five feet wide. It continues to amaze me. I wonder if my previous attempts to grow it “babied” it to death.
Here we grow cilantro in the wintertime, it bolts really quickly when it gets warm out. My friend in Alaska couldn’t grow it in summer, either because it bolted too quickly. That really surprised me until she told me that the long days were what caused it to bolt.
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Is that why I can’t find African basil any more? I grew it 10-15 years ago, and it wan’t as lovely as the usual summer kinds, but it fought like mad against cold weather, and tasted good. If you know, can you please share the information on that?
I was bemoaning the parsley I’ve had not growing for me, and Harters replied “It grows great here (England). It likes our cold wet weather”. I figure it hastens up its growing when it’s hot out, mine always send up a seed head in summer here and I scatter the seeds, but it rarely comes up again and if it does, it goes to seed in fall. Or dies when the temps are over 105 and the humidity is under 10.
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Is that a Thai lime? aka kaffir- I had one a while back that died in a freak freeze several years ago. It was a nice little potted tree, but I decided I didn’t like the taste of the leaves or fruit, so I haven’t gotten another one.They grow beautifully in warm weather.
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ewsflash, I just bought some African nunum basil seeds from Baker Creek. I’ll see if they’re correct this season. The Basil downy Mildew came in on the dried, commercial herb. Fortunately, there are new, resistant varieties of regular basil.
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I have had Italian parsley for 5 years. I relentlessly remove flowerheads, occasionally trim it to the ground and it regrows. Even when the entire above ground plant dies off, new growth will come from the estabished root, so don’t pull it out!
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Yes, Thai lime/ makrut lime/ fka kaffir lime. I had to bring my plant back in mid October, and it’s right against my one sunny window. It’s actually bloomed twice, so it’s doing surprisingly well. I wouldn’t have guess these limes would also do well in winter.
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Wow, that’s impressive. How big is your lime / diameter of the pot? Do you feed them regularly? My citrus, limes are all outdoor, they lose quite some leaves in winter and more if it snows, the whole year they aren’t doing much under the best sunny spots outdoor and regular feed.
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I guess I’ll start cutting back the flower spike as soon as I recognize it- maybe I’ve always waited too long to do that, because it sends out new growth briefly, then just sends up more flower spikes
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Downright stunning! How’s the flavor?
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Then cut to the ground and let it regrow. Mine looked really puny a month ago but is now again a 2 ft wide, foot tall) bush.
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Thank you! That pic was in an aerogarden, but it needed to be moved to a forever (or summer) home. Flavor, but especially aroma was good. Different varieties for different uses.
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Parsley is, by nature, a biennial or short-lived perennial plant. The first year it makes a rosette and flowers the second year. If it sets a lot of seed, it typically dies. I grew commercial quantities of Italian Flat leaf and it was always best in cooler weather. While blooming, like basil, the quality goes down, even if one removes flower buds. (It’s worse if you don’t.) The best quality leaves are from younger plants; the same is true of basil. In Italy, these herbs are started regularly and replace older plants. Unless you have young and old in-hand to compare, you might not taste, smell the difference.
I took young herb of both to a chef who asked the other cooks to close their eyes and smell, comparing older and younger herbs. The replies all indicated the younger herbs smelled better. The flavors can be acceptable if one removed flower buds, stalks, but these changes in the plant’s biological clock also create flavor differences which are not improvements.
Some herbs, like French Tarragon, Sage and Rosemary seem to be very consistent in flavor, regardless of age. Thyme, such as English or German culinary types are also fairly constant in flavor. Unlike the prior herbs, Thyme performs best when under 3 years old. Oregano and Marjoram are also very stable, but get stronger while blooming.
Italian Parsley gets very sweet growing in cold weather. This is true of many Umbellifers: Parsnips, Carrots, Celery, Finocchio, etc. In most regions, Parsley can get pathogenic root fungus, especially if grown in the same spot or soil. There’s also a grub, a weevil, which can cause a lot of damage and yellow leaf spotting from Septoria fungus. Often, these are much more of a headache when it’s hot and humid.
The main thing with herbs is loose, fast-draining soil and a neutral to slightly alkaline pH: pH 7.2–7.6 is near ideal.
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Honestly, I think it is share luck. I was just hoping it doesn’t die in the winter ( and I really knew nothing about citrus plants). My tree is a dwarf tree, so still quite small. It sits in a 10" pot right now. I haven’t feed this as regularly since I moved it indoor. I was feeding it one every week or two outside. I’ve probably only feed this about 4 times since I’ve moved it. I use a citrus feed that was highly recommended on Amazon.
So my concern is how the shape of my tree is growing. 
Rather than the branches growing at an upward angle, they’ve been almost growing straight out. The branches are getting so long, and it’s creating a weird shaped tree! Does annoying know if there’s a way to gently shape the growth to avoid an elongated T looking tree? 
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Kobuta, it’s VERY important that you prune off the downward-pointing, thorny growth which is popping out below the graft scar. Notice those leaves are different, divided into threes? That’s because, like many dwarf/semi dwarf citrus, you Makrut Lime was grafted onto Trifoliate Orange, a basically useless fruit which has very good root hardiness. Specifically, it was grafted onto a variety known as “Flying Dragon”, one with contorted growth and mean, hooked thorns. I know because I grow both citrus.
If the understock is allowed to grow branches, there’s a good chance the Makrut Lime will get aborted. You need to force the understock to accept the grafted top. Flying Dragon is more dwarfing than regular Trifoliate Orange (Poncirus trifoliata).
It would also be good to remove the fruit, unless you want to use the zest for a home made Thai curry paste, such as Phrik Khing. Aside from the zest, the fruit tastes terrible. But, I hear the juice causes leeches to let go!
I’m planning on doing my own Flying Dragon-Makrut Lime graft, since there’s a bunch of Flying Dragon seedlings out in the yard, under “Momma tree”.
For those who don’t know, the term “Kaffir” is not a good name to use for this tree, being a racist slur in some countries. Makrut or Magroot is preferred.
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We have a discussion on this a while ago in HO:
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Thanks for sharing! For a small plant, quite nice that you have a few fruits. I agree that the leaves below the graft scar has to be removed. I’ve this problem with a grafted standard rose, the below part always want to grow new shoots to compete with the tree above.
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Kaffir, كَا فر, is an Arabic word that means “non-believer” or 'non-Muslim". In its original meaning it is not racist. However Arab traders started using the word during the days of the slave trade to refer to Africans, especially those being sold into slavery. This is where the racist element comes in.
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That’s good to know! Thanks for the tip - I’m more than happy to shear off those pesky long thorns.
I should also note that I don’t have much in mind for the fruits either, but I quite love the intoxicating smell from them. I have a few small ones leftover from the summer that is getting all wrinkly, but it still gives off that wonderful fragrance every time I open the fridge door.
I had heard that, and forgotten. Thank you for reminding me so I don’t use itagain.
