Name: Joe S. Sun, Nov 4, 2012 at 7:49 AM
City: Laurel
State: MD
Question: I have a 2'x1' plastic tub
in which I've grown herbs inside for the past year or so. I have a grow
light on all the different kinds of herbs. The soil is about 3" deep and I
add eggshells, small citrus, and coffee grounds from time to time.
Question: Would adding woms to
my mix help the herbs grow better?
Thank you.
Hi Joe,
It probably depends upon which herbs
you're growing. The traditional Mediterranean herbs, such as thyme, rosemary,
oregano grow best in soil that is well drained and not very rich. If you
overfertilize them, they tend to lose all their flavor. Basil is the
heaviest-feeding herb, and mints like rich, moist soil, so they probably would
enjoy sharing their container with them. If you do add worms to a container,
you have to make sure that you are adding organic material to the container
regularly so the worms have something to eat.
I hope this helps!
Ellen
Hi Ellen!
That was fast. MUCH thanks.
I have mint, basil, parsley, and
thyme. So the best and worst of both worlds I guess.
A, presumed, lady on Yahoo Answers
(uuchurch) said:
Herbs do not need to be fertilized,
the do better in poor soil as that makes the essential oils stronger and that
is what makes herbs tasty. If you want to do something useful with worms start
a worm compost bin. All you need is a 15 gallon bin, some sphagnum moss or sterile potting soil
without additives, a piece of cotton clothesline rope and some worm matrix with
live worms and eggs in it which you can buy. This system is made to be used
indoors all winter and it makes worm juice (liquid fertilizer) which you dilute
for all your house plants and finished compost for your garden or to amend the
soil in your indoor plants. A small hand full of earthworms will not do what you want anyway whether they survive or
not because the need to have soil with food for them in it not just the soil
which feeds the plants. Do a search for LaVermes Worms.
And that's why I wrote you.
Thank you so very much.
'May try a few worms just to see what
transpires. The un drained Tupperware tub is 12"x20" the soil
is 3" deep. I drop in egg shells and coffee grounds from time to
time.
What kind of worms would you
recommend and how many or is it just too small to work with?
Thank you.
Hi Joe,
Thank you for sending the photos.
That does help! It looks to me as if your herbs are mostly pining for bright
light, and perhaps for warmth. Putting a few red wrigglers in your container
probably wouldn't hurt anything, but probably wouldn't be able to improve
things a whole lot either. Herbs just really need sun and warmth.
Ellen
