Merry meet all,
Oh my goddess ! I have so many seedlings in my apartment I could fill a store up with them. I’m running out of room. I decided I would share tips on how I successfully began my seedlings in this post today. Grab a cuppa herbal tea and enjoy this post!!!
First, let’s begin with you figuring out what your intentions are. Do you want to grow lots of veggies to hold off on a possible food shortage? Do you want to grow a witch’s garden for teas and potions? Do you like a conventional garden of just flowers and herbs? Do you dare to grow some poisonous witch’s herbs? ( in which case, if so, research them first and please, PLEASE don’t plant them if kids and pets visit your garden. Or grow in pots indoors away from kids and pets- and wildlife and adults.)
Do you have the room and the budget and the time to devote to a garden? Once you have fully realized your intentions and answered the other questions, we can move to the next step. Growing the witchy herbs that you can harvest and enjoy all summer long. My intention is easy. I am studying herbalism and so I want to grow herbs that I can learn about at the Academy. I want to grow a lot of herbs to save money and not need to buy them at a local organic food store. I want to learn how to use these herbs medicinally and for my witchy path too. See how I did that?
Growing your own herbs helps you get to know the plants on a deeper level too. Herbs like mint, parsley, basil, rosemary, thyme and sage are good herbs for healing and can be used in cooking. Yarrow, white, sage, nettles, mugwort are also witchy! Choose organic or heirloom seeds. Use good quality potting soil. Do use good soil. Don’t waste your money on low quality soil. The care you give the seeds and seedlings now pays off hugely in the future. Good quality soil encourages stronger root growth and helps you grow stronger plants and is affordable. The benefits you will receive of growing stronger plants outweights opting for cheap soil from a dollar store. Go with the strong seedlings and then you can choose which ones to thin out later.
Use a grow light or a big sunny window to grow your plants. I don’t own a grow light. I just arrange the pots at a window and sacrifice the space in my home until the frost passes. I water them frequently when the soil is dry. The trick is not to overwater the seedlings. Get a spray bottle to mist the plants. Don’t drown them or the roots will rot.
So, now you know why you want to grow herbs, you have your grow lights and/ or a sunny window, your soil and your organic heirloom seeds. Now what? Here is the fun part and the hardest part- you have to have patience. Plant one or more seeds- just a few- in each starter pot. Label the pots to know what you planted where. That makes it easier on you unless you have an amazing memory. I can never remember. You can use popsicle sticks for labels. You can even draw sigils on them or witchy pentacles! Use your imagination!
If you have a plastic dome, cover the starter pots with the dome. This traps the moisture which seeds like to grow. You can empower the seed pots with your witchy intentions for them to grow strong. If you don’t have a dome, use saran wrap to cover the pots. Don’t layer it on to smother the plants. Leave an inch or two of space because that might kill the plants. Every so often, lift the saran wrap and let them get full sun. When they grow their true leaves, keep the dome or wrap off. Have lots of patience here. You get more life out of the green babies with tons of sweet talk and coaxing than using brute force. Trust me. Now is the time to cultivate a nurturing nature. I am not saying you would be cruel but gently guiding them and not getting angry if you don’t get the results you want is much better. Sometimes, plants just won’t grow for whatever reason.
When they outgrow the starter pots, you can gently tuck them into slightly bigger plant pots. That is the fun part! I love watching plants I began from seed grow into these beautiful herbs. I just love that, that and their scent. There are just so many amazing things about herbs. I can’t list them all here but I know you know what I mean.
The tips:
- Remember, don’t over water them!
- Keep the soil just moist.
- Practice organic gardening methods.
- Choose good quality soil and good starter pots.
- Be gentle and don’t use pesticides. You kill the beneficial insects.
- Trust that the herbs will grow into beautiful plants. Let go and let mama earth do what she do best.
I can’t wait till the frost passes. I can’t wait to grow the white sage, sage, yarrow, kale, leeks, peppers, tomatoes, borage, anise, calendula, cucumbers, echinacea, dill, and lemon basil – all begun from seeds – outdoors. I cannot wait. I have saved scarlet runner beans, the seeds I have mentioned here and rue and yarrow seeds on order. I can’t wait to get growing!
It is all predetermined in a single tiny seed. That seed can grow into a huge plant. Each seed contains the DNA of the plant. If that doesn’t amaze you, it sure amazes me. Some seeds have to be planted 1/4 inch under the soil and some need to be planted deeper into the soil. I go by the sizes of the seeds to determine that. Bigger seeds can go deeper into the starter pots. Seeds, like chamomile, are just spread over the surface of the soil. They are so tiny and fine.
Here is the link to a company using organic methods and seeds: https://strictlymedicinalseeds.com.
If you get dark, rainy weather like we do here in the Maritimes, then you can turn a lamp on and place it next to your plants. This helps them get maximum light. A grow light does help plants grow well. You can also use a fan to trick the plants into growing thicker stalks and stems. It mimics the wind.
I hope the above tips and tricks inspire you to get growing your own amazing herbs! Blessings,
Spiderwitch
