So, about 3 or 4 months ago I got some herbs from tescos, they were cheap and I thought "either they grow and I have plenty of free herbs or they don't and I've waisted a little time and money on an experiment.
1 – curled leaf parsley
2 – purple thime
3 – sage
4 – rosemary
5 – apple mint
They are all growing wonderfully and I pick from them for my cooking offten! I have basil in my kitchen too! And they are all flourishing and growing constantly.
Am I just lucky? Is it a myth that shop herbs are all grown aggressively and die quickly?
All I know is I'm super happy with my flourishing herbs in my garden.
by fuck_peeps_not_sheep
39 Comments
To be honest I only hear the opposite advice!
I planted a Lidl mint in a pot a few weeks ago and it is doing very well!
Nothing wrong with doing this. The problem comes when people expect them to grow in the tiny pot they’re sold in, as there are normally tens of plants crammed in there competing for space, nutrients etc. Space them out and pot them up and they’ll grow fine.
I think they die quickly if you leave them in their original pots because they’re far too small. They always seem to do okay for me when I replant them
Never heard anyone say that. Planted many
Did you hear that from someone who makes a living selling herbs?
Same. I had a basil plant which was doing extremely well, but then I think that some sort of aphids attacked it and it died overnight. But before then it was great and about 80p.
I mean, your sage is massively overwatered and rosemary, both should be in a dry pot too, they’re med herbs.
But no one I know has ever said dont bother to plant supermarket herbs.
I have a supermarket rosemary in my garden – it is currently about 5 foot tall and 6 foot wide, albeit I have to admit in being lazy in cutting it back!
This is the way with supermarket herbs – they are overcrowded in their store pots and will appreciate a repot, Basil particularly will appreciate being split up as they don’t thrive in a crowded pot
I had a chive plant from the supermarket that was reduced to 10p, I’ve had that same plant for almost 8 years now and it’s still going strong
I always buy a large Basil pot this time of year, divide up the inidividual plants into separate pots and have loads of fresh Basil until November time.
I get about half my herbs in my outdoor herb box from the supermarket and half from a specialist herb online shop. I’ve never had any bother with them.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/GardeningUK/comments/pym1b6/every_year_husband_tries_to_grow_the_biggest/](https://www.reddit.com/r/GardeningUK/comments/pym1b6/every_year_husband_tries_to_grow_the_biggest/)
Sadly my attempts mostly end in death.
People usually say that because they are bunched together. Splitting the plants before planting helps and then they can be fine. Lots of videos explaining it on youtube quite well.
I buy a pot of basil from Lidl every year and plant it out, I’ve had more success with it than sowing myself.
I buy a basil plant in spring, repot it and it will last until the end of autumn. Its the best value item in any supermarket
I love supermarket chives for value – I split each into around eight clumps and plant them. I’ve had issues with basil mostly – the rest of the herbs just look a bit sad/stressed but usually recover. For the basil, I find it’s better to cut off stems and root them in a glass of water then plant somewhere warm.
If you leave them in the original pot they were bought in they will be too overcrowded and will suffer for it. I’ve had great results in the past but repotting them ASAP. You can also split the herbs up when repotting so you get many more plants.
Maybe that was put out there by supermarkets, so you’d keep buying their fresh products, rather than being self sustaining with the relatively cheap plant they sold you.
I’ve heard that too. I think it really depends on the plant, like will it be happy where you end up putting it. Maybe a bit of luck too haha. I’ve had mixed success. I can’t keep coriander alive for some reason but parsley has been going on for a few years. I’ve also grown supermarket spring onion as cut and come again sort of plant and they’ve been on my veg bed for years. Works for lettuce and pak choi too. Sometimes they get pests of them but manageable so far
If I recall correctly, the reasoning behind ‘don’t plant shop bought herbs’ is that the soil they were planted in used to be treated to prevent them growing, or that was the rumour.
I remember a time period in early 2000 when the potted herbs I bought from shops wouldn’t grow unless they were put into fresh soil.
It is probably not an issue now, if it ever was a real issue.
I had successfully planted thai basil from supermarket’s bag of cuttings before.
Like it’s just the rate of success vary. The basil seems to die easily.
The mint dashed off and was out of control the moment i moved it into a larger pot and added compost.
The Lidl ones always die for me within days regardless of how they’re treated, a rare quality fail from Lidl.
Had decent success at growing on Sainsburys ones.
Because it’s sage advice
Nonsense, mine grow amazingly and live for years.
People do have trouble with store bought herbs because keep them in the same pots and don’t separate the plants that are over crowed but you wouldn’t have that trouble as you have them more space for the roots to develop and for the plants to grow out
I’ve even planted cut herbs before. I put some cut mint (from one of those bags at the supermarket) in a glass with a bit of water to keep it fresh for longer, and it developed little roots so after a while I planted it out and it lived just fine.
Check out @simonakeroydgardenwriter on instagram, he regularly posts about growing supermarket vegetables and leftovers.
Nothing wrong with it at all. Last year I potted supermarket basil and got leaves all summer and I must get to doing it again now the weather is fine. It didn’t last the autumn/winter but id expect as much. Just be careful with mint, my garden is overflowing with it. Far too much for me to use, still it looks nice and smells wonderful.
Whenever I plan supermarket herbs they die. But honestly my green finger is more of a black on. I don’t know how I do it.
A lot of them will just be selected for quick growth under lights and may not necessarily be strains that have good outdoor survival or pest resistant.
But there’s really only one way to find out! I’ve had pretty good success in the past.
https://preview.redd.it/7jxudy5a9c2f1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f255034506743447a63b31c27688f82ce751bed3
My kitchen basil plants – all from one 99p pot from Morrisons in January 2024, and still going strong!
I have mint and rosemary *everywhere*.
Last week, I separated a pot of basil and planted it alongside the tomatoes. As of this morning, it has really perked up and I’m hopeful I won’t need to buy more this summer.
I plant them all the time, I have some parsley I acquired from preparing a buffet at work in a ‘don’t throw that i’ ll have it’ moment. It’s still with us 2 years later. Never had a problem with any potted herbs, the basil often needs separating and gets a little stressed but other than that all is good.
Your photography skills are top notch.
Yep, I’ve been doing this for a few years. Had a Coriander last year that went massive and had hundreds of seed heads come the end of summer. I’ve not had to buy Coriander seeds since.
I have an entire herb bed that reseeds every year from four pots of shop bought – the only thing that didn’t come back was the mint! But I over pulled it when it was taking over.
I have some basil atm and took cuttings and all have propograted with roots so going to see if they will grow
Most store bought herbs have dozens of plants in a single pot. I divide them and plant as many as I need. Never had a failure yet.