New student excited to learn Medicinal Herbs

[Susann MartinStudent]

Hello fellow students! Today is my first day and I am so excited to learn medicinal herbalism. I have a few herbs planted and would love to learn the best way to grow more herbs successfully indoors in winter and outdoors in summer. My 5 comfrey starts were doing well indoors until gnats killed it.  Need to up my indoor and outdoor gardening skills, lol!!!

[Rebecca LivermoreStudent]

Hi Susan, welcome! I live in an urban environment with a small yard. In the future, I plan to live in a condo in zone 5b. Between the two, I’m very focused on indoor gardening. I haven’t done much with soil indoors, and have instead focused on hydroponics, using different systems such as AeroGarden. There are definitely cheaper ways to go, but that has worked well for me. It’s easy, and predictable. Only thing is, I’m only harvesting aerial parts (parts that grow above the ground), since the root system with plants growing hydroponically is very different than the roots of plants growing in soil. I’m sure you’ll find a way to grow a ton indoors. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!

[Greg BoggsStudent]

Welcome Susann! Check out Stoney Acres Gardening, you might find some good tips on seed starting there

[ChinyereStudent]

Hi Susan, I am new as well and would also like to improve my gardening skills. And definitely excited to learn more about medicinal plants! 🙂

[Sydnia Ginger AnadyStudent]

my sister uses fungus knat sticks… what a difference- they are small yellow sticky sticks in the shape of floers/birds…ect.  I found them on amazon fairly inexpensive

[Jenn KROONStudent]

I found a solution to gnats that worked! The little yellow sticky traps mentioned above combined with about a 1/2 inch layer of sand in the pots they like best, usually the plants that like a lot of water. The gnats lay their eggs usually in the top part of the soil. The sand impedes that so they aren’t able to reproduce. The sticky traps finish off the rest that are still flying around. Once they are gone, I would advise removing the sand off the top of the soil as it can create a hard crust or it mixes in with the soil and creates a very sandy soil that dries out too quickly for most houseplants.

If you have any gardening questions, I love gardening and have been gardening my entire life now and love to help with any gardening questions! it’s fun!

[Jenn KROONStudent]

Also, with the sticky traps, be very careful around the leaves of your plants, especially young plants that only have a leaf or two. They will stick to anything and if they stick to a leaf, that leaf is pretty much gone! You will rip it to shreds trying to remove it!

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