Herbs that won't grow

[biita]

I am having a terriable time trying to grow one herb specifically. geeez its the easiest one to grow next to mint! Lemon Balm. I now have 3 containers eached planted a different way. and nothing. I have tried just laying them on the growing mix, laying them then putting a tad of dirt over them, leaving them open to light, and covering them up. one container i have on a window sill not on heat, and the other 2 on heat. I'm so confused because i have never had a problem with this,,lol. Their new seeds that i ordered from Impecta Handel a Swedish catalog, and i trust them because i've grown from them in the past. great results.

the other one i am having a hard time with is something i have never grown before. Epheda. (yes its legal here, and we use it for allergies and reactions, and for colds) I planted them at the same time as the Lemon Balm, 3 weeks ago. and nothing also.

something i'm doing is wrong but i can't seem to figure it out... any help would be appriciated. or a whole new way of planting these 2 things, that i can do over, is much needed. Thank you!

[Wrennie]

I got my lemon balm as a small plant. It is huge now and stubborn. I have a hard time getting starts off it for others to have.
Do you have a way of getting plants of it instead of seeds? Maybe a start from someone elses garden?

[biita]

Yeah we can buy them right in the grocery stores, planted and sold as fresh herbs... i can do that. was kind of wanting to grow them again myself,, but geez i can't remember how i did it before. Thanks Wrennie. I just may have to do that.

[Pharmer Phil]

Biita, Sounds like you have the right combination, there..
The seeds should be covered lightly, I've found that if you dry out commercial potting soil, and rub it twingst your hands till it's powder, it works great for covering very small herb seeds, and the soil should be kept as close to 70° (21° C.) as possible till they show..
They take a long time 3-4 weeks, or more, to pop up.

the Ephedra, I believe it may be illegal to grow it, but it does grow wild in portions of the USA.
the American species don't have the potency of other countries however. it's have been used for many years here as a excellent medicinal. and In other countries for thousands of years.
Called ma huang, it's sales have been under scrutiny and although I can't say for sure, the F.D.A. (food and drug administration) here, may have banned it by now?
In the wild, the "baby" plants are real tiny, they don't get to be much size for 3-4 years, but pretty much like the Lemon Balm, it takes a very warm area, very fine soil, even sand, that will hold the heat, and alot of patience to produce a usable plant.
In both cases above though, root division is the preferred form of propagation.
and in the case of Lemon balm, I ain't had much luck with cuttings, but the darn stuff spreads like Wildfire from seed
here in Minnesota.

[biita]

Thanks Phil, i had one seed of the lemon balm sprout for me after a week.. i was so excited. then nothing from the rest. now i'm disappointed..lol. but if it takes 3-4 weeks then i'm on schedule with it... i had a huge container of it, but it got run over by a tourist that stayed here. just smashed it to bits and it got pulverized... a big camper....sigh. so i waited patiently for my seeds. yeah it spreads fast here too. thats why i had mine in a container, and would clip the seeds most of the time. but then i would let some fall in the container.

the ephedra is legal here to grow in norway, but it is illegal to mix it and sell as the commercial stuff ephidrine... i don't do that. i don't want to be buzzing all over the place, its just really good for allergy season an for colds... but good info on that, because i have never grown it, but was going to grow indoors because its just too cold here even in summer probably for it. if it never sprouts not harm done, i'll just go back to my herbs that do work.

Thank you for the info an help,,,, relief of the mind...lol.

[mogarden]

There is a little confusion here about the legality of ephedra. Buying and selling the herbal preparations is out, plants are ok, except....states have various laws. The daturas I grow are illegal in some states, just because they were "tacked on" to a bill about something else. In the US, it pays to know your applicable state law as well as Fed Gov.
Have you looked in the area where the old Lemon Balm was disposed of? Might be seedlings there.

[biita]

Mogarden, i live in Norway, so state laws mean nothing to me. Norwegian laws are what i follow, also i buy my seeds from Sweden and the site will tell you right off if its illegal or not to send to Norway. The catalogs won't even enter it in the book if its illegal to this country. also i live in the artic an very few herbs that are perennials will actually make it thru the winter if left outside. so i usually save seeds, or bring them in the house to winter. I do keep them out in the entry hall where its a little colder than the house so they can adapt quickly to the artic summers. warm weather won't be here until about may and right now its just a sheet of ice,,,lol.. if i find a seed it would be an extremely rare thing right now..... but, when it does warm up, i will check where i threw them to see if they come up. One never knows,,,,,,,