Since I’m on "Operation J-Hud" it is necessary for me to cook my meals instead of eating out all the time. It helps me make healthier decisions when I eat. I actually do enjoy cooking and I like to use fresh herbs when I cook. But I was tired of buying herbs only to have them rot because I didn’t use them in time. You can never buy just a couple of sprigs of cilantro. You always have to buy the whole bunch. It’s not expensive, but I hate wasting food. So therefore I decided to grow my own indoor herb garden. Well…not really "grow". I purchased some herb plants from the Union Square Greenmarket in NYC. They were only 3 for $5. (Although, I recently found them cheaper uptown at the 57th Street Greenmarket for 3 for $2.50.) I figured this was easier than actually planting seeds and waiting for them to grow. All I would have to do is keep them in sunlight and water them every now and then.
I purchased a cilantro, rosemary and oregano plant. I really wanted basil, but they didn’t have any. Maybe next time.
I brought them home and let them sit on my window sill for a while. I would water them often and they were growing great, but I noticed that I started to get gnats. After Googling, I learned that many plants get gnats. I’m not a fan of bugs of any sort except lady bugs. I wanted to get rid of them so I went to the Plant Shed to buy something to kill the gnats. I found an Insecticidal Soap Spray that killed bugs while not harming the plants. But this thing was almost $20!! I used my ShopSavvy and Amazon app to scan the barcode and discovered it was available at other retailers for $5. So you know I wasn’t going to pay that when I could get it almost 75% cheaper. I figured I could bond with my gnats a little while longer.
I casually mentioned to the sales person that I found the Insecticidal Soap Spray much cheaper online and she replied that I could just make my own. Really? I had no idea. Free trumps paying any day. So I went home and found a recipe online to make the following insecticidal soap spray.
Insecticidal Soap Spray
1 to 2 tablespoons liquid soap (I used Dawn)
1 quart water
Combine ingredients in a bucket, mix, then transfer to a spray
bottle as needed.
You mean all I needed was just soap and water?? And they wanted $17 for that? Sometimes it pays to do your own research.
The spray did get rid of the gnats, but I learned that their eggs were still present in the soil of the plant and they would just come back. You have to dry the plants out in order to kill the gnat eggs. So I had to go a couple of days without watering. That’s why my herbs look a little sad.
I didn’t like the green plastic pots the herb plants were in and bought some new ones at Home Depot. I loved the glazed flower pots I purchased, but needed to figure out how to transfer my herbs to the new pots. I found a great video online that showed me how to re-pot a plant.
It was a good thing that I had dried my plants out because you need them to be dry in order to remove them from the flower pot. I followed the directions exactly except I didn’t use any new soil. The new flower pot was the same size as the old one so I didn’t need any new soil. Transferring the herb plants over to the new pots was very simple. They slid right out.
These pots look so much better than the plastic ones. They look lovely on my window sill and gives my apartment a punch of color. I can’t wait to add a basil plant to the family.
Do you guys enjoy gardening? What is currently in your garden?
