Good liquid fertilizer for herbs? General herb growing information

[Kenny202]

Started a bit of a herb garden. Parsley, Rosemary, Sage and Italian Basil. Will try other ones later. These I started off with seedlings I bought through Lazada. Most are doing ok except one of the Rosemary died and the other struggling a bit. I put some osmocote slow release on the top of the soil....just a bit. Should I be using some sort of liquid fertilizer? I see a bunch of Thai ones very cheap on Lazada. Anyone using anything they can recommend or should I be using a seaweed extract thing or both or something else? back home I would have used Thrive. Very cheap and effective.

 

Also any tips on these sort of herbs. Best position, how much water etc. I know there is plenty of info online but I think all the rules go out the window trying to grow these European herbs in the tropics. Any help much appreciated.

[drtreelove]

In my opinion, there is not much difference in best managment practices and fertilizer requirements for herbs, and other herbacious plants, vegetables and flowers.  So I don't think you need to be looking for specific herb fertilizer.  

 

There are many factors to consider in creating best growing condtions and management for healty plants , sunlight exposure, containers, raised beds or in-the-ground, and especially water management, as well as fertilizer and other issues. There are die-hard advocates for the predominant old-school chemcial fertilizers, but I prefer organic and soil-food-web based methods and materials.  

 

There have been many discussions on this forum and the Farming in Thailand forum on fertilzers. Here's a recent one: 

 

 

[Damrongsak]

Osmocote is good stuff but might take a bit of time to release.  A wee bit of decent top soil dressing mixed in with a pinch of chicken poop should suffice for awhile.  Check out where your herbs came from and where they naturally grow and prosper.  Many seem to thrive on abuse. 

[Kenny202]

40 minutes ago, Damrongsak said:

Osmocote is good stuff but might take a bit of time to release.  A wee bit of decent top soil dressing mixed in with a pinch of chicken poop should suffice for awhile.  Check out where your herbs came from and where they naturally grow and prosper.  Many seem to thrive on abuse. 

I have had that experience here before growing herbs. Like everything in Thailand opposite to normal. Herbs that normally thrive in full sun prefer shade here and vise versa. A little tip for anyone interested I have found is for European herbs give them cold water every morning from the fridge. Particularly effective for sprouting seeds

 

Back in Australia my mum used to swear by a product called Thrive. Water soluble very mild fertilizer you just mixed up in your watering can. She used it for everything and always had excellent results. Don't seem to be able to find it here. Sure there is an equivalent but in Thai. I have tried Chook poo with pretty fatal results on herbs before, even aged poo and just using a tiny bit mixed up in soil. Bit scared to try it again

 

Edited May 29, 2022 by Kenny202