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7:41 pm
3rd Grader
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Tue 17-Jul-12
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I don't really, but I thought this might be an idea for a topic for people whom might!
Does anyone have some advice for planting on the live herbs you can buy from most supermarkets?
7:42 pm
3rd Grader
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Tue 17-Jul-12
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ALSO! How do you spell advrice?
7:47 pm
Supreme Being
Wed 30-Dec-09
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Well 5olly, you've managed to spell it three times, and twice wrong !! 
(You know how to really!)
One bit of advice - don't plant mint unless you want it to take over your garden/plot .... 
7:55 pm
3rd Grader
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Tue 17-Jul-12
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A brilliant tip and one that my father should've learned! Unfortunately for my mother he learnt the art of the mojito!
We never looked back. (or forwards in his case)
11:59 pm
Supreme Being
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Tue 22-Sep-09
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The problem with supermarket herbs is that they are too tightly packed to survive for long. However I've had reasonable success with both parsley & basil by splitting and replanting as soon as bought...Morrisons were selling them at only 50p a pack recently. The other option is to sacrifice some of the seedlings for the sake of the rest, so thin the pack out by about 50% then pot up into large pots and cross yr fingers.
10:01 am
Councillor
Wed 30-Dec-09
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I normally only manage to keep supermarket herbs alive for a few weeks once I get them home, even if I re-pot them. The only exception is a pot of mint which I bought 2 years ago. It dies down over winter and comes back in the summer although this year it is looking very sparse and straggly but I'll put that down to the weather. The thing is, I never actually use mint in cooking. I bought it because it only cost a few pence 
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12:21 pm
Supreme Being
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Tue 22-Sep-09
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As Val said, Mint is very invasive, so people usually plant in pots , however it very quickly gets rootbound and then top growth is reduced. You need to get into the pot and pull away loads of the thich roots then repot some of them, they will quite quickly produce new plans.
I don't use a lot of mint in cooking, the usual mint sauce and bits on potatoes, but I do make a lovely salsa with it, which isn't overbearingly minty and goes lovely with cooked chops and steaks.
1:48 pm
Councillor
Wed 30-Dec-09
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I didn't know that - it might just be that it needs repotting. Ta.
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10:59 pm
Supreme Being
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Tue 22-Sep-09
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Pleased to be of service..
11:11 pm
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Tue 22-Sep-09
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My uncle Bill used to plant it in a bucket that had the base removed and it always stayed where he wanted it to be. I just love having it where it wants to be; that which I have doesn't overtake anything else really. The Violets are more thuggish.
I'll try that again!
12:09 am
Expert
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Sat 21-Aug-10
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I have a garden full of mint, several varieties, but most of them only identifiable by scratch and sniff and a guess now because they've wandered away from their labels. I don't mind and anyway, I drink a lot of mint tea. 
Oh, that reminds me, I'd wondered about making a sort of mint liqueur thingy. Something else to look up.
What was the topic? Oh yes, supermarket herbs. I agree with Janet, careful splitting up and lots of TLC and you might be lucky. Better to fork out the £1.25 it costs for a potted herb at a car boot I reckon.
Never assume anything - except an occasional air of intelligence.
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