Growing Horehound All Year Experiment
Winter Lake Research Center has a small herb patch. One of the herbs being grown is horehound, an herb in the mint family. It is used as a soothing tea. In past years, the horehound has put up flowers and then died back in the middle of the summer.
Fresh horehound tastes better than dried, so an experiment was devised to see if the horehound could be made to produce all summer.
When the horehound flower stems died back, the stems were left on the plant and daily watering was started. The next phase will be in 2009, when the flower stems will be removed after maturity. Also, watering will continue all season. The following are the results so far.
Aug. 5th- Tops dead, commenced watering.
Aug. 10- New growth beginning to be apparent.
Aug. 18- New growth six to eight inches long.
Aug. 19- Small harvest and tea brewed. Very good tea.
Aug. 20- Longest new growth 12 inches long.
April 30, 2009 A long winter has ensued. Several issues have kept me from finishing this report. This experiment was concluded successfully. The results were that the hourhound grew all winter and produced well. It was kept clipped for use and grew to be very bushy. The main plant was moved outside the greenhouse in early spring, where it is doing well. Several residual plants remain in the green house and are thriving. The conclusion is that in this mild climate, horehound can be a year round crop.
May 13, 2009 Update The horehound was moved out of the greenhouse into a raised bed. It did grow slowly during the winter but has filled out now that spring is here. Here is a picture of the plant as it is now. The dried stalks are last years foilage that I never got around to removing.
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