How to Grow Oregano At Home (A Beginner Guide)
If you love eating Italian food, you will recognize that those pasta, pizzas, or risottos you have eaten have one taste in common. Yes, that is the taste from oregano, and that would be our discussion on this page.
Oregano is a herb that still belongs to the mint family. It is one of the herbs that is mostly used for culinary purposes. The taste from oregano is very delicate, savory, and warm once you eat a dish with oregano in it. The taste of oregano is similar to thyme but warmer and more flavorful.
People also use oregano as a spice in their dish, just like most people use salt and pepper to season their food. The bitter taste from oregano also complements the dish to be very rich in herbs taste. That is why many people use it, sell it, buy it, and even plant it in their garden!
Benefits of Oregano
The reason why you should give it a try to plant your own oregano is the benefits this herb offers you. People consume herbs dried, fresh, or in the form of oil. Both have similar benefits.
Organo could help you lessen menstrual cramps. Its antioxidants help you keep your immunity since it helps prevent free radical in your body.
In healthy storage and consumption, the anti-bacterial and anti-cancer properties contained in oregano could help you increase your body’s health quality, too!
I think having a healthy spice plant in your house with thousands of benefits is a worthy reason to plant it your own!
Having oregano grown in your house is going to be one gardening activity you won’t regret. It saves money, and it benefits your cooking.
Also, growing oregano won’t be a big issue, even for a beginner, as it is one of the easiest herbs to grow. Here is the beginner guide on growing oregano at home.
How to Grow Oregano
There are three methods that you can do to grow oregano of your own.
The first method is growing it from seeds. Planting oregano from seeds means sowing the source from the first step and waiting for a couple of times to germinate.
Sow the seeds at around 70 F degrees temperature. Press the seeds slowly to the soil, but do not cover them since they need light to germinate. The germination process takes approximately four days.
The second method is growing oregano from cutting. This means producing the stem from the previously grown oregano plants usually available in nurseries or any grade centers. Cut the 4 to 5 inches part of the softwood stem a bit diagonally and remove the leaves 2 inches from the bottom.
The last method is root division. How to do this one? Dig up an existing plant and cut it through the root ball into two or more sections, then replant the divisions in pots or a different area of your garden
Indoor or Outdoor?
Oregano is a pretty firm herb that can be planted outdoors in the garden or indoors in a container inside your very house. Growing it outdoors in such a bushy number is a good idea.
The firm shape of the stem makes a good shape along the garden’s path. Sow the seed in the soil at 45 F degrees for warmer soil.
As for indoor, place your oregano in a container under a sunny spot in the house. If you plant it from seeds, sow the seeds to the container four weeks before the last frost date at 70 Fahrenheit degrees soil.
The seed is going to take around 15 days to germinate. If you grow it from cuttings, then plant it in the container down to the soil. When the plants become woody, change the container every three years.
Soil
Oregano likes sandy and loamy kinds of soil. Try not to add lots of organic matter. Otherwise, your oregano will not perform as well as it could have in well-drained soil.
Light
Oregano loves full sun. However, partial shade also works best for the golden oregano variety.
Water
Still, like most herbs, you must never overwater oregano. Water oregano only when the soil dried out. Moist soil will cause oregano to be less flavorful.
Temperature
Oregano is mostly used dried. Therefore, it might need protection in cold temperatures like in the winter, for instance.
Cover the leaves with an evergreen bough after the ground has frozen, or cover it with a heavy mulch of leaves.
Fertilizer
Oregano does not match the fertilizer very much. It has a delicate and particular taste, which is very sensitive and easily changed if you add too much fertilizer such as compost, nitrogen, or other nutrients.
Harvesting
For a note, harvest your oregano before it blooms flower unless you want your oregano to lose its taste.
How to harvest oregano? You can cut enough leaves as you need when the plants have grown about 6 inches tall. This will encourage new growth. Snip stems leaves with a garden clipper or scissors.
Troubleshooting the Pest
As for the pests, spider mites and aphids do attack oregano. Troubleshooting them could be done by spraying them away with a strong stream of water or insecticidal soap.
Also, remember that wet and too moist soil could cause root rot.
Conclusion
Oregano is a very delicate herb that cannot stand too moist or damp soil to grow. It needs full sunlight but tolerates partial shades. Even the golden variety works best in partial shades.
You do not need so much fertilizer for oregano since it could change or lose the flavor.