I did ... probably within an hour or two from purchasing them. Was that wrong to do?

Parsley, cilantro, dill, and some I'm surely forgetting, do not like being transplanted. Transplanting can stress them into bolting. Best to direct sow seed or transplant them when still very young starts.

And the reason you were asked about planting outdoors is that plants kept indoors are much like us Northerners when the weather first gets hot in the spring/summer - we burn and suffer until we acclimate to the conditions. Next time, give your plants some time in a more sheltered location outdoors before planting them. It does work better.

FataMorgana

Round here, the plants at HD are sold in peat pots. Did you remove the pot before transplanting?

It did come with the peat pot. I removed the bottom part of it before the transplant.

The other plants seem to be doing okay except for this one. I'm hoping maybe it was just this one.

Contrary to marketing, those thick peat pots will not biodegrade, especially in a raised bed of potting mix with no soil web. Personally, I would carefully dig them up and remove the entire thing.

Your issues as mentioned are prob due to sunburn. 5-6 hours of sun is barely enough for most of your herbs, cilantro excluded, but after living inside for life it was too much at a time. But leaving the peat in can present a number of issues with water, roots, etc. Is your bed fully raised with a bottom, or just raised and placed on soil?

That's what I thought I read. These herbs needing a lot of sun excluding the cilantro. That's why I didn't get why they were getting burned.

My box is an elevated planter box that we built with a couple of drainage holes on the bottom, lined with weed liner and full potting soil.

Not excluding cilantro. Cilantro also needs all the sun it can get. The bolting is from heat and other conditions. Cilantro tastes the way it should with more sun. But like Morgana said, best is to sow seeds and harvest early and often. Selling cilantro plants is a practically a sham but consumers keep buying. Besides full sun, cilantro plant loves lose soil so that it can grow fast and thick.

Like balloonflower said, herbs dont get burned by the sun unless you stick them in the sun too suddenly. Plants need to ease into the sun to get used to it.

Nice looking planter! :)

That is a GORGEOUS planter! I have 3 keg type (large) planters on my deck and this is my first year growing herbs. I never was very successful, but have learned ALOT the past year or so. I, too, bought some of my herbs at Home Depot when they had a sale. i removed the peat pot and some might have taken just the bottom. I left a good deal of room and the 3rd planter, I just threw seeds of cilantro, and some thai basil as well as other sweet basil (I had also sown Basil seeds inside that were transplanted to these planters. I tried to grow Rosemary from seed; someone told me it's really difficult (?) but I got 2 seedlings that are coming along nicely.

One of my rosemary plants (I bought 2 at Home Depot) did not do well. All the branches but 2 died back. This might have been stress, I didnt/dont know...the other transplanted wonderfully, but I didnt plant it right away, left it on the deck a couple weeks.

If you are just having problems with just one plant, I wouldnt stress. But you I strongly recommend throwing some seeds in the planter around your other herbs. It's worked wonderfully for me! And my 2nd rosemary (the 2 surviving branches) are looking alot better lately.

Another suggestion: make sure you water enough (but not TOO much) as containers tend to dry out, esp'lly in full sun. Mine get ALOT of sun, by the way, and love it. I just cut back my basil (4-5cups of basil leaves) and all the cilantro, which has started to fill in once again

PS Morning glories are in the back. The rosemary that's just "recovering" is in front of middle planter

I use a cheapo moisture meter for my containers. It lets me gauge what is going on further down in the pot. I am often surprised at how moist the bottom of the plant is compared to the top. I would recommend either using a popsicle stick stuck down into the pot or a moisture meter.

A moisture meter in that type of setup is a good idea. The fabric is going to hold moisture in. Basil, parsley, and cilantro like more water, but thyme and especially rosemary are prone to root rot if the soil stays too moist. A meter can help you track how the moisture level is toward to bottom of the box.

Oh--and do a quick google on "hardening off" transplants. It's the process used for acclimating greenhouse plants or indoor-started seedlings to outdoor conditions. Sometimes done properly can take two full weeks, but that is more for the indoor seedlings that have never had real sun or wind exposure. Home Depot plants are kind of in the middle--they're not really used to full greenhouse conditions, but also not used to full outdoor conditions either. Start with a couple hours in the shade, then maybe an hour of sun, then back to shade--extend for a few days until they can be out fully. Your location can play a role--here at higher elevation, I have to be really careful of the strong UV causing shock.

Wow! I am completely blown away by the feedback I've been getting from this community. thank you all so much. I live in Souther California and it's been pretty hot and dry for quite some time down here.

Rodvictoria, I'm in southern California too. I've planted tons of herbs over the past several years -- all have come from Redlands Home Depot (typically Bonnie Plants) -- none from seeds. Our herbs are grown in beds, raised beds, containers, vertical gardens, hanging baskets, and some are even grown as aquatic plants in the ponds. We harden off our Bonnie Plants, remove the peat pot completely, and break up the root ball when planting. This time of year we water newly planted herbs very well, especially those in containers. I almost never do well planting from seeds -- maybe I'm just too impatient.

Your planter box is gorgeous! Best of luck with your project!

jannike

I dont think you should move them out of the sunlight you have them in.

I would chalk it up to transplanting, and/or one out of however many herb plants just not being as strong...That happened in my case. All my other herbs are doing great (I bought 6 herb plants at Home Depot, only the 2nd rosemary seemed to have some issues)

Thanks everyone! I look forward to how the remaining plants go.