How to Grow Thyme for its Fragrance and Flavor

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris), is a kind of herb grown for its aroma, a good blend with other spices like garlic and olive oil and others. It is also considered as an antiseptic and preservatives for meats. It's also a member of the medicinal plant groups.

Thyme can used fresh and dried as flavor for any dishes like jellies, bouquet garni, breads, c sauces and many more. It can be a nice complement to tomato sauces, cheeses, eggs and vegetables.

To preserve them, you can frozen it, or the best way is to dry them to keep them last longer.

A low growing woody perennial, this plant tolerates well during dry months that gives its highest yield on sunny conditions. It's also used as a cover crop because of its low growing characteristics that spreads around 6 -10" in height and responds well on rocky areas and between pavement cracks.

When planted as a ground cover the distance of planting should be at least 6 inches apart between rows to form a good cover appearance.

Being a sun loving plant, This plant does not response well with too much moisture, that causes the plant to rot with continuous water application.

To produce a more attractive, most fragrant plant, you should grow Thyme in a dry and lean soil.

You should propagate them by way of cuttings or by division. You can also propagate them by seed, but for best result with pure variety, cuttings  or division is recommended to avoid cross pollination with other varieties when grown close to each other.

Although Thyme is an outdoor plant, you can also grow them indoor as a container crop, but you've to place them in your window with available sunlight at least 5-7 hours a day.

If you'll grow them outdoor during winter, place them in sheltered areas to have a continuous harvest during its growing period.

If you'll plant them during warm climates, you've to prune them in early spring to avoid them to be woody and shrubby. Prune those branches that dead to make way for some new shoots to replace.

The most common pest is aphids that build their colony in the plots disrupting the root system. To control aphids, mix 2 tablespoon vegetable oil, 2 tablespoon baking soda, and 2 tablespoon powder laundry soap. Shake well, and spray directly into the aphids colony.

Molds and rots also infests when they're grown during humid condition. To avoid this to happen, don't sit them in wet condition, especially during winter months.

Happy gardening!