Italian seasoning from seed to spice rack

We already grow basil in a dedicated AeroGarden (AeroGarden 1). It works well because basil grows so fast you can harvest every couple weeks, and with only one herb in the unit you only have to think about one nutrient profile. We go through enough basil that the AeroGarden pays for itself. The catch is basil outgrows the unit quickly, so we need to get better about repotting it into a regular pot once it's established. Basil does fine indoors in soil once it has a root system going.

The idea: AeroGarden 2 for the slower Mediterranean herbs. Oregano, thyme, and sweet marjoram. Grow them hydroponically, harvest in rotation, dehydrate at low temp (95-115F to keep the oils), blend into Italian seasoning.

Rosemary gets its own arrangement. It's notoriously slow from seed (4-8 weeks to germinate, if it germinates at all), so we're skipping seeds and buying a pre-started rosemary plant. A potted rosemary lives for years if you don't overwater it, which makes more sense than trying to restart one every season.

The classic ratio is roughly 2 parts oregano, 2 parts basil, 2 parts marjoram, 1 part thyme, 1 part rosemary. The basil comes from AeroGarden 1 (or repotted plants). The oregano, thyme, and marjoram go in AeroGarden 2. The rosemary comes from the potted plant.

Open questions

• Can oregano and thyme share a unit without one choking out the other? They have similar growth habits, but oregano gets bushy.
• Dehydrator temperature matters. Too hot and you lose the volatile oils that make fresh herbs worth growing. Need to dial this in per herb.
• What's the right harvest cadence to keep all three AeroGarden 2 herbs producing at the same time? Staggered planting might help.
• How often can we repot basil from AeroGarden 1 before the pods need replacing?

Funny thing: the herbs in Italian seasoning (oregano, thyme, basil) overlap with what goes into the holy trinity spice layer. The Creole vs. Cajun divide is partly about these same herbs. If the AeroGarden experiment works, two units could supply both blends.

We'll update this page as the herbs grow.