Kit care schedule

Every one of these has happened to us. None of them means the box has failed.

Nothing has sprouted and it has been two weeks Mint can take 10–15 days, parsley up to 21. Keep the surface damp and warm — germination stalls below about 65°F, so a cold sill in winter adds days. If nothing shows by day 21, press a few spare seeds into the surface and keep going; the first sowing often still comes up alongside.

The seedlings are tall, pale and falling over Not enough light. Leggy seedlings are reaching. Move the box to your brightest window — south-facing if you have one — and turn it a quarter turn every few days so it grows straight. Legginess does not reverse, but new growth will come in sturdy.

Leaves turning yellow Usually water, one way or the other. Soil that never dries suffocates roots; soil that fully dries stresses them. Water when the top inch is dry, until a little runs into the tray, then stop. If watering is right and it has been six weeks or more, it is hunger — a weak liquid feed fixes it in days.

White fuzz on the soil Harmless mold that means the surface is staying too wet. Scrape off the fuzzy layer, water a little less often, and give the room some air movement. It almost never returns.

Tiny flies around the pot Fungus gnats — an annoyance, not a threat. They breed in constantly wet surface soil. Let the top dry properly between waterings and they leave within two weeks.

Brown, crispy leaf edges Heat or dry air, commonly a pot sitting against a radiator or in an afternoon-blast window. Pull it a hand-width back from the glass and away from heat sources.

I cut it back and now it looks like sticks Give it ten days. Mint regrows from every node below a cut. This is how the plant is supposed to be used — a hard cutback every couple of months is what keeps it producing.

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