Basil keeps dying

Mydreamlife · Sun Mar 30, 2008 6:39 pm

Why does my basil keep dying... We love it and eat a lot of it!!! so a plant is the only way to keep up with demand. I just keep killing them... I thought th efirst one I over watered, then the next shrivled up and now this on just isn't growing. Always kept on kitchen windowsill with warm consistent temp but not direct light. What am I doing wrong?????

Claire

contadina · Post: # 92624Post **contadina** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 6:55 pm

Are you growing from seed or from a plant bought at a garden centre/supermarket? If it's the later, split each plant into separate pots as nurseries tend to squeeze too many into one pot - great if you want to use it for just a few dishes, but no good if you want it to continue thriving for several months.

Basil's a summer herb which doesn't tolerate cold. It's best to germinate seeds indoors each year before transplanting outside when the ground warms up.

Mydreamlife · Sun Mar 30, 2008 7:23 pm

Thankyou for that... I may sound a little nieve now but is one stem a plant or is the plant defined by it's root system? I have just gone to try and save my lattest (from T***O's) plant and can't decide how to split it!!!!!

contadina · Post: # 92633Post **contadina** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 7:34 pm

One stem per plant. I've just copied this off the RHS site. They've explained it far better than I could.

Choose a healthy-looking pot of basil from the supermarket in late spring. Water well. Gently tease the roots apart. Pot on singly into 7.5-9cm (3-3.5in) pots of loam-based compost, or group two to three seedlings in a larger container, sinking the stems up to the first true leaf. Water well and shade for the first few days while the plants acclimatise. Stand out or plant in the garden when all danger of frost has passed. Pinch out the growing tips to encourage a bushy habit.

Mydreamlife · Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:04 pm

Thankyou soooo much I have spent a small fortune on basic plants ect over the last couple of years... my kids are addicted to the stuff and know instantly if it has ben left out of a dish it would usually be in!! Hopefully I will have more luck now!!!

Claire

frozenthunderbolt · Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:10 pm

Mydreamlife wrote:Thankyou soooo much I have spent a small fortune on basic plants ect over the last couple of years... my kids are addicted to the stuff and know instantly if it has ben left out of a dish it would usually be in!! Hopefully I will have more luck now!!!

Claire

I know just what you mean! i cnat live without bazil, luckily my OH works at a nursary and gets bags of bazil leaf for free

contadina · Post: # 92687Post **contadina** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 5:47 am

Our seedlings are in pots so that I can bring them in at night at the moment and I'm strictly forbidden to pick any leaves. Although we've got plenty of parsley to use at the moment, it's not the same and I'm counting the days.

Clara · Post: # 92698Post **Clara** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:07 am

Another tip that IÂ´ve found useful is to only water in the morning....Basil doesnÂ´t like to sleep with wet feet.

Raising from seed is easy too, so long as it is kept warm (perhaps cut the top off a plastic bottle and place over the pot as a mini-greenhouse), water when you plant and then not again until it has germinated.

Enjoy your basil, Clara x.

hedgewitch · Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:31 am

I'm another Basil fan (ooooh pesto!!)
What I do in the summer is freeze a load so as I have a freshish supply all year round. Just made a ton of tomato sauce with LOADS of freshish Basil in.

eccentric_emma · Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:26 am

mmmmmmm i love basil. just planted a load on the windowsill and made a makeshift greenhouse out of a clear plastic 'giftbox' that came with a christmas present. i hope it works!

possum · Post: # 92755Post **possum** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:05 am

I am growing some giant basil outside, well I was told it was giant basil, but it is still smaller than the ordinary stuff, though it is very pungent

contadina · Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:17 am

I seed saved from last years giant basil as it was so good. I steeped some in alcool to make a basil digestivo and it was fantastic. Radioactive green and a lovely aniseedy flavour.

Millymollymandy · Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:31 am

I have 4 pots of basil on a north facing windowsill. They've been there for months and have provided me with fresh basil all through the winter.

Two are Holy Basil and the other two are ordinary. One of the ordinary basils I planted loads of seed in one pot (just like they do in garden centres/supermarkets). It is still thriving and I sowed it all about March last year!

Next lot is coming up in the propagator.

I am only growing ordinary basil indoors from now on, as outside the leaves get very tough and leathery from the heat/sun, and just wants to flower all the time. I haven't the time to be deadheading loads of 2 foot high basil bushes!

Holy basil is best grown under cover but outdoors as it needs the heat but can't abide rain on its leaves (or so it seems).

godfreyrob · Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:04 pm

I would second that post about growing under cover. Basil originates from india and the asian tropics - it is going to struggle outdoors in the average uk summer unless you have a really sheltered sun trap. Even a slight touch of frost will turn the leaves black and its all over...

Hawthorn · Post: # 92789Post **Hawthorn** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:50 pm

Only tip I have about basil is don't kill it with kindness. You have it on a warm spot without direct light which is good, but don't water it until it starts to droop. Then give it a good soaking, then repeat the cycle. I used to kill Basil too, but this saved me