Growing Basil

[emily84]

Hello!

I've attached a pic of my basil (sweet genovese) planted from seed on the 18th March.

Seems to have germinated quite well and as you can see I have a few seedlings growing, 2nd set of leaves on the way through.

They seem to have really slowed down though so my first question is do these look about right for when they were planted? They've been kept on my windowsill.

My next question is will these need potting on? I have never grown basil, only brought plants from the supermarket which have several stems inside so I thought I may be able to grow several shoots in one pot. When the plants get bigger I'm guessing they'll need putting into a bigger pot but will they all go together or individually?

Sorry for the, once again, silly questions but I'm really looking forward to having own grown basil and don't want to mess it up!

Thanks in advance,

Emily

[Capsid]

They look fine to me. They do take a while to get going; mine look very similar to yours and I have them outside in an unheated greenhouse. When they get a bit bigger with several true leaves, then I would put them into individual pots (~5") with fresh compost. Then as they grow you can pinch out the tips for your cooking and they will throw out lots of side shoots and bush up.

[emily84]

They look fine to me. They do take a while to get going; mine look very similar to yours and I have them outside in an unheated greenhouse. When they get a bit bigger with several true leaves, then I would put them into individual pots (~5") with fresh compost. Then as they grow you can pinch out the tips for your cooking and they will throw out lots of side shoots and bush up.

Thanks Capsid (again!)

Good job I checked really because I thought you grew several shoots in one pot, like they do in the supermarket plants.

So in truth will I only need a couple of stems if they re grow after picking? I don't want to keep all the plants and end up with more basil than could ever be consumed!

[Alison]

I do always grow several plants in each pot and quite often don't repot at all, just keep the 3" pots of it on the window ledge for harvesting when cooking. Works well for me.

[emily84]

I do always grow several plants in each pot and quite often don't repot at all, just keep the 3" pots of it on the window ledge for harvesting when cooking. Works well for me.

Alison,

Great, thanks! So if you had a pot looking like mine, would you thin out or just leave it to grow?

[Alison]

I'd just leave it but I could just be lazy and there are many ways to do things

Maybe try a bit of both and see what works best for you.

[emily84]

I'd just leave it but I could just be lazy and there are many ways to do things

Maybe try a bit of both and see what works best for you.

Thanks Alison, I think I like the lazy way!

[Fernw]

I would just thin out any that are growing right on top of another but otherwise I grow several in a pot too.

[chris]

I'm doing both.. last year I potted a single stem out from a supermarket bought bunch, kept the rest indoors - planted it out in an old watering can and it grew massive. I let it flower, and it just kept growing and growing!