Ok, so I bought 2 very nice basil plants from the local home depot and grocery store. The HD one seemed to grow fine in my garden, but we had a bad & sudden freeze last week, and I think it's gone (brownish red in color, and looks dead). The other is inside, and has a number of leaves wilting, and doesn't seem to be taking off. I transplanted it from the cup they had it in, and noticed that the roots had essentially taken over the little pot, so I'm not sure if the transplant into good garden soil will take or not. I'm also not entirely sure how much to water.
Does anyone have any recommendations to get a good indoor herb garden going, and then perhaps a good outdoor summer one? Thanks for any help.
Doug
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dmaltarich
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dmaltarich
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MC Mixin Bricks
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[img]https://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae41/MC_Mixin_Bricks/Picture33.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae41/MC_Mixin_Bricks/Picture35.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae41/MC_Mixin_Bricks/Picture34.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae41/MC_Mixin_Bricks/Picture33.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae41/MC_Mixin_Bricks/Picture17.jpg[/img]
this little guy is curretly on a table at a window and thriving
[img]https://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae41/MC_Mixin_Bricks/Picture35.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae41/MC_Mixin_Bricks/Picture34.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae41/MC_Mixin_Bricks/Picture33.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae41/MC_Mixin_Bricks/Picture17.jpg[/img]
this little guy is curretly on a table at a window and thriving
Last edited by MC Mixin Bricks on Mon Mar 08, 2010 1:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.
That's an adorable pot! 
Basils need a temperature above 50 F to live, in general. So if you plant them outdoors in the spring, wait until the nightly temperature is above 50 consistently. They also need a lot of sun... make sure they are getting at least 6+ hrs of proper sun (or artificial lighting) if you have them indoors.
I have some basil indoors, they seem to do fine, although I have them in terra cotta pots and it is not very humid lately, so the soil tends to get dry quickly because I have them under a light. I believe the recommendation for basil is to keep the soil moist without overwatering.
Also, if you get more basil, you might want to get it from a nursery... in general nurseries have better (healthier-looking) plants than home depot or lowe's.
Basils need a temperature above 50 F to live, in general. So if you plant them outdoors in the spring, wait until the nightly temperature is above 50 consistently. They also need a lot of sun... make sure they are getting at least 6+ hrs of proper sun (or artificial lighting) if you have them indoors.
I have some basil indoors, they seem to do fine, although I have them in terra cotta pots and it is not very humid lately, so the soil tends to get dry quickly because I have them under a light. I believe the recommendation for basil is to keep the soil moist without overwatering.
Also, if you get more basil, you might want to get it from a nursery... in general nurseries have better (healthier-looking) plants than home depot or lowe's.
Also, if you are doing plants in containers indoors, you will need to make sure you have a proper soil mixture... Don't use plain 'garden soil' because that will just compact and get hard like a brick inside, which is hard for your plant's roots to grow through. The best mixture to use depends on your plant (PH, plant's soil type preference, etc.), but in general it's good to mix potting soil with coarse sand and compost, humus, etc. 33% sand (grain size of 1-2 mm), 33% potting soil, 33% organic matter is not a bad way to go. if you can't get sand, add perlite--that will help drainage as well.
Make sure you pay attention to drainage, soil mixture, correct watering and lighting... those are the main things for indoor containers.
Make sure you pay attention to drainage, soil mixture, correct watering and lighting... those are the main things for indoor containers.
Yes, I have found with my previous years with basil (which have been very and surprisingly successful 
) they are fine indoors and just like emerald7 said the mixture works well. I think I used just ordinary compost from my garden and a tiny bit of sand, and that seems to do well.
Also, for the outdoors, if you put a basil plant outdoors, you can apparently pick off the top, and so that splits into 2 then you pick them off so it splits into 4 then 8 then 16 etc. I have never actually done this but I have seen people do it and the plants get very big.
Hope this helps a bit!
) they are fine indoors and just like emerald7 said the mixture works well. I think I used just ordinary compost from my garden and a tiny bit of sand, and that seems to do well.Also, for the outdoors, if you put a basil plant outdoors, you can apparently pick off the top, and so that splits into 2 then you pick them off so it splits into 4 then 8 then 16 etc. I have never actually done this but I have seen people do it and the plants get very big.
Hope this helps a bit!