My basil plants are finally starting to look like, well, basil! Filling out and green. Doing the Farmers Market (herbs) have more plants than last year. I was also trying to go mostly organic. I used some MG potting mix for the basil previously. Between soil not rich enough, some puny starts, some weather problems etc, most plants were replaced. They were still light green and slow growing. I hit them with the fish stuff (fish emulsion) for the N. I usually do 5 tbles/5 gallon bucket. 2 weeks ago after missing a week or so, did 10 tables/5 gallon bucket. They perked up! Just did about 8/bucket (2 week interval).
BTW, these are all in containers, spare about 5 in ground plants. The soil should be good. It's a mix of well draining potting soil, humus, cotton burr, and fresh worm castings. This combo is lacking in N, and some things like basil need lots.
This is trial and error, and a great learning curve!
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PunkRotten
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Basil needs more fertile soil than the other herbs. We think it should grow, and grow fast, which means lots of leaf/stem growth. I will add that Miracle Grow potting mix does work for the most part, but if going more organic need to be somewhat more creative. I'm adding the fish emulsion for the heavy N (nitrogen) needs.
Hope this helps
Hope this helps
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PunkRotten
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- Posts: 1989
- Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2011 8:48 pm
- Location: Monterey, CA.
I have been hearing some good things about the fish emulsion. I was hearing that the tomatoes would like that too. I have to take back a pond plant to lowes since it never sprouted. I am gonna get a credit so maybe I might pick up some fertilizer with the money.
I did a little trimming on my Basil plants yesterday. So maybe that will help them start growing better. But in my experience I have found that Basil can be over watered really easy. So I am very careful about that. I got 3 types of Basil, I have one called Nufar, sweet Basil, and one called Mammoth I think. I actually had seeds of the mammoth and now I have some sprouts.
I did a little trimming on my Basil plants yesterday. So maybe that will help them start growing better. But in my experience I have found that Basil can be over watered really easy. So I am very careful about that. I got 3 types of Basil, I have one called Nufar, sweet Basil, and one called Mammoth I think. I actually had seeds of the mammoth and now I have some sprouts.