I live in Berlin and it can get a bit cold at night here, so I am just wondering how long should I wait before I can plant a few basil plants (already around 10" tall with some large leaves but a lot of smaller ones lower down)? Currently the weather is amazing, but in the coming weeks it could still easily get down to 2-3 degrees in the night, hopefully won't but there really is no way to know. So how long should I wait?
One side question, is it possible/easy to split a basil plant in half or quarters to spread it out a little more? It is looking quite crowded around the base.
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applestar
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Don't put basils outside until short-sleeve weather. You could clip off the top of the plant -- cut the stem under the growing tip and the first pair of big leaves -- and use it for something (chop up for garnish on pasta or omelette, sandwich....)
Did you grow this from seeds? If there are multiple plants in the pot, you may be able to -- need to -- divide by separating them, but if they are already entangled, you might be better off just uppotting in a bigger pot. What size pot is it/are they in?
A photo might help to help us give specific advice.
Did you grow this from seeds? If there are multiple plants in the pot, you may be able to -- need to -- divide by separating them, but if they are already entangled, you might be better off just uppotting in a bigger pot. What size pot is it/are they in?
A photo might help to help us give specific advice.
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rainbowgardener
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basil shouldn't be planted outdoors until night time temps are consistently above 10 deg C (50 deg F). But you can start hardening them off to outdoors now - if you are having warm days, bring your little pots out and set them somewhere in part shade, filtered light, etc., not direct sun especially not direct, hot afternoon sun.
Re dividing them: One basil plant cannot be divided. But pots of basil are typically sold with several to many seedlings in a pot, to give the pot that nice full look:
Each of those stems in the pictures is one basil plant. The plants can easily be separated and spread out and should be. Slide the whole root ball out of the pot and then gently pull the plants apart, by pulling on the soil (NOT on the plant).
Re dividing them: One basil plant cannot be divided. But pots of basil are typically sold with several to many seedlings in a pot, to give the pot that nice full look:
Each of those stems in the pictures is one basil plant. The plants can easily be separated and spread out and should be. Slide the whole root ball out of the pot and then gently pull the plants apart, by pulling on the soil (NOT on the plant).