how to keep alive those pots of basil from the supermarket

every time i buy one its dead within days… too much or too little water? too much light or not enough? too ho too cold?

what is the secret ????

pre-programmed innit.

they’re forced through, not built for endurance. plant your own and they’ll be proper plants and last ages.

Give me 5 mins, I should have my anti-gravity suit finished by then…

I have had success with them by repotting them

Mine last 2-3 months in the summer, barely a couple of weeks in the winter. I’m guessing light is the key factor.

Also, don’t keep them too wet, it tends to wash the colour and flavour out of the leaves.

Stick it in the freezer, and pop it in the microwave on defrost whenever you need some leaves off it.

Apologies I’ve just been delegated the small task of resolving world poverty. Is it ok to get back to you after lunch?

Re-pot them

Are you leaving them on the windowsill? Can be a bit chilly there on these cold nights.

They cram them in the pots to make it look like you are getting loads – then they die in a few days.

If you thin them out into a few pots they often do a lot better. We keep ours on the kitchen windowsill (when we can be bothered with them) and they last a fair while.

I think you need to re-pot them. We planted some Tesco basil outside in a tub last summer and it did really well – much better than the little pots of herbs we bought at the garden centre for twice the price.

you need a nice warm, sunny windowsill or similar

you also need to repot them

they will do better in the summer – cos there is more sunlight and it is warmer

in my old house I had a “lean to” thing with a see through plastic roof. Supermarket basil plants used to grow crazy big in the summer time – more pesto then any normal family could handle

I’m told by people who “know these things” that supermarket herbs are inherently hard to grow. Their root system is underdeveloped, or something. Your best bet is to buy them from a garden centre rather than the supermarket, but if you must buy from the supermarket then they need repotting to stand any chance at all.

Caveat, our family’s “green finger” gene skipped a generation with me, the only bulbs I’m any good with light up when you plug them in.

will start thinning out tomorrow!

Hydroponics set-up possibly? To justify the £1k+ cost, you could always use it to grow ‘other’ herbs once you’re done 🙂

I repot them once I’ve taken most of the leaves off for cooking and then keep them in the conservatory.

Even if you start from nearly bare twigs they soon start sprouting.

Then you have a two foot high basil plant for the rest of the summer. The cold weather (and darkness I guess) tends to kill it off.

As others have said, don’t water too often.

Still got one going from October. Warmth, light and not too much water seems to work for us.

It lives in fear of The Day of The Caprese though.

Also don’t water until the leaves are starting to go limp and don’t allow it to stand in water

stand the pot in a bowl and pour water into the bowl not on the plant. keep soil moist. warm and sunny location.
lidl seem to be beter than tesco for longevity

I don’t think they are produced with longevity in mind. They’re OK if you want to keep your herb a bit longer than you would expect for a packet, maybe a week or so, but not really suited to being kept as plants.

Anyway, I often find that the basil in packets (i.e not in a pot) has a better flavour. The plants are usually flimsy and weak.

feed from the bottom according to the Mrs.

Carbon is your Mrs some sort of Human Cenitpede fantasist? 😯

feed from the bottom according to the Mrs.

I tried that but I was forever hungry.

feed from the bottom according to the Mrs.

I tried that but I was forever hungry[/quote]

Now that is beautiful. Finely crafted and succinct, Well done.

edit:how come this works in preview but not on the board?

Why keep it at all? One good shearing is just the right amount for a nice pesto. Problem gone.

Who is Basil? and why is he posting from the supermarket?