Basil pot plant from the supermarket

[xsquared]

I don't seem to have much luck in keeping them to grow. I know it is possible because my friend's plant seems to last all year and gets to a nice bushy stage with enough leaves to make a jar of pesto.

This time I bought a bigger one, dh repotted it and watered it but every one of the stems have turned brown one by one.

What am I doing wrong? It was initially in my living room, but I have just moved it to the porch for more sun and to give the soil a chance to dry out as I suspect the roots were getting waterlogged.

Any tips welcome. Thanks.

I have two that I’ve repotted into one pot (adding a bit more compost). I’ve found that the secret to keeping them alive is LOTS of water (as well as warmth/sunshine).

Yes they are very very thirsty. I watered mine daily and it was massive. It died when we moved - it didn't like the new windowsill, so I suspect they are fussy about sun too. The happy windowsill was south facing.

Thank you. You see, I've tried lots of water but that seems to do the opposite for me!

I've rescued some of the upper parts of the stem and leaves when they started to wilt, and placed them in a small bowl of water. They are doing far, far better than the potted plant, and have even perked up since.

Split it in half as soon as you get it. If the stems have gone brown then yep you probably overwatered. Stick your finger in to the compost to see if it's dry, don't just feel the top. And they like plenty of light and warmth, you are getting towards the stage where it's better to wait and try next spring. They are much less likely to grow over winter.

They're not actually one plant, they're lots of little ones shoved into the same pot so they can struggle. If you can be bothered, we had our best results separating them ALL out into multiple pots!

"LOTS" of water is very subjective and also depends on the size of the plant! It can be tricky to get right but in most cases, underwatering is less likely to kill a plant (or kills it less quickly) than overwatering.

Yes, I inderstsnd there's dozens of them crowded in the same pot, and they need space. One friend did suggest doing two at a time from seedlings, a bit like you saying to separate them.

I succeeded just once. They need a lot of water, much more so than any other plant I've had. They dry out quickly. I use a lot of basil, so although the new leaves were growing, they grew too slowly for me so I ended up with a plant with only tiny leaves.

One basil plant can be the size of a small bush....so they need room and feeding and watering from the bottom - too little is better than too much. Mine this year I put 2 in one pot that's about 8 inches across and separated the rest into a shallow pot that's about 12 inches across - sunny spot and fed well and watered when the soil is dry when you put your finger into it....

Yep they definitely need dividing as soon as you can, a small pot should be divided into at least 4 others, but as many as you can cope with.
I put the potsnI'm not using outside, then when I've picked most of the leaves off the inside one I move it outside and bring an outside one indoors. The used one grows back by the time I've used up the others - one shop bought pot will last 6 months this way!

They like warmth but not bright sunshine. So a warm shady spot is best.

Mine is in a container that has water in the bottom, so the plant takes what it needs from that. Something like this LECHUZA Self Watering Plant Pots Indoor CUBE Glossy 14 Small Plastic Planter without Drainage Hole H14 L14 W14 cm White High-Gloss : Amazon.co.uk: Garden
It's also on a north-facing windowsill, & is still flourishing at over 1 year old.

I grew mine in the garden alongside mint and lemon balm and they went wild which surprised me as the soil quality where I live is awful. As others have said, they need a lot of water and sun.

Thanks everyone.

As I am now down to three green stems with tiny leaves, I've taken two of them and planted them outside and have repotted the remaining one with a bit more soil. It's a bit of an experiment and I'm not getting my hopes up!

Whe I took it out of the pot, the soiĺ was absolutely sodden, so it looks like it never drained properly from being watered the first time.

I’ve never kept one alive for more than a few weeks, I think they need to be in quite a sunny spot and I’ve never had a kitchen that has had a nice sunny windowsill!

Grow them from seed. They sprout pretty quickly.

On the water thing - basil is a complete princess of a plant! They need plenty of water... but they don't like being wet. So little and often is your best option - I usually just give them a little drink every day, but only a little one!

FYI - its an annual so it won't last forever anyway.

Also, there is absolutely a difference in the quality between supermarkets , and then again between supermarkets and a proper garden centre. The Waitrose ones are, according to my aunt who is a bit of a gardening expert, by far the best if you want to then grow them at home but she recommends that if you can, go to a proper garden centre and buy from there. This makes sense as really, those little pots at the supermarket are really just so that the herbs last longer vs when you buy already picked ones.

Mine is still alive after 4 months. Still in the original pot.

I water from the bottom only. I just put mine in a small bowl and every time the water gets low I just top it up. It is a very thirsty beast but smells amazing.