Can't seem to grow basil. Please help!

[Emmafh3]

I can grow absolutely everything else. Assuming the chickens don't dig it up....
But basil seems to elude my green fingers.
I've tried from seed, from supermarkets, from garden centers, from cuttings. They all just seem to die within weeks of being near me.
Please tips and tricks to getting them to live! I'm not a complete novice so I know how to water and prune. Unless basil for some unknown reason requires to live in water or sand....

I grow it from seed, chuck it into a pot, a little on top and a couple of weeks later, there it is. It gets watered every few days if the weather is rainy, every day during this summer. I pick the leaves rather than chop it back and it regrows.

From shop bought, I report into a larger clay pot, and again, water every few days or every day this summer.

Repot not report!

Totally place marking @Emmafh3 because I struggle too.

Adding to above, don't water it at night as the stems and leaves don't like being wet. It also needs plenty of warmth and light, so it's past the best time for it, now.

Basil needs a warm sunny spot. Mine’s going to seed now but I’ve had the most success I’ve ever had this year.

Just taken a photo of mine.

First photo is the supermarket one. This was bought from ocado in May.

The second photo is sown seed. Sown mid July.

Literally do nothing with it. They are in the courtyard here in the Midlands, they get sun until about 2 pm, 4 pm in the height of summer.

I too am in the Midlands, I just have noluck! Maybe I'll try again from seed next year....
I've tried outside and inside. Currently have two inside on my windowledge in a heat trap so they stay warm, but one is just dying and the other I don't think is far behind it
Do you keep yours outside all year, let them go to seed, start fresh every year?

So glad in not the only one @bellinisurge

I buy a supermarket one and keep it in a shallow bowl on the windowsill. I water it every day and use it a lot in cooking. A large one will last me for a good six months. Never had any luck keeping one outdoors.

I may bring it in once the clocks go back.

The big pot i will chop all back and freeze it. I have just sown some at the allotment, which I will prick out, grow on and plant in the greenhouse.

I struggle too and fail consistently. Have tried from seed in clay pots, plastic pots, greenhouse and poly tunnel beds. I’ve never had enough to be able to pick a bunch all at once. Can anyone recommend a particular variety

I do what welltidy does- I put the supermarket pot into a big mug on the window ledge and water the pot and fill the whole cup daily (or every other day) - mines lasted about 2 months so far.

I had basil probs too till I realised just how much water they want. As pps have said, water every day.
They’re unbelievably thirsty.

So they do live in water....
I manage to get a few leaves of a plant before it croaks.
Those who have a supermarket one that keep in on bowl/cup, do you just leave it in the planter it comes in?
I always check the roots and they always seem about to be pot bound, surely they don't get very bushy if they don't have mush root space?

No i replant shop bought into large pottery pots as soon as I get them home.

We have experimented a lot with basil, we both love it, but now we keep ours indoors on an east facing windowsill ( They don't like too much sun) , they are annuals, water in saucer ,not from above, keep removing the flowers, they grow bigger that way.

They will also grow roots in a glass of water if you keep removing the flowers and tops.

Take a supermarket one out of its pot. Divide it up into 4 or 5 new pots with fresh compost. You'll have loads of basil. Water from underneath. So put in a saucer and water the saucer. They don't like sitting in water. So only when the pot feels light.

I do all of this and I still have no luck! Although, the bits that are surviving I enjoyed in a bowl of pasta for lunch, yum yum. Surpringly the dc ate it too. Really will need to figure out this keeping basil alive thing...
Will see how it goes in the next week or two with the couple I have. One I divided up and potted on with fresh compost but a lot of it has died, one or two look strong ish but the others are dropping leaves randomly or wilting.
The other I left as one lot and put into a different pot with fresh soil. Looks a little limp but not as dead as the first....
Maybe I'll stick to more complicated plants 🙈

I plant it from seed. A friend of mine once told me that basil will grow best if the soil is well-drained. Also keep your plant in a fairly warm temperature and make sure it will also get some sunlight. You can also put some fertilizer once a month and the most important thing is water your basil everyday.

basil is a tender plant and you'd be lucky to grow outdoors in the Uk other than the summer we've just had.

I had one for ages on the kitchen windowsill. Water it, but not soggy, keep it reasonably warm and it should be ok.

I leave it in the pot that it comes in from the supermarket. Place it in a large saucer or shallow bowl. Water every day but I don’t leave it sitting in water. It stays on the windowsill and lasts months.

I'm sure Monty Don said that basil is a great companion plant for tomatoes. Both need the same levels of water.

The only time I grew basil it was from seed and absolutely thrived in pots outside in the summer - could not believe how big the plants got compared with the ones one buys in supermarkets. But needed loads of water.