Basil Indoors

[Leah]

[I tried to skim and make sure that I'm not blatantly repeating another thread, so if there is one and I missed it, I apologize!]

Does anyone have any advice for growing basil (and herbs in general) indoors? I've been trying, but it's not going as well as I would like...

 

[Chuck]

[I tried to skim and make sure that I'm not blatantly repeating another thread, so if there is one and I missed it, I apologize!]

Does anyone have any advice for growing basil (and herbs in general) indoors? I've been trying, but it's not going as well as I would like...

The main thing is plenty of sunlight and don't forget to fertilize every 2 weeks or so. When they start turning toward the sunlight turn the pot around. And if you can put them out on the patio or something once in awhile for fresh air and direct sunlight.

 

[Leah]

I have been turning them around when they start leaning towards the sun.

I hope this isn't a dumb question: what do I fertilize them with, and where can I buy it? Is it something I need to get from an IGC or (and I hope that this kind of garden shopping isn't shunned here ) can I get it at somewhere like Wal-Mart?

 

[Chuck]

I have been turning them around when they start leaning towards the sun.

I hope this isn't a dumb question: what do I fertilize them with, and where can I buy it? Is it something I need to get from an IGC or (and I hope that this kind of garden shopping isn't shunned here ) can I get it at somewhere like Wal-Mart?

I am an organic gardener and probably all you can find at the box stores are chemical fertilizers like MiracleGro, Scotts etc. I am sure that there are nursurys and mom and pop lawn and garden stores that will have organics both liquid and granular close to you. Plus these people know how to grow things and will help you. Here in Texas my preferred fertilizer is Medina Green & Gro granular and Hastagro liquid but I doubt they have it there. My advice--look in the Yellow Pages under Nursury or Lawn and Garden, find one close by and give them a visit. My experience with Box Stores is that the "experts" there were burger flippers last week.

 

[Meowmie]

I use fish emulsion, and grow my basil under full spectrum lights. Couldn't imagine not having my herbs available all winter long, along with my wheat grass.

 

[Chuck]

I use fish emulsion, and grow my basil under full spectrum lights. Couldn't imagine not having my herbs available all winter long, along with my wheat grass.

Down here in Texas I used to use fish emulsion for everything. Its great stuff but then the fire ants moved in and are attracted to it so another great organic fertilizer is not so good anymore. I wished it was

 

[firelily99]

Can you be more specific as to your problems with growing the basil? What do the plants look like and what exposure are they planted in? Basil is fairly easy to grow inside so it sounds like something is missing for the plants. Can you post a photo of them so we can have a better idea?

 

[Cjk85]

Basil will grow indoors given the right temperature and light, growing under a couple of fluro's no more than 30cm above the tallest leaf should work fine, and really not cost that much either.
Basi grows quite prolifically with very little attention.

 

[Leah]

Thanks for all your help. Let me be more specific--I plant seeds, and only about half of them germinate. I was unsure of whether or not this is a numbers game or if I am just doing something wrong.

I will get a picture ASAP.

Thank you for all your words of advice.

 

[Leah]

I planted the seeds in the clay pot about three weeks before I planted the seeds in the mason jar.

Maybe I'm just being impatient?

 

[Cjk85]

It's always normal to get seeds that don't germinate, but a 50% failure rate is really quite bad.. Your soil looks quite wet too, perhaps try soil that's just barely damp, I would also add a little Seasol to the soil too, but for that quantity of soil you would not need much Seasol at all.

 

[Meowmie]

I always start my seedling of any kind on a heated mat. I find that things with a germination time of about 7-10 days will pop up after 2 or 3 days.

I had a full day and part of the next away from my seedlings and my beautiful 3" tall basil plants died. I already have their replacements underway and they are starting to get their first true leaves. I KNEW I should have repotted them before I had to be away but just ran out of time.

 

[Leah]

It's always normal to get seeds that don't germinate, but a 50% failure rate is really quite bad.. Your soil looks quite wet too, perhaps try soil that's just barely damp, I would also add a little Seasol to the soil too, but for that quantity of soil you would not need much Seasol at all.

I'm aware of that, lol. That's why I asked on here.

The soil in the clay pot dries out a lot more frequently than the soil in the mason jar does. I water it about 2 times a week. But, I haven't watered the soil in the mason jar since I first planted them, so I'm not sure if the water is a big issue in terms of germination.

What is Seasol?

 

[Chuck]

If your clay pot has a hole in the bottom water it from the bottom up. Clay pots have a habit of drying out sooner because clay pots are semi-porus. By watering a clay pot from the top down you will have a hard time of doing a good deep watering...When you stick your finger into the clay pot up to your first knuckle and it is dry then you are way under watering, especially for seedlings. They should be kept damp. Put your clay pot into something about 1/2 as deep as the pot is tall and fill it with water and when it is completely soaked on top remove and put in a very sunny place. When the soil on top becomes dry up to you knuckle do it again.

 

[Cjk85]

Seasol is a seaweed extract fertilizer product, maybe it's not available where you are in which case Maxicrop will also do the job quite well.
Soil that is too wet does affect germination, and can sometimes lead to abysmal germination rates, hence mentioning it,.