Help! Stunted Sweet Basil

[Newbie Gardener]

Good day All,

I'm new in this forums and I live in the Philippines. I'm having trouble with my sweet basil. I've done some back reading on this forum and found out that sweet basil is one of the easiest plant to take care of but sadly my Basils are not that doing good.

They haven't grown much this past few months and the leaves are very small. When I bough them, they have big leaves and after a 3-4 weeks, I harvested some to be used and thats when all of these things started.

I pruned almost all of the small leaves yesterday and left the big leaves (original leaves) on the base of the plant.

Any help would be gladly appreciated.

Thank you!

Pat

 

[Chuck]

Good day All,

I'm new in this forums and I live in the Philippines. I'm having trouble with my sweet basil. I've done some back reading on this forum and found out that sweet basil is one of the easiest plant to take care of but sadly my Basils are not that doing good.

They haven't grown much this past few months and the leaves are very small. When I bough them, they have big leaves and after a 3-4 weeks, I harvested some to be used and thats when all of these things started.

I pruned almost all of the small leaves yesterday and left the big leaves (original leaves) on the base of the plant.

Any help would be gladly appreciated.

Thank you!

Pat

Are your plants in pots or in the ground? If in pots it might be a watering/fertilizer issue where the water leaches out the fertilizer. If in the ground I would suspect root damage caused by grubs

 

[Newbie Gardener]

Are your plants in pots or in the ground? If in pots it might be a watering/fertilizer issue where the water leaches out the fertilizer. If in the ground I would suspect root damage caused by grubs

They are in a pot. I usually water them once a day.

Am I doing it wrong? should I water them more?

 

[CuriousRose]

I have noticed that basil tends to grow a little more slowly than other herbs at first. But as soon as summer hits it goes crazy. Maybe yours needs a little more sunshine. If that isn't it, I would guess you need to feed it. A little fertilizer goes a long way to perk plants up.

 

[Chuck]

They are in a pot. I usually water them once a day.

Am I doing it wrong? should I water them more?

How often you water a plant in a container depends on the size of the container. You will have to water a plant in small container more often than one in a large container. Having said that you should only water when the plant needs it. If the plant is a little wilted in the morning water it. When you stick your finger into the soil 2 inches deep and it is dry it is time to water. And when you water completely saturate all of the soil. You cannot over water a plant but you can and will kill a plant by watering too often. Once a day is too often even with a small container unless your basil is still in its seedling pot and if it is it is probably root bound. Stop watering so often. Your basil is drowning.