How to plant Basil seedlings?

[Colm Osiris]

hi everyone, i'm new here. but i'm intending to grow a lot of herbs over the next year.

a friend gave me a couple of little Basil plants, but they weren't thriving at all, they looked very sad. she said i should dump them because they would be too bitter to eat. but i like to give everything a chance of life if i at all can. so i took cuttings and put them in water. well, they're doing really well. the leaves were quite pale, but they're a lot darker now. and the smell from gently rubbing a leaf is divine, not bitter at all. the roots are wonderful, never seen roots like that before. here they are, a week after cutting, and here they are now.

so my questions are, do they have enough roots to be able to pot them? if so, how? is common or garden compost and perlite okay for them? and do they need separate pots? would they grow into larger pots, or would they prefer smaller ones? thanks for reading.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

They look like enough of a root to take, but they have been used to water, so keep them well wet for a bit at first.

she said i should dump them because they would be too bitter to eat. but i like to give everything a chance of life if i at all can.

Well done for making it work, but generally speaking she is right, get 20 seedlings and really need six, keep the most vigorous ten, just in case, and whittle them down if they all do well by giving four away when they are grown. Weak plants introduce problems like disease and are usually pretty useless.
Never had basil go bitter on me.

 

[Colm Osiris]

thank you very much. i have three different types of Basil seeds too, so i can sow them if these two don't make it. but they definitely want to. but they will be separate from any others i grow, i won't put them all in together. i don't know if it was my fault that they weren't doing well, or they were just weak, as you say, but the leaves are doing very well now.

i will keep them wet until they get used to the soil and are growing well. it's as much of an experiment as anything else. up till now all i've had is a few houseplants, so i've got much to learn.

 

[smitty55]

thank you very much. i have three different types of Basil seeds too, so i can sow them if these two don't make it. but they definitely want to. but they will be separate from any others i grow, i won't put them all in together. i don't know if it was my fault that they weren't doing well, or they were just weak, as you say, but the leaves are doing very well now.

i will keep them wet until they get used to the soil and are growing well. it's as much of an experiment as anything else. up till now all i've had is a few houseplants, so i've got much to learn.

Just for future reference, basil does much better being direct seeded rather than being transplanted. What I've found works really well for germination is after seeding to place a layer of frost blanket/row cover over the bed and keep it damp, it keeps the top layer of soil from drying out. Works great for carrots too.