New at starting basil & parsley

[Vince]

Only one piece of unsolicited advice for basil growers, it is EXTREMELY easy to take cuttings from. Just cut and throw in a glass of water and it will make roots. Turn one plant into many this way.

[gallaure]

Mx4 - don't save any of the seed from the purple/green combos, only from the ones that stay purple. Otherwise, each succeeding generation gets a bit greener... Purple basil is kinda hard to keep purple. The green mutants keep coming in!

On a side note, purple basils are SO tasty!

[kevokie]

We went to a garden show today and there were a few people selling purple basil. It smells just like the green basil and I just wanted to chomp it so bad. I love basil....

[stormymater]

OK - another newbiw question - I have DENSELY sowed the basil in little 3 inch cells. They now are little chia pet heads getting their second set of leaves. These seem way beyond separating individually like the tomatoes (which I have gooten darned good at untwining roots with.
Question - Do I just break these into fourths & repot? Or do I separate them further now? Gotta deal with them today.

[ruet]

Another question -- how many of you companion plant basil with your tomatoes? I've seen a lot of hearsay that basil and tomatoes make good companion plants -- either basil improves the taste of your tomatoes, or it repels insects somewhat, or simply due to the convenience of proximity when you raid the garden for sauce ingredients...

I'm bringing up about 12 toms this year in 5-15gallon pots. I have two varieties I'm thinking of companion planting with my toms --
a. A dwarf basil variety from last year that didn't get higher than 8"


And a plain sweet basil that supposedly will get up to 24".


Wondering which of these would be better to sow. Option 3 is Cilantro, and Option 4 is Plant the tomatoes alone -- thinking their roots might crowd eachother in my smallish containers.

[Polar_Lace]

Stormy,

Just try to think of it this way: ONE Basil plant per Gallon of Soil (as in a gallon jug of milk,) then make it so. Along the hedges, walkways in with other plants, especially tomatoes!

Companion Planting for Better Yields Chart

Companions that Attract Beneficial Insects Chart

Companion Planting for Pest Control Chart

Vegetable Gardening - Companion Planting Chart

I hope the above charts can help you.
----------------------------------
ruet,

The first basil you posted looks like Globe Basil.

~* Robin

[huntoften]

If you want to have some fun. try growing Thai Basils. I have Holy Basil red and green, Siam Queen, Thai Magic, Green Joy and Purple Stem...all have unique scents and flavors and are very pretty as ornamentals as well.

[habitat_gardener]

stormy,
Yes, you can separate them.

I make a lot of compost at my community garden, so I take whatever garden waste the gardener in the next plot produces. One day a few years ago, I found a clump of basil seedlings in the pile of garden waste -- she'd seeded heavily in a 4-inch pot and wanted only a few plants. So I separated them and ended up planting 30 or 40 plants in a bare plot I had that year, with row cover for the first week or so. All of them thrived.

[Sprocket]

ALrighty a quick Q for all of you pro basil growers. This is the first year I've started basil. Do I spread seed in containers heavy and thin, light, or heavy and transplant accordingly????

[Polar_Lace]

Suze is the pro at growing basil too!
Wait for her answer?
I know she uses the Dense Method of planting for alot of tiny seeds. So maybe you're correct Sprocket.

~* Robin

[Sprocket]

Hey Polar, thanks for those links. You, like everyone else in here, are always most helpful.

[msmithng]

I was NOT aware of this... thanks!!

[nangisha]

Originally Posted by Vince

Only one piece of unsolicited advice for basil growers, it is EXTREMELY easy to take cuttings from. Just cut and throw in a glass of water and it will make roots. Turn one plant into many this way.

I wish I knew before sow my basil but its OK I never see holy basil around any way. I hope its will germinated soon

[pinakbet]

Originally Posted by Vince

Only one piece of unsolicited advice for basil growers, it is EXTREMELY easy to take cuttings from. Just cut and throw in a glass of water and it will make roots. Turn one plant into many this way.

i do this when making pesto. i don't remove the tops of the cuttings and i stick the cuttings directly on seedling trays with moist dirt and I place the tray under a bigger plant for shade. I just make sure that the dirt will not dry off. its easy with our monsoon season now but its a challenge during the dry spell.

after a couple of weeks i have new plants to grow or for giveaways.