And will putting the pots on a high table help guard against the slugs?
Well drained soil will allow water to flow freely through it, basil will not like being in wet soil. Parsley does not mind as much but will not do well if the soil is too wet.
Difficult to guard against slugs, a high table might help but my slugs can climb! I just check at night, especially after rain, pick any off and look under any pots for any hiding.
"I usually save basil seed from year to year" - does that mean you somehow get the seed from the plant? Or you buy enough to use the following year??
It means I let the outdoor plant flower and set seed which I collect for the following year.
"it will seed itself"
This just means that the plant will flower, make seed and the seed will fall to the ground and grow into another plant.
I hope that is a good enough explanation but ask again if any of this does not make sense. What is your first language? Just interested
"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it." Sir Terry Pratchett
And look out for African basil it's both tasty and also very ornamental. And because it doesn't set seed is the only basil you can let flower and it will continue to grow. Easy to take cuttings and keep it in the house during the winter.
My parsley was doing fine surrounded by copper @Singing Gardener until the squirrel found it! Who knew squirrels like parsley? Closely followed by the fox digging up the tarragon - but that was my fault for using BF&B
"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it." Sir Terry Pratchett
Basil is very easy to grow, I have some troughs sitting on a window ledge and just pick or resow through the year. Make sure it's in a warm, bright spot to avoid it getting leggy (leggy means tall, weak growth because the plant is stretching towards light).
When each plant is 6" tall or so, cut off the growing tip (the 2 tiny leaves just starting to form at the top), leaving behind the large mature leaves. Further stems will sprout from the leaf axils (the join between the leaf and the main stem), so you get bushy plants and more leaves instead of really tall floppy plants
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Difficult to guard against slugs, a high table might help but my slugs can climb! I just check at night, especially after rain, pick any off and look under any pots for any hiding.
"I usually save basil seed from year to year" - does that mean you somehow get the seed from the plant? Or you buy enough to use the following year??
It means I let the outdoor plant flower and set seed which I collect for the following year.
"it will seed itself"
This just means that the plant will flower, make seed and the seed will fall to the ground and grow into another plant.
I hope that is a good enough explanation but ask again if any of this does not make sense. What is your first language? Just interested
More info here https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/116502/Ocimum-African-Blue/Details
@GemmaJF
Thanks!
oh dear!!!
When each plant is 6" tall or so, cut off the growing tip (the 2 tiny leaves just starting to form at the top), leaving behind the large mature leaves. Further stems will sprout from the leaf axils (the join between the leaf and the main stem), so you get bushy plants and more leaves instead of really tall floppy plants