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Basil update!

sayedhasnainshah3aqVNNwnPsayedhasnainshah3aqVNNwnP Posts: 13
in Plants
So, before I start, I want you to everyone who responded to my first post where I was worried about my basil. You guys helped me a lot and I'm happy to say that my babies are looking a lot better! 

So the changes I did was:
  • I changed my watering style (checking to see if the soil warranted water by feeling it, and allowing some water to soak back up by leaving my pot in its saucer for a little bit before draining)
  • I split my basil in half so I have two basil plants from that one I bought 
  • I pruned my basil which has been very useful
There's some more stuff I need to do, such as feed and I think it's time to put the larger plants outside. On top of that, I'm debating whether or not to split my basil up again put placing it in a substantially larger pot. I watched this video, in which the guy said that I should give my basil shade as well as sun as the shade will help me get larger leaves? I was hoping to see if you guys would be able to back those claims. My final thing as well is, the larger plants was shop bought (as said in my previous post), now that it's getting hotter, should I be worried about direct sun and the heat or should I climatize them a little bit before putting them outside?

I'm going to post pictures of my basil and there's some closeups so you can see the little leaves growing from where I had pruned, feel free to give further advice! Also, my friends mum gifted me two extra basil plants, one of them is a lemon basil. They're growing a lot faster than I thought!
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  • sayedhasnainshah3aqVNNwnPsayedhasnainshah3aqVNNwnP Posts: 13
    Sorry for the weird formatting of the images, guys! They weren't posting when I tried so I've had to send them as files.
  • sayedhasnainshah3aqVNNwnPsayedhasnainshah3aqVNNwnP Posts: 13
    Nevermind, I realised I can just copy and paste the images!






  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I’ll take your word for it,  can’t click on all that lot and download the files. 
    If you take a photo you click on the symbol that looks like a mountain range with a sun shining. 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • sayedhasnainshah3aqVNNwnPsayedhasnainshah3aqVNNwnP Posts: 13
    Lyn said:
    I’ll take your word for it,  can’t click on all that lot and download the files. 
    If you take a photo you click on the symbol that looks like a mountain range with a sun shining. 

    Yeah, that's what I did and then when I uploaded the images, they just didn't upload properly. I managed to send the photos my copy and pasting though, they should be in one of the comments under my post.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    When I click on one of your links I get this. And when I click on that,  I get nothing, 


    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    The important thing now is - use it! You can freeze it too-  I do that for using in autumn/winter.  :)
    If you keep taking the tops out of the plants, that encourages new foliage.
    You can also split some again, or pot into bigger pots, depending on what room you have etc. There's no need to feed if you're potting them again and using a commercial compost as that has food in it. Later on you can always use a diluted seaweed food or similar, as that's fine for foliage. 
    If you're putting them outside, they should be fine out for few hours and in at night just for a few days, assuming your temps are reasonable. It's only if night time temps drop to lower single figures that they struggle. 
    I rarely have mine outside at all - just during the day in summer, and usually in a sunny spot, but they can manage some shade no problem. The rest of the time they're either in the house or in the growhouse. As always, it depends where you live.

    That's the problem with all this online info/youTube, and programmes etc - they assume everyone lives in balmy parts of the country, when they forget  that we don't. Try growing basil outdoors in Orkney and see how well it performs  :D 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I can’t grow it outside where I live,  it stays in the  conservatory.   If it goes outside take care for slugs,  they love it.

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • sayedhasnainshah3aqVNNwnPsayedhasnainshah3aqVNNwnP Posts: 13
    Lyn said:
    When I click on one of your links I get this. And when I click on that,  I get nothing, 


    Were you not able to see the photos I put in the comments either?
  • sayedhasnainshah3aqVNNwnPsayedhasnainshah3aqVNNwnP Posts: 13
    Fairygirl said:
    The important thing now is - use it! You can freeze it too-  I do that for using in autumn/winter.  :)
    If you keep taking the tops out of the plants, that encourages new foliage.
    You can also split some again, or pot into bigger pots, depending on what room you have etc. There's no need to feed if you're potting them again and using a commercial compost as that has food in it. Later on you can always use a diluted seaweed food or similar, as that's fine for foliage. 
    If you're putting them outside, they should be fine out for few hours and in at night just for a few days, assuming your temps are reasonable. It's only if night time temps drop to lower single figures that they struggle. 
    I rarely have mine outside at all - just during the day in summer, and usually in a sunny spot, but they can manage some shade no problem. The rest of the time they're either in the house or in the growhouse. As always, it depends where you live.

    That's the problem with all this online info/youTube, and programmes etc - they assume everyone lives in balmy parts of the country, when they forget  that we don't. Try growing basil outdoors in Orkney and see how well it performs  :D 
    My plan right now is to freeze some of the smaller and medium sized ones and the larger ones, we'll keep for salads especially since Eid is around the corner, fresh basil would be lovely! Now that I've got my basil at a stage where I semi know what I'm doing, I'm gonna try some more stuff out like parsley, coriander etc... Mainly the herbs I use a lot, it's so much cheaper than just buying them constantly and it gives me a project to do as well! I think investing in a growhouse would be a good idea considering I've basically just taken over the entire dining table for this! 
  • sayedhasnainshah3aqVNNwnPsayedhasnainshah3aqVNNwnP Posts: 13
    Lyn said:
    I can’t grow it outside where I live,  it stays in the  conservatory.   If it goes outside take care for slugs,  they love it.

    Will definitely look out for slugs. What's the best way to prevent slugs? I remember my parents using salt as a kid, but if there was any other repellant that works better than I would love to give it a go.
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