Basil plant fused leaves

thisishula · December 2016

I have an Isabella Basil plant that I keep inside by my sunny kitchen window.

I'm growing it to eat it so want the leaves to be healthy and yummy.

I've started to notice little creamy white clusters of spots on the top of the leaves and a few on the underside.- what are these? How do I get rid of them? Are they safe to eat?

Also some of the leaves are fused together. Instead of single leaves they form a 3 pronged leaf (looks like a wrinkly Ivy shaped leaf) Is this normal? Should I pull the leaf off? Is it okay for me to eat it?

Any help is much appreciated

thisishula · December 2016

This is one leaf, it's wrinkly so hard to show but it's 3 leaves fused together. You can also see the clusters of creamy white spots. Is this okay to eat?

Last edited: 22 December 2016 19:43:03

Pete.8 · December 2016

It MAY be spider mites, but I'd have thought they would mostly be in hibernation now.
If you have a magnifying glass have a look underneath one of the affected leaves. They're almost impossible to see with the naked eye.
If you see 2 tiny eye's peering back at you, you'll know.
There's also usually some webbing around where the leaves are fused if there are lots of them.

Hope they're not, but even if they are, you can still eat the leaves, just a little extra protein

Fairygirl · December 2016

Basil can be prone to whitefly. I grow it on a windowsill and they sometimes get a bit sticky. I put a poly bag over the pot to contain the compost, and then swish the plants round in a bowl of water with a drop of washing up liquid, although water alone often works fine. You can gently rub the leaves as well to get any bits off that don't come away in the water.

Perfectly fine to eat afterwards - I'm still here to tell the tale

Basil plant fused leaves

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