Basil - what have I don't wrong?

Hi everyone, I'm new here so apologies in advance if this is posted in the wrong spot, or simply a dumb question.

I've been sprouting basil from seeds on my windowsill in a tiny little 24 compartment greenhouse. My seedlings were getting a bit big for their containers, so I transferred them each into individual 4 inch pots.

They are too big and too many to fit on my windowsill, so have moved them outside. I purchased a small 4 tier greenhouse with plastic zip cover to try and keep the plants warm and pest free. They've been outside in the garden (covered with the zip cover) for 5 days now. I've gone and peaked at them, and the newest leaves don't look so well. They appear lighter in colour, and some have grey spots on them and others appear to wilt. What have I done wrong?

Are they too cold? Not enough sub? Too wet? Did I out them out too early? Should I move them inside?

I was so pleased with my initial efforts and so excited to be actually growing something! I always seem to kill every plant that comes my way. How can I save my little basil plants??

 

Here are a few more photos of what my plants are in, the location in the garden (moderate afternoon sun) and what another tray of my indoor seedlings looks like.

Thanks for your reply Loofah. Do you think the roots may have been damaged when I transplanted them?

It's not been too hot or sunny during the day lately. An average of between 13C - 17C, with lows between 8C - 10C at night. I'm a bit worried for next week though - forecast says it will drop to 3C at night so I'm thinking I'll have to bring them inside.

 

Hello and welcome to GC.

They look remarkably healthy to me, which I find interesting because basil is the only plant I know that gets upset by absolutely everything, including ALL forms of weather, and its own shadow.

They grey on the leaves is mould, and its a sign that they're too wet. When watering them, try watering from the bottom of the tray, ie stand the tray/pots in a tray of water and allow the compost to mop up what it needs, but don't leave them in the water for too long (literally as long as it takes them to have a drink). When the weather is warm enough and not windy, I'd open the blowaway door to let some air circulate.

Good luck with them. Basil can be tricky in my experience but yours look like they're doing alright for now.

 

Hi Roxy, Welcome to GC...You'd be surprised how warm it gets in those little greenhouses when the sun gets on them,...they don't look bad to me If the temperatures are set to drop it's maybe a good idea to bring them in overnight at least to be on the safe side

 

Think what basil would get in a Southern Italian summer and how far short of that our weather falls! They probably would not get below 15 degrees night-time temperature there and 30 degrees during the day plus loads of sunshine. *sigh*

I think they don't look too bad, keep looking after them and you'll probably get away with it. If not, resow in May. The seed leaves look a bit patchy but the true leaves look fine. I sow thinly in a big pot so they never have to be moved, usually (but not always) works for me.

 

Hi Roxy
I have several pots of Basil in the greenhouse all raised from seed. I usually keep them loosely covered with fleece all the time until really well established, during the day it keeps direct sun off and at night it protects from frost (that's my theory anyway)
I agree with what Clueless says but yours look fine, well done.

 

I did that one year. I was given a pot of nearly dead, forced basil by a friend's mam, who'd bought more than she said she needed. As soon as I got it home, I gave it a severe hair cut, taking each stem right down to just two or three leaves. Then I gave it a proper good soak til its compost was sodden, then I very carefully bust up the root ball so that I had three or four smaller groups of plants (the supermarket ones are almost always half a dozen or so plants in one small pot). Planted them up in a large rectangular container of fresh compost. I then put it in the kitchen window, which never got direct sun but got a lot of good daylight. Another thorough soaking, then I left it to recover. I chose its site because our kitchen never really got extremes of temperature, due to the aspect of the window, and because I would see it all the time so I could not forget to keep an eye on it. It recovered well, after a few weeks, then we had fresh basil in abundance right through til it started to go to seed in autumn.

 

I've grown Basil a couple of times. I find they seem to do best if you give them the same conditions as Tomatoes. No lower than 10c and not too hot during the day. Yours look ok

 

Inexperienced as I am, this works for me: south-facing windowsill, next to the double glazing, no wind ever, kitchen temperatures. These were sown a month ago and plants are about 8" tall. Leaves picked for freezing get chucked straight into a plastic zip bag. Bags stay on top layer of freezer contents to avoid crushing leaves (or not). Container about 16" x 6"; three such will fit on the windowsill. One year aphids came in the window from the honeysuckle and decimated the basil, but usually, this works well.

 

I'm binning my Basil today, stupid flippin' plant! Too cold I think.

 

Surely my approach doesn't 'optimise' the plant -- it looks just as inglorious as my coriander, which resembles grocery-bought 'living herbs', leggy and not dark green enough. But the magnification of sunlight and heat directly next to the double glazing does achieve flavourful leaves in the basil. A few days of strong sun earlier this month has made the top leaves of my basil ready for harvest already. So aubergine Parmesan (known at our house as E-parm) is on the menu this week.

 

Hey @MrsK, if you like coriander, you could grow some in that empty patch at the foot of your massive tree, once you've enriched the ground a bit with some well rotted manure.

Lots of people whinge that coriander is prone to bolting. In my experience that is only because most people stick them in full sun. With good soil and a bit of shade, they do very well in my experience, and are as pretty as they are delicious. In the right conditions, coriander will easily reach 4ft tall, and if you don't get through it all by the time it flowers, the clusters of tiny white flowers almost look like they're suspended unsupported in mid are. Then come the little beads of seeds, and then finally right at the end of their life cycle, in autumn, they turn very vivid autumn colours, from yellow and orange through to a vivid crimson red. If the wind and rain of winter don't batter the dead stems down, they look great covered in frost too.