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Tue, Jun 26, 12 at 7:27
| I have managed to kill every basil plant I've owned, mostly the plants that come in the plastic bags with water in the bottom from the grocery stores. We now have a basil plant in a pot on our balcony in Istanbul, but we are extremely new to gardening and don't know how/when to pick our basil. We have been clipping off whole stems with the leaves attached about 3-4 days a week. I try to clip the stems off of the main branches at 45 degree angles, but now some of the spots where I clipped appear brown and seeem unlikely to grow new basil. It has plenty of sun and we water it twice a day because it gets extremely hot here, but our leaves are curling and also we aren't sure if we are properly harvesting our basil. Could someone give us some advice in layman's terms? Most gardening terminology goes right over our head.
Thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Maybe you are cutting in the wrong spot. Cut just above a place where leaves are growing or about to grow. You should be able to see some leaf buds. The plant will put out new growth in this area so the brown end won't be noticeable. In place of the one branch that you cut off, two new ones will grow. If the plant is still in the original pot, I would buy a bigger one and re-pot it. Hope you can buy some potting soil some place. Potting soil should already contain some fertilizers. It could be the root needs more room and more fertilizer. |
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- Posted by SummerCedar none (My Page) on Tue, Jun 26, 12 at 9:32
| When you clip your basil, you want to make sure you are clipping about two leaf bunches up, to allow the plant to grow more stems and leaves. If you clip the whole stem, it is unlikely it will produce more leaves. You may actually also be over watering the basil if the soil does not drain well; basil does not like to have standing water at all, or overly wet roots.If you can the next time, put a layer of gravel in the bottom of the pot to help it drain. |
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