What: Seed (Yates Sweet Basil).
Where: 2L ice cream container.
When: May 2009.
Sown in: Top 100mm of Yates Premium Seed Raising Potting Mix, rest Yates Regular Potting Mix.
Fertiliser: Thin layer of RICHGROW: Organic Blood and Bone + Trace Elements & Sulphate of Potash 100mm below surface. Weekly application of YATES: Multi-Nutrient Plant Food with Seaweed at 5ml/L.
Advertised Germination: 10-12 days.
Actual Germination: 12 days.
Advertised Maturity: 6 weeks.
Actual Maturity:
Seedling leaves starting to curl due to infested with Aphids.
Sprayed with MULTICROP: Pyrethrum + Garlic Insect Spray on 20th June 2009.
27 June 2009
Basil
What: Seed (Yates Sweet Basil).
Where: Medium black pot.
When: 20 June 2009.
Sown in: Top 100mm of Yates Premium Seed Raising Potting Mix, rest Yates Regular Potting Mix.
Fertiliser: Thin layer of RICHGROW: Organic Blood and Bone + Trace Elements & Sulphate of Potash 100mm below surface. Weekly application of YATES: Multi-Nutrient Plant Food with Seaweed at 5ml/L.
Advertised Germination: 10-12 days.
Actual Germination: 10 days.
Advertised Maturity: 6 weeks.
Actual Maturity: 6 weeks.
3 July 2009
4 August 2009
15 August 2009
We are having 5 people around for dinner tomorrow night so I though I had better get an updated photo of this before I harvest the bejebus out of it to feed everyone.
10 November 2009
27 December 2009
Hello there! Just checking out other sweet basil entries. I just kinda started taking care of one myself.
ReplyDeleteDid I compute it right? Did it just take you five months to make it grow to that size?
Hi,
ReplyDeleteYeah 5 months to get to that size but that's with a significant harvest once a week to make pesto from about 2 months and in a very small pot.
Good luck!
I was looking at the basil seedlings. It looks like you placed a lot in one pot. Did you notice any overcrowding issues? I tend to just put one seedling in one pot.
ReplyDeleteNo I didn't notice any major problems.
ReplyDeleteAll of those pictures were taken right before a major harvest to make up a fresh batch of pesto. Just one seedling in a pot would take too long for me to get enough leaves to be worth my while.
I see. I keep reading that basil has an extensive root system so I figured I'd leave one per pot. But since you managed to grow them like that, I might just try multiple plants in one pot.
ReplyDeleteWhat you’ve read is true. I recently retired this pot and when I pulled the root ball out of the pot it was exactly that, just a massive ball of roots. For the last 3 months I had to give this plant a heavy soaking daily to keep it in good condition and have planted a new pot out with a lot of water crystals and a Rechargeable Solid Water bag as outlined here: http://veggie-might-sp8.blogspot.com/2009/08/water-management.html which should help address the problem this time around.
ReplyDeleteOops! I just put two of my new plants in a small bedding. I wonder how the roots will look like in a couple of months.
ReplyDeleteTwo plants will be fine, there is over 20 plants in the pot above as you can see when they germinated on the 3 July 2009.
ReplyDeleteHey, ever tried growing basil in water?
ReplyDeleteI can just imagine how much water 20 big plants drink.
No, but they did go through a lot of water although they didn't get 'big' as I savaged them every other week to make up some fresh pesto.
ReplyDeleteHello there! I can't get over how huge your basil plants are. I'm finding that mine are a bit "delicate". My sweet basil mortality rate is quite high unlike my cinnamon basil which is thriving (and yet can't be used for pesto).
ReplyDeletewow, i really do hope that my basil plants grow to the size of yours. i just recently started mine about a month ago but they still look nothing like yours. check them out at my site:
ReplyDeletehttp://agardengrowsinlosangeles.blogspot.com/