Can you grow basil in Ireland?

armabelle

Hi there

I just purchased a pot of basil because I want to grow it but now looking at the thing, it doesn't look to happy. I keep inside and move it to sunny positions as the day progresses but I read that the plant likes sunny and warm weather. I live in Ireland so don't know if this will be to the plants liking. The weather is very rainy and overcast in Ireland so how will my plant grown and produce more leaves for me? Is basil able to thrive in such a climate as Ireland has?

thanks!

FrancieBrady

We got great life out of ours when we switched from watering it to filling a tray of water and sitting it in it.

Kept on a windowsill here too, but very easy to lose them.

armabelle

FrancieBrady wrote: »

We got great life out of ours when we switched from watering it to filling a tray of water and sitting it in it.

Kept on a windowsill here too, but very easy to lose them.

sorry don't really know much about gardening. What do you mean by "sitting it in the filling tray"? What is a "filling tray"?

thanks!

FrancieBrady

armabelle wrote: »

sorry don't really know much about gardening. What do you mean by "sitting it in the filling tray"? What is a "filling tray"?

thanks!

I meant the tray the plant pot sits in.
Let the plant draw the water up rather that water it from the top. Made a big difference

armabelle

FrancieBrady wrote: »

I meant the tray the plant pot sits in.
Let the plant draw the water up rather that water it from the top. Made a big difference

ah ok, but how do you get below the sand in the pot plant to water it that way?

tampopo

armabelle wrote: »

ah ok, but how do you get below the sand in the pot plant to water it that way?

use an aluminium takeaway dish. Put the basil plant in it, in its pot. Put water in the aluminium dish. The water will be sucked up, or absorbed by the basil from the bottom, rising up.

don't water from the top, flowing down into the pot.

Basil can be prone to white fly infestation too. Keep an eye out for off colour leaves and check undersides of leaves.
A water wash up liquid solution can rid you of them.

I've a good few plants on the go and they do well.

looksee

The leaves on supermarket basil plants are very 'soft' - they have been grown in ideal conditions to force a good head of leaves. If you use the leaves you need then cut off the rest when they start to look sad, then give it a bit of a feed - don't overdo it -and keep it moist without being soggy, it will produce leaves that are sturdier and will last better than the first lot.

armabelle

tampopo wrote: »

use an aluminium takeaway dish. Put the basil plant in it, in its pot. Put water in the aluminium dish. The water will be sucked up, or absorbed by the basil from the bottom, rising up.

don't water from the top, flowing down into the pot.

ah ok, I get it. I suppose I could use any pot plant with holes at the bottom right? The pot plants that came with the basil are a bit ugly so want to change them.

Do you know why basil prefers this type of water as opposed to water from above?

armabelle

looksee wrote: »

The leaves on supermarket basil plants are very 'soft' - they have been grown in ideal conditions to force a good head of leaves. If you use the leaves you need then cut off the rest when they start to look sad, then give it a bit of a feed - don't overdo it -and keep it moist without being soggy, it will produce leaves that are sturdier and will last better than the first lot.

ok thanks, what is good feed for basil? is this normally found in any supermarket?

armabelle

TheTorment wrote: »

Basil can be prone to white fly infestation too. Keep an eye out for off colour leaves and check undersides of leaves.
A water wash up liquid solution can rid you of them.

I've a good few plants on the go and they do well.

that is great! my fear is that they will lack sunlight in Ireland.

Marhay70

tampopo wrote: »

use an aluminium takeaway dish. Put the basil plant in it, in its pot. Put water in the aluminium dish. The water will be sucked up, or absorbed by the basil from the bottom, rising up.

don't water from the top, flowing down into the pot.

I wouldn't leave basil, or any other plant, permanently sitting in a container of water. You probably didn't intend to convey that message but people new to this method wouldn't necessarily pick up on that.
OP the intention is to let the plant take up what water it needs and then take the dish away until the next time, plants sitting permanently in water will drown. You will learn over time what watering your plant needs, but basil likes to be well drained and I don't personally see the necessity to water using this method. The important thing is to water the soil, not the leaves and keep the soil just moist.

Alun

In my experience the best way to keep basil plants going is to water as little as you can get away with. Wait until the leaves just start to look a bit droopy and then water just enough to get them back to normal again. They usually react quite quickly and perk up again.

The other thing is to be careful how you harvest the leaves. Just snip or pinch off the very top few leaves, and make sure that there's two small shoots coming out between the main stem and the two leaves below the tip. Wait until those two shoots have produced decent leaves again before harvesting those in the same way. That way, you're effectively doubling the amount of basil on each stem each time you do it.

Here's a video that explains it ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqQfhwVv3uE

RebelButtMunch

armabelle wrote: »

Hi there

I just purchased a pot of basil because I want to grow it but now looking at the thing, it doesn't look to happy. I keep inside and move it to sunny positions as the day progresses but I read that the plant likes sunny and warm weather. I live in Ireland so don't know if this will be to the plants liking. The weather is very rainy and overcast in Ireland so how will my plant grown and produce more leaves for me? Is basil able to thrive in such a climate as Ireland has?

thanks!

It doesn't grow well for me until the summer. I think that keeping it at the window during the night even now is too cold for it.

J Mysterio

FrancieBrady wrote: »

We got great life out of ours when we switched from watering it to filling a tray of water and sitting it in it.

Kept on a windowsill here too, but very easy to lose them.

The incredible Francie Brady!

armabelle

Marhay70 wrote: »

I wouldn't leave basil, or any other plant, permanently sitting in a container of water. You probably didn't intend to convey that message but people new to this method wouldn't necessarily pick up on that.
OP the intention is to let the plant take up what water it needs and then take the dish away until the next time, plants sitting permanently in water will drown. You will learn over time what watering your plant needs, but basil likes to be well drained and I don't personally see the necessity to water using this method. The important thing is to water the soil, not the leaves and keep the soil just moist.

Ok so if I keep it in its original pot plant and put it in a dish of water around 2 - 3cm deep for a couple of hours then take it away each day will that be ok? seems like a lot of effort though... can't I just leave it in one container?

Marhay70

armabelle wrote: »

Ok so if I keep it in its original pot plant and put it in a dish of water around 2 - 3cm deep for a couple of hours then take it away each day will that be ok? seems like a lot of effort though... can't I just leave it in one container?

As I said, just water the soil from the top making sure not to wet the leaves, basil are prone to mould. Once the planting medium is right to begin with there shouldn't be any need to change the watering regime. Depending on the conditions, your plant may require watering every day or every other day, you will learn to recognise the signs.

FrancieBrady

armabelle wrote: »

Ok so if I keep it in its original pot plant and put it in a dish of water around 2 - 3cm deep for a couple of hours then take it away each day will that be ok? seems like a lot of effort though... can't I just leave it in one container?

I find that rather than sitting in water as somebody rightly warned, the plant will suck up the water very quickly. It's a matter of learning how much it needs as you go so you avoid it sitting in water.
Great satisfaction out of getting one to survive and getting a supply of fresh leaves when you need them.

armabelle

Marhay70 wrote: »

As I said, just water the soil from the top making sure not to wet the leaves, basil are prone to mould. Once the planting medium is right to begin with there shouldn't be any need to change the watering regime. Depending on the conditions, your plant may require watering every day or every other day, you will learn to recognise the signs.

Ok thanks! I got this lovely pot plant at the store yesterday for my basil but when I got home I realised that it had no holes at the bottom. I am a total beginner so this is a really simple question but, can I use something like this or do you think it needs to have holes so to drain out excess water?

Marhay70

armabelle wrote: »

Ok thanks! I got this lovely pot plant at the store yesterday for my basil but when I got home I realised that it had no holes at the bottom. I am a total beginner so this is a really simple question but, can I use something like this or do you think it needs to have holes so to drain out excess water?

It will need to have drainage holes, no plant should be planted in a pot without some form of drainage. You can plant a smaller pot inside a larger one but the pot that the plant is actually in should have drainage and that plant pot should be taken out of the larger one to water and then left to drain before replacing it.

armabelle

Marhay70 wrote: »

It will need to have drainage holes, no plant should be planted in a pot without some form of drainage. You can plant a smaller pot inside a larger one but the pot that the plant is actually in should have drainage and that plant pot should be taken out of the larger one to water and then left to drain before replacing it.

Ok thank you but that leaves me with the question: why is my new pot plant I just purchased holeless if all plants need drainage?

Roselm

armabelle wrote: »

Ok thank you but that leaves me with the question: why is my new pot plant I just purchased holeless if all plants need drainage?

To stop water dripping out the bottom onto your table or whatever and damaging it! You don't plant anything directly into a pot with no drainage holes-as the other poster said you put the plant in a smaller plastic pot WITH drainage holes inside the fancy one and you have to water just a little and make sure water isn't pooling inside at the bottom of the (fancy) pot...

WaterWolf

From my experience you are better off growing basil from seed rather than buying a plant in the super market. The pots you get in the super market have been grown in an artificial environment with about 20 plants in one pot and underdeveloped roots.

I've just been using packets of sweet basil seed from Lidl. Fill a large pot (around 20cm diameter) with compost and plant a few seeds in it. Using a large pot means you don't have transplant later which basil doesn't seem to like. I just use Lidl compost. Put the pot in a shallow tray in a south facing window where it will get the sun.

Keep the soil moist until the plants emerge. Water the soil from the top of pot until the plants have a grown a few leaves when their roots are well formed. From this point on, only water the plant by filling tray at the bottom. Keeping the top layer of soil dry really seems to make a difference. You can tell how much water to put in the tray by how fast it is soaked up.

If any of the plants look withered or diseased you can just cut them down and let the other plants fill their space. Once the plants gets bigger you may need to put stakes in the pot and tie the plants to them. They will also lean against the window for support. Eventually the plants can fill the whole window space. Mine grow up to a metre tall.

My basil plants seem to grow better in the summer-autumn period rather than in spring but that may just be coincidence.

FrancieBrady

WaterWolf wrote: »

Once the plants gets bigger you may need to put stakes in the pot and tie the plants to them. They will also lean against the window for support. Eventually the plants can fill the whole window space. Mine grow up to a metre tall.
.

Wow! that is not a problem I have ever had unfortunately!

armabelle

WaterWolf wrote: »

From my experience you are better off growing basil from seed rather than buying a plant in the super market. The pots you get in the super market have been grown in an artificial environment with about 20 plants in one pot and underdeveloped roots.

I've just been using packets of sweet basil seed from Lidl. Fill a large pot (around 20cm diameter) with compost and plant a few seeds in it. Using a large pot means you don't have transplant later which basil doesn't seem to like. I just use Lidl compost. Put the pot in a shallow tray in a south facing window where it will get the sun.

Keep the soil moist until the plants emerge. Water the soil from the top of pot until the plants have a grown a few leaves when their roots are well formed. From this point on, only water the plant by filling tray at the bottom. Keeping the top layer of soil dry really seems to make a difference. You can tell how much water to put in the tray by how fast it is soaked up.

If any of the plants look withered or diseased you can just cut them down and let the other plants fill their space. Once the plants gets bigger you may need to put stakes in the pot and tie the plants to them. They will also lean against the window for support. Eventually the plants can fill the whole window space. Mine grow up to a metre tall.

My basil plants seem to grow better in the summer-autumn period rather than in spring but that may just be coincidence.

thank you.

armabelle

WaterWolf wrote: »

From my experience you are better off growing basil from seed rather than buying a plant in the super market. The pots you get in the super market have been grown in an artificial environment with about 20 plants in one pot and underdeveloped roots.

I've just been using packets of sweet basil seed from Lidl. Fill a large pot (around 20cm diameter) with compost and plant a few seeds in it. Using a large pot means you don't have transplant later which basil doesn't seem to like. I just use Lidl compost. Put the pot in a shallow tray in a south facing window where it will get the sun.

Keep the soil moist until the plants emerge. Water the soil from the top of pot until the plants have a grown a few leaves when their roots are well formed. From this point on, only water the plant by filling tray at the bottom. Keeping the top layer of soil dry really seems to make a difference. You can tell how much water to put in the tray by how fast it is soaked up.

If any of the plants look withered or diseased you can just cut them down and let the other plants fill their space. Once the plants gets bigger you may need to put stakes in the pot and tie the plants to them. They will also lean against the window for support. Eventually the plants can fill the whole window space. Mine grow up to a metre tall.

My basil plants seem to grow better in the summer-autumn period rather than in spring but that may just be coincidence.

I am about to plant my basil seeds and got a bunch from Lidl as well. I have a long window-sill-type-pot which I would like to use but I just have two questions. I found some oldish multi-purpose compost in the garage I want to use to plant the seeds in. Is this Ok to use or do I need something else? Also, how deep do you plant the seeds into the pot?

thanks again!

I've had similar problems growing coriander. i was talking to a local small vegetable producer who said that he never bothers with basil or those type of herbs simply because he has to grow them in tunnels. the irish climate doesn't appear to be best suited to growing outdoors.
theres a few tips in this thread that i'll take on board this year and i'll see what the outcome is.

I grow dill with very little problems. it's funny how different herbs behave differently.

smacl

Deleted User wrote: »

I've had similar problems growing coriander.

Same, no problems at all with basil but coriander just doesn't happen for me, which truly annoys me as it is a favourite cooking herb for curries and salads.