We love basil in our family, and each summer we grow lots of it. I like to sow a big, beautiful pot of basil seed out on our patio, where the proximity helps me to remember to keep the soil moist. Of course, you can sow the seed directly into the garden, but after losing my ENTIRE basil crop 2 years ago to ants just under the soil line, I’ve taken to growing most of it in pots. But I don’t want to wait the weeks it will take for the basil to grow large enough for plucking, plus by then our lettuce bed will be finished. What’s the point of a homegrown salad without lots of homegrown basil?
To get the basil ball rolling, I like to buy at least a couple of different varieties as bedding plants. Bedding plants are more expensive per plant, but if you buy herbs as bedding plants, have you noticed that invariably it’s really not just one plant but several, all in that one pot? I’m not sure why growers do this — whether it’s ease or because the plants do better with the others as support for new tender stems. Whatever the reason, I try to take advantage of the “free plants” by dividing what’s in that pot.
Dividing the plants is easy. You’ll want to have your garden spot dug and ready or the larger pot into which you’ll plant the divisions already filled with soil before you start this process, to minimize the amount of time the plant’s roots are exposed. It’s always advisable to do this job in the shade or in the morning if it’s a hot day, and always have a garden hose or container of water nearby, to give the transplant an immediate drink once it’s in its new home.
- Start by giving the bedding plant a nice drink, then remove the entire plant from it’s container. If it’s been grown in one of those peat pots, peel away the peat outside. You can save this for compost or incorporate it into the soil.
Red Rubin basil, ready for dividing
- Using a non-serrated knife, slice straight down through the soil, keeping your cut as centered as possible between the stems. (A serrated knife will tend to tear. You want a nice, clean cut.) In this photo, the plants are pretty widely spaced, making it easy. But you can still cut between plants that are closer together. Just be careful not to cut right up against any of the plants’ stems where they meet the soil. If the plants are that close together, that’s a little too close for dividing.
Lettuce Leaf basil getting its last cut, with mult-stemmed dill in the background, waiting its turn
- After the plants have been cut apart, settle them immediately in the prepared soil or pot. I like to incorporate a bit of planting medium with some all-purpose fertilizer already added right into the planting hole. You don’t want to do a lot of fertilizing of herbs, because it tends to diminish their flavor. But a quick snack won’t hurt them and it gets them off to a good start. (If you’re using a pot, you’ll obviously have to fudge a little on the recommended spacing.)
- Now you’ll want to encourage them to fill out, nice and bushy, by pinching off about the top third of each transplant, just above the next set of leaves. Sometimes I hate to do it, but it makes a huge difference in their growth… plus now you have a bit of basil for your lunch!
- Give them another good drink of water and you’re finished. You’ll soon have an entire stand of tasty basil for the price of one bedding plant.
And the winner is…
Congratulations to Mark L. in New Jersey, who is the winner of our “Veggie Cage Fresh-Picked Facebook” drawing. Our sincere thanks to everyone who participated by Liking us on Facebook. If you like Veggie Cages or Tomato Rings, of if you enjoy the Inside the Garden Gate blog, pass it on!
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