Stop Killing Your Store Bought Basil

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A lil tip for dividing without damaging as much of the roots is to soak them in water before pulling apart!

I did this last spring and am still enjoying basil 10 months later

I can relate to that basil plant. Some of us just like our space

Basil is often sold in seed-starting mixes. Seed-starting mix is not soil. It is a sterile medium used for, you guessed it, starting seeds. As well as the plants being overcrowded, they are no longer getting liquid plant food to keep them alive. As the video demonstrated, repotting in nutrient-rich potting soil with more space is the way to go. PS: Provide your plants with plenty of airflow.

A very experienced japanese lady tought me to always cut with scissors the top of the plant, in order to not allow it to grow tall but thicker.

If you plant the seedlings next to tomato plants, you will have less aphids. They love growing together.❤

I gently swish the root ball in a bucket of water letting the water rinse out the soil between the roots and relaxing the entanglement. They untangle and separate more easily. Works great for large root balls of perennials that you need to divide in the garden. a hose with low stream of water, wriggling the stems and they'll pull apart with minimal tearing.

The actual instructions begin at 3 mins 40 secs. Great facial expressions! Thank you for this very helpful video.

I have just been given a store bought basil plant and your video has come just in time to rescue it from impending doom 😅

I used to divide store bought basil like you do, but it does not give me optimal results, as it sets the plants back too much. It is better to just take cuttings. Instead of dividing I immediately re-pot the store bought basil in a new larger container without dividing, water with nutrient added to the water and place where there is a lot of light. After about a week, when the leaves have a more healthy dark color, I top all the plants but leave at least one or two pairs of leaves on each plant. The cuttings are put into water, and after about a week each cutting can be planted in it's own pot. The original store bought plants will each make two new shoots for each cut, which can be cut the same way about three weeks later. I also cut the top of the cuttings I put into new pots when they start growing to make them do more shoots and grow more bushy. As I have done for years I bought one basil in the supermarket at the end of February. Right now I have more than two dozen healthy plants in pots and about a dozen in water developing roots. They will go out into my garden in about 6 weeks when there is no more frost, and by the end of the season I expect to have harvested about 6-7 pounds of fresh basil. All from a single store bought pot of basil. When out in the garden you have to harvest a lot all the time to make sure the plants do not begin to flower.

I know that the plants need to have their own space but after living together I'd think they would appreciate being placed nearby their siblings after separation so that they can occasionally say hello to each other.

an 80y old gardener gave me the best tips. --Remove the pot and check the root ball on all seedlings and plants before you buy -- Buy the youngest healthy seedlings before they become big and root bound. They will be less disturbed when re-potting and recover much faster. -- Once a young plants growth is checked (root disturbance, water, light, temperature, wind ) it will never reach its full potential. Stephen from Kopu New Zealand

My friend has a business growing Basil pots for supermarkets, they basically just want to give you plentiful young fresh Basil to provide you with several meals. It's really not intended to grow as such, just be that bit fresher than dried basil in bags. Just thought I'd explain why the growers pack too many in to one pot, it's for your benefit not gardening. But it's pretty obvious, really! Love this video, I grow my own basil and mint from seed, cut the tops and grow them on in water, they are so easy. I love fresh herbs! ♥ Great video.

I could not get here fast enough to see WHY, oh WHY, oh WHY about the basil plants! 😂. Thank you so much love, much apppreciated!!!

I got a basil plant from the store the other week and wanted to propagate the strongest contenders in water. Yesterday while checking why they were looking terrible I noticed spidermites…needless to say I threw everything away and thanked the stars I didn’t sit it next to the rest of my collection.

This was just the video I needed . Can’t count how many pots of supermarket basil I have bought over the years and they just wilted . New subscriber here from Canada ❤

I love how your basil pots say "put it in your pasta!" as if you were buying it for decoration.

I sent this to my mom. She brought home a grocery store basil plant and it wilted within hours of bringing it home. She does not have kitchen window, so she placed it under a bright light on her counter top. Hopefully she finds this video helpful and get her a proper grow lamp.

Used to work in a glasshouse that grew these. Some of the thyme pots had 70 seeds in them. All done by machines really took the fun out of growing. Also lots of fungus gnats and spiders!