Basil

[annie8]

I often struggle to grow herbs like basil successfully. Going well so far so don’t want to blow it. Have two seed trays sowed inside a few weeks apart and still on a windowsill. Both growing well and at the point where I need to prick out the first one. Do I do that and keep the pots inside or try them outside in the greenhouse, cold frame. My greenhouse gets very hot in the summer. Have also direct sowed some in the beds.

[Snoop Puss]

Where are you based, annie8? What are your overnight temperatures like?

[Bren In Pots]

Annie my Basil was planted in the GH border on the 10th May its doing fine. I've never had any luck growing it in the garden.

[annie8]

In in Edinburgh but in a fairly sheltered garden. Overnight lowest about 7/8 in gh 10. It’s the daytime heat in the gh that is the issue - I don’t have borders in it, so it’d be pots.

[greenishfing]

My basil gets planted out into the greenhouse between the tomatoes and seems to like it there.

[Mr Bones]

Ours has just gone out on the lotty in the PT, it's never done well for us outside.

[Jungle Jane]

I keep mine on the windowsill it’s handy there next to a couple of pots of parsley & the house is like a greenhouse as far as the plants think. I have planted it outside next to tomato plant in a pot but the leaves aren’t as tender as undercover growing so I keep indoors,they’re nice plants to see all the time day & night & they can grow on the shady windowsill too,they don’t need much sun.
How hot does your greenhouse get because maybe some shading nets hanging down the window would help to filter the sun then it wouldn’t be as hot? Just until they harden up

[Bren In Pots]

My GH gets hot basil seems to like it this week the temp has been 34.4c thats with doors, auto-vent and louvers open. In summer it often reaches 39c even with shading.

[annie8]

So tried a wee experiment and put some basil pots in the cold frame and the rest on a windowsill in the house. Decided they would just get too hot in the gh and need to think about what would happen to them when I go on holiday. Huge difference with windowsill pots growing significantly faster. So have now brought them all inside and doing well. After rather a wait I saw a few tiny seedlings in the outside herb bed where I did a direct sow. Will see how that goes.

[Snoop Puss]

Why not try a few in the greenhouse as an experiment? That way you'll know for sure.

I grow basil like greenishfing, in between my tomato plants but outdoors. We hit 44 ºC in the shade as a high on a few days last year, but the plants were exposed to the sun, so it will have been much hotter for them. And they loved the conditions.