Bad tasting basil

[bario1]

Hello.

My home grown basil looks the part but tastes disgusting - has anyone else experienced this? I did a taste test with some shop bought and mine, and I had to spit mine out it was so vile. Nasty bitter metallic flavour!

[Snoop Puss]

Sorry to hear that. Do you think the plant is at fault or might it be some other factor like feed?

[bario1]

Don't know Snoop Puss, but it's never had any feed. It's growing in a window box in my blowaway, in normal mpc.

[Bren In Pots]

Bario not heard of basil tasting odd wonder what caused it, if you've still got some of the shop bought basil left pinch out the top few inches and leave it in water to root then pot it on. I've done this twice to mine this season already.

[burnie]

I've never had a nice tasting Basil lol, got 2 pots in the greenhouse with the intention of trying again when the tommies are ripe.

[bario1]

Maybe Basil in Scotland is a stretch too far Eh Burnie? Hardly the Med, is it?

[Zelenina]

I haven't had that problem with my basil. But plants often produce more "protective" compounds when they are under stress e.g peppers which get hotter. Maybe there isn't enough depth for the roots in your window box. Basil likes to have lots of root space, and when it does it grows into a much bigger plant. Where I live it does well outdoors in the ground, but perhaps not where you are. So maybe try growing it in big pots or flower buckets instead. Or you could try some different varieties of basil to get one that suits your conditions better. I've got Thai, purple, Ball Greek and Genovese, but the slugs keep attacking the Genovese so it's looking very ragged. The Ball Greek or other dwarf types might do better in your window box. I've also seen a variety called British Basil, which is supposed to do better under British conditions, and that might be the one for you.

[Containergardener]

We use a lot of basil and I often buy shop bought which I then split into 4 plants into tomato bag compost . If cool (I'm at Scottish border in the forests) I leave them on living rm window ledge (west facing) and pick from there. If warm it goes in the Greenhouse, never managed any outside ..too windy.
I grow my own from seed and do same .

[Mr Bones]

Just a thought Bario but was it the big slug lurking under one of the leaves that didn't taste so good, or maybe his bitter water resistant trail