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basil,basil,basil whats wrong

17 years ago

Hi, brand new to this site, its really cool! my wife and I

are novice gardeners and we would like to know what we did

wrong? last month we went to the nursery and bought several

herb plants pots soil and so forth. we love thai basil and bought a bunch of plants hoping for success. they have all died except for 1 pot. brown spots, curled leaves, root rot(i think very brown at botton and sickly looking), and pretty much stoped groing. the plants are in all purpose miracle grow soil with fertilizer also we have been using

miracle grow all purpose liquid fertilizer from time to time. all the other plants are doing very well(pinaple mint, rosemary, and purple sage). if anyone can give advice we would be much obliged! sorry for writing a novel!

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Comments (7)

Heathen1
17 years ago
okay... which ones died? And what did you do to the plants when you brought them home?
Root rot in Seattle could be a common occurance. For the plants like rosemary and 'purple' sage, which like it on the dry side, you will have to mix the soil with a lot of perlite to give drainage.
basils like water, so they are okay. if they died, could be from some shock, which is why I am asking what you did when you brought the plants home.
Daisyduckworth
17 years ago
We need more details, but at first glance it appears likely that you've overwatered your plants, and/or the drainage isn't as good as it MUST be.
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I would disagree that you can't fertilize with organic fertilizers in pots, however if you are going to do so you need to be diligent about how you care for your tree, use a medium that is appropriate for and encourages the growth of microorganisms, and avoid plastic pots. You also have to be careful not to use anything that can damage your microorganisms. When you use organic growing methods in containers you absolutely have to treat your soil as, as much of an organism as your tree, and I would not recommend it to someone starting out with citrus. (I grow my own trees indoors in a huge window exclusively under lights and use organic methods. I get fruit every year and my trees grow very well.) Reading your responses it definitely sounds like you have a few problems: water, light, potential overfertilization. You don't "feed" a tree the way you would feed a pet, fertilizer is not "food" in that way, but should instead be applied as necessary to replace nutrients depleted from your soil. Indoors, your trees won't deplete nutrients as quickly due to the low light and slower growth, so you don't need to fertilize as often or at all. As for watering, as mentioned above you should let the tree dry out between deep waterings and watch that your soil doesn't stay wet for too long. (For example: self watering planters are death for many indoor plants). As for lamps, the kind of grow-bulbs or nice looking growing lamps are not going to provide you enough lumens to grow a tree. You could probably use them for little plants that require low light, but a tree needs more than that. A high powered LED lamp is going to be your best bet for a citrus tree. There are options for ones you can install in your house or you could hide them in some way, but if you want your trees to do well you need a lot more light than a standard grow light. I hope this was helpful, and good luck.
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basiljunkee
Original Author
17 years ago
thankyou guys for replying quickly! thats realy awesome! okay let me try to give more details(i'll try not to wright a novel again). when we brought the plants home we put aprox 2/3rd potting soil in the container made a hole in the middle, loosend the root ball, place in the hole, add some more potting mix and firmed lightly and gave a generous 1st watering. the pots are 8" and oh 12" high.
2 weeks ago though we started having a heat wave. when the
wife and I got home from some galavanting the thai basils
were all droopy i gave them a good watering and they perked
up again within 1 1/2 hrs. after that is when the problems
started. the pots have holes in the bottom and after i water i elevate 1 bottom side to make sure enough water drains. if you need more info just let me know! thanks :)
basiljunkee
Original Author
17 years ago
oh i forgot to ask this, was the all purpose miracle grow potting mix not a good choice?
bart1
17 years ago
I have (maybe) a similar problem that I'd love to get some advice on.

Every year, a few of my basil plants wilt and die. The dead plants are right next to or in between the healthy plants so I'm thinking it's not a matter of too much or to little water, but who knows?

The lower leaves start sagging and wilting and fall off and this condition spreads upward to the rest of the plant until there are no leaves left.

A dead plant could be right next to one the biggest producers that I have and all my plants were started from seed in the same potting soil mix and planted at the same time.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Bart
Heathen1
17 years ago
Well, you CAN over water a plant! :o) I don't care for Miracle Gro, but that's just my preference. Too high in peat moss or something, and I am more of an organic kinda gal. Basiljunkie, I have a feeling that you killed them with shock... that's my guess, when you tear up roots, you have to give them shade while they build more roots, or they don't put energy into that, they put energy into growing, then they die. Mostly, you don't really need to mess with the roots unless a plant is really root bound.
Bart... what did you have your basil next to? I couldn't even guess until you say that.
bart1
17 years ago
Heathen -
My basil is mostly next to more basil! I have a very small bed with 4 tomato plants, 1 parsley, and about 20 basil plants.

Bart

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