If it smells like lemon, it's probably lemon balm which in my garden seeds around prolifically. It's related to mint, so they have similarity in appearance.

Just came cross your post, Zora. I expect you already have dealt with your growing seedlings, but I thought I�d describe my technique. See the link below for a photo of some of my little herb & flower seedlings at Flickr. Over the years, I have started thousands of plants just as you did (though I happen to use pots, not pop bottles--but certainly your containers are just fine!). I learned this technique when I worked at a small, family-run nursery; my boss started all her seeds for her commercial nursery as well as her husband�s truck farm in paper strawberry boxes (pints and quarts), starting literally thousands of plants in this way each year. I was the only person she employed as seeder & transplanter (she did much of that herself), so I have had hours and hours of experience doing this! After she retired & closed the nursery, I continued at home the techniques I learned, but on a much smaller scale! I learned always to water the pots from the bottom. I set mine in a dishpan with a few inches of liquid kelp solution (I use Maxi-Crop per label directions). Once the seedlings have grown their 2nd set of leaves (first true leaves), I allow the pots to get fairly dry, but not to the point that the seedlings become wilted or stressed. Of course, I have the cell packs prepared: labeled with the plant name & variety and filled with moist soilless mix that I make up (a blend of peat, vermiculite, perlite, coir, and my worm compost). I also have a quart bowl of extra potting medium within reach. I knock the chunk of seedlings out of the pot, cradling the top of the pot in my left hand (I am right-handed) and sharply smacking the base with my right. Sometimes the soil block takes some persuasion, but the roots are all intertwined and all should come out in a block. Some types of seedlings fall apart easily once out of the pot, others have to be teased apart by gently tickling at the root ball. Don�t squeeze the stems to separate the individual plants or they may be killed; try to handle them carefully by the leaves. This comes easier with practice! Using your fingers, create a small planting hole in the cell pack (or a pot), lay the seedling into the hole, scoop up a small quantity of your soilless mix from your bowl of extra mix and fill the hole in, firming it gently around your seedling. Once the cell pack is complete, set it briefly into a pan of water as described above. The kelp solution helps avoid transplant shock and adds a very light bit of fertilizer. Leave it in the water only for a moment; when you lift it, the surface should not be wetter than the mix you used, but the container will feel heavy and water will drizzle from the bottom. That�s enough; the water is down where the roots need it. Too much water invites damping-off as well as fungus gnats! Set your planted packs into a flat with drainage holes; this may be set into another flat with a solid bottom. Put it under lights (or into your sunny window) and that�s it. These usually will not need watering again for several days. Again, lift the container: if it feels heavy, it needs little, if any, water. Depending on what and why I am growing (sometimes I plant for friends or relatives) and weather & timing, I often will pot on once more from cell packs into individual pots. I always plant lots of Genovese basil as everyone I know loves it. And it is such a pleasure transplanting these & other herbs since they are so fragrant! Best wishes! Here is a link that might be useful: Herb & Flower seedlings

My whole garen was covered with a clear plstc and allowed to bake in tghe hot sun for a month. That year, I planted nothing. The following year after tilling, I still saw insects, grubs, and weeds. Now, for weeds I use a big propane flame thrower that is used to burn away all sprouting weeds. Peat moss offers very little beyond some ariation and moisture control. With all the plants start from seeds indoors, rarely do I get any issues of damping off or any insect problems. Nature can be OK at times, but sometimes it also needs to be tamed down or adjusted to help tender seeds and plants from dying too quickly. I used to grow over 200 tomato plants per year. Originally I was using MG and when my sister tasted the tomatoes, she said they tasted like chemcals and were bland, so that was it for me. Once made into sauce, they were not my best. Around here there is no burning allowed. Years ago, my dad used to burn paper trash, but that is also banned. My flame thrower use, go a visit from the police and once the saw what I was burning they did say to not use that method much to get rid of weeds. Weeds here seem to flourish better than any seed I plant.

Is it a young plant? Is the taste worth keeping it? Are you sure it's basil? OK, that last one sounds stupid, however, I discovered that three of my 24 (experiment went too well LOL) "basil" ended up not basils at all, and I couldn't tell until they "bloomed" like the head of grass, not typical basil bloom. The plants looked identical, until then, so it is possible, a weed snuck into the seeds packet or pot. (And, I'm a container gardener with nothing but concrete to grow on, and living in a large city, so those seeds can travel far!) I can think of worst things then basil that doesn't smell very much, but, still, that would really bum me out to have no smell on mine! I like the smell better then the taste! Now, I'm no expert, however, not being an expert on gardening at all, I've been learning by reading a whole lot over the last couple of years, and the bleachy water set off a red flare in my memory. Several books said that tap water can be bad for plants, if it has additives like bleach or fluoride (sp?!) The advice as to what to do varies, but goes from buying distilled water to letting the water sit in the watering can for a day before using it. (I think the additives evaporate, but I'm not sure why.) Hopefully, someone else has better ideas, but I'd consider throwing away the packet of seeds, so you don't have the same problem next year.