Man, I feel stupid. Turns out, Summerlong basil grows smaller leaves. I didn't realize that it would be THAT compact of a plant. Anyway, after looking more into this type of basil, I realize that my plants are actually doing really well! I don't think that the one basil plant really liked being transplanted, though. So now I know that Summerlong basil is a very small plant and I don't have to waste anyone's time with this anymore. Thanks for attempting to answer my silly questions. Happy gardening.

The shop lights need to be closer to the plant to do any good-like 3 or 4 inches max above the plant, otherwise most of the light is wasted. Use cool white lamps ( the number on the tube will start with the letters "CW") they stay cooler and put out more blue light which promotes plant growth as opposed to regular lamps that are more in the red range-promote flowering. Sounds as though the rest of the set up will do well for you. If the leaf pairs (sets) are close together (the space between leaf sets is called an internode) then they are getting enough light. Droopiness isn't really a good indicator of proper light levels but is a sign the plant isn't thriving. If they seem to be stretching or getting "leggy" then they are not getting enough light. Poor light quality can also cause light green leaves. If all else seems to be fine then the leaf color may right for that variety as mentioned before. Keep the temperature above 60ºF. Basil hates cool temperatures and does best once temps are in the 80's and above. Misting may not be necessary unless it is really, really dry. It doesn't sound like it is since they aren't drying out very quickly. Damp leaves can encourage disease problems, especially in young seedlings/plants. You can also feed the plants by spraying them with a weak fertilizer (with nitrogen) solution or compost tea. This will help fix a nutrient deficiency quickly as the nutrients are absorbed directly through the leaves. Careful with the Epsom salts. Assuming you used a commercial potting mix, most already have enough magnesium as a starter. Although necessary for growth it is a micro nutrient and as such is needed in a smaller quantity than the macro nutrients- nitrogen/potassium/potash (the three numbers on your fertilizer expressed as a percentage). Your miracle gro probably has some in it. Check the package. Therefore a deficiency in magnesium is unlikely if you used fresh potting mix and have young plants. In all the thousands of basil and other plants I have grown I have never had to use epsom salts. BTW did you grow the peppermint from seed? If so it is not peppermint but a rank form of spearmint. Peppermint is a sterile hybrid so cannot be grown from seed. The seed companies still sell "peppermint" seed even though it isn't really peppermint. Mature leaves of true peppermint will turn bronze in color when in the sun but will be greener if grown under low light conditions and when young.

Hi there! I'm a first-time herb grower and have a question about my sweet basil plant. I'm growing it inside by my kitchen window (plenty of sunshine!) in a container. It grew a lot really quickly in the past few months up to about a foot tall. I decided to cut a bit off and give it to a friend so she could have some and so I cut about halfway down one of the two main stems to give her a fairly large portion. This was about a month ago and that cut portion has not produced any more growth. It actually looks like it's dying (the stem near the cut turned hard and brown). The rest of the plant is healthy and I water it regularly, but I'm afraid to cut anything more off of it because this section hasn't grown back. Did I cut the wrong area? Should I have just picked off the leaves instead of cutting the stem? I don't want to kill this plant. I really want to use it. Any insight you all may have will help. Thanks!

They look like kale I've had reseed itself. It was a "Winter red kale" - see a picture of the mature leaf at Territorial Seed - Winter Red Kale. Wait a little bit. Mature leaves can look different than the young ones and are much easier to id. FataMorgana