[little sweetpeas]

Well all my basil has germinated which means I have well over 500 little seedlings of various basil's.

I sowed a few seeds in each cell (maybe more than a few as they were so tiny) do I transfer to pots in the clups or is it one seedling to one pot.

Guess I might be giving lots of basil away.

[DD.]

I do one to a pot as the indiviual plants grow to a reasonable size.

[peapod]

Guess I might be giving lots of basil away.

Me me me! Basil hates me and just wont grow no matter what I do    Its my very favourite herb too 

[little sweetpeas]

I do one to a pot as the indiviual plants grow to a reasonable size.

What a waste of seed then.

Peapod if you think they will survive the journey I' happyily post them. Not sue how much it would cost. I've got some packaging that my fuchias were posted in I could send them in that

[DD.]

I make a packet spin out for a few years!

[peapod]

Lovely offer LS and thanks, but I kill the plants! A friend of mine is starting some off for me this year. Ive narrowed down one of last years failures to a bad pack of seeds, so Ive bought some more. My mate has great success with basil so if I kill these plants too I give up!

[noshed]

I put mine out in clumps. When the frost has gone they do quite well in the open ground round here. Lovely smell when you brush past them. I'm going to do a load in pots for the hallions at work. Not that they deserve them.

[little sweetpeas]

I make a packet spin out for a few years!

Well I guess mine will last about 10 years then. 

I'll do the usall giving away to family and friends then.

Out of interest DD (knowing that you grow a good few plants of everything ) how many plants would you grow? I use it a lot in cooking and want to try and make my pesto for the year. Would three 12ft rows be enough?

[DD.]

That really is a "piece of string" job as it all depends on what you cook. We don't use that much, but I guess your plan should  be enough.

[Stripey_cat]

I'll do the usall giving away to family and friends then.

Basil in small pots is normally a good seller at car boot sales (or the street gate if you think your neighbourhood would tolerate a stall there), and would go down well if there's a charity shop you like locally.

Out of interest DD (knowing that you grow a good few plants of everything ) how many plants would you grow? I use it a lot in cooking and want to try and make my pesto for the year. Would three 12ft rows be enough?

That'd give you about 70 plants - each plant will give you about the same amount as a supermarket packet on the first pick, and a slightly smaller picking later on.  You might also want to keep a few somewhere else for picking for salads and suchlike (because it's Sod's Law that you'll really fancy a herby salad the day after you strip the whole patch for processing).

Have you thought about other preserves - I like basil-steeped olive oil and wine vinegars for making salad dressings, pizza toppings, and as a condiment with soups and suchlike.

[little sweetpeas]

Basil in small pots is normally a good seller at car boot sales (or the street gate if you think your neighbourhood would tolerate a stall there), and would go down well if there's a charity shop you like locally.

Didn't think about selling them. Have a few too many sweet pepper plants that might go down well. The only thing is time I pot them all up add cost of pots and compost would it be worth it? Something to think about.

That'd give you about 70 plants - each plant will give you about the same amount as a supermarket packet on the first pick, and a slightly smaller picking later on.  You might also want to keep a few somewhere else for picking for salads and suchlike (because it's s*d's Law that you'll really fancy a herby salad the day after you strip the whole patch for processing).

Have you thought about other preserves - I like basil-steeped olive oil and wine vinegars for making salad dressings, pizza toppings, and as a condiment with soups and suchlike.

Yes too all the above, I love using it in cooking as so would like to harvest a lot. Want to make load of pesto to see us through the winter. Well i'll know next year, only 1/2 seeds per cell. One tpye is Finissimo Basil which does well growing on a window sil so maybe I'll only plant the Genovese types in the pt and plot

[sclarke624]

I put about 12 in a 5" pot.

[sunshineband]

Best basil I've ever grown was in a plastic window box in full sun. Sowed seed straight in, never thinned them out and cut it with scissors by the bunch!!

[Stripey_cat]

Didn't think about selling them. Have a few too many sweet pepper plants that might go down well. The only thing is time I pot them all up add cost of pots and compost would it be worth it? Something to think about.

Car boot sales, people don't mind makeshift containers - I've bought plants dug up from a nursery bed and plunked into a plastic sandwich bag before today.  If you're selling in 3" pots or equivalent, you'll be able to fill an awful lot from one bag of compost!