[hubballi]

I absolutley cannot fathom why a healthy basil plant ought from a supermarket very quickly dies despite doing everything right to keep it going. I am sure they put something slow release in the compost that kills them after so long. I kept it warm and it just went mouldy and died.

[DD.]

I absolutley cannot fathom how you can keep insisting that you do everything right, yet manage to kill off so many things! 

[mumofstig]

Indoors - it's not likely to be warm enough or sunny enough for basil to thrive. Simple really.

It's a summer annual in Mediterranean countries - give it heat and a dry atmosphere from long hours of sun and it's happy.

[hubballi]

Anyone with any helpful comments ?

[hubballi]

Ok, thanks. I did put it in the window that was getting the most sun in the day. Perhaps the drop in temp in the kitchen didn't help as it has no central heating in there.

[pdblake]

If it went mouldy then that suggests too much moisture and heat and not enough ventilation.

I bought a rosemary plant from tesco (a few pence on the reduced shelf, already past it's best) and it's going strong after several weeks, in fact it looks like it's thriving. I might even harden it off and pop it outside.

[Daamoot]

I've grown a few basil plants indoors from seed and as soon as I move them or take them outside they start to die.  Since they are a half-hardy annual plant I guess they don't like any sudden temperature changes and need to be hardened carefully if planting outside.  Chances are the shop varieties are grown somewhere warm and sunny or even under artifical lighting so you basically have no hope of keeping them for longer than it takes to harvest what's there.  I'd suggest getting a pack of seeds and sowing some every 2weeks or month and that way you'd be in a constant supple of fresh basil.

[tosca100]

Probably not enough hours of daylight at this time of the year. And we have seen hardly any sun this winter. They are forced seedlings and I presume they run out of steam fairly quickly. Mint and parsley and chives (cut them at the base) thyme and rosemary I can keep going in the conservatory, though the soft herbs are slow. I only water when they really need it or they go mouldy.

I find the ones from Lidl do best. I don't buy basil as I only like it in summer, when it is easier to grow from seed (except last year!) but I split the pots of seedlings, once I have used the tops, and grow them on in pots till they can go out into the garden. Parsley, mint and chives do very well. Thyme and rosemary go out as they are.

[JayG]

I sowed some basil about two months ago and they have just about limped to the stage when I might dare to pinch out the growing tips as a "harvest" and hope they bush out rather than using that as an excuse to peg out!

They are indoors on the windowsill of my double-glazed kitchen window, which faces south (in other words, the best I can do at this time of year, but they clearly need more light and warmth than they're getting at the moment.)

I've had some success with potting on and eventually transplanting supermarket parsley, although sometimes the hard life they've had makes them run to seed rather more quickly than I would like.

Nearly everything else I have herb-wise are hardy perennials, most of which can be harvested all year round from the garden (thank goodness!)

[sunshineband]

This time in the year I only grow basil as microleaves as there is not enough daylight for decent strong plants

and the supermarket grown ones are very 'soft' from their hothouse environment and so struggle to survive even indoors right now

[allotmentann]

Basil seems to grow really well on my window sill all year round. My kitchen is cold, but very bright. I have found that it does best if I keep the pot in a dish that always has water in it, but never water it from the top. The plants keep healthy like that until I use the whole plant to make pesto!

[tallulah]

Basil seems to grow really well on my window sill all year round. My kitchen is cold, but very bright. I have found that it does best if I keep the pot in a dish that always has water in it, but never water it from the top. The plants keep healthy like that until I use the whole plant to make pesto!

Watering from the bottom might make a difference - good tip. 

[plum crumble]

supermarket plants are grown really fast to produce high volume of leaves for quick use. In comparison, the root structure isn't there to support it as an ongoing viable entity.....so it dies

[agapanthus]

I've found that they plant too many seeds in the pot so consequently there isn't enough compost to sustain them.
In the warmer months I tend to buy these plants and then split them into single pots and then transplant when large enough into final growing positions.....they do really well that way

[Grubbypaws]

The last time that i bought basil from a supermarket it died because of the vine weevil that came with it  That is why it was the last time!