[savbo]

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

Which part of Cheshire are you Hubb? Anywhere near the chemical factories?

[DD.]

 

[Agatha]

Supermarket herbs are not designed to last so you are already starting off with weak plants, but I've had some success by potting them on into good compost as soon as I buy them (and splitting them if there are too many plants in the pot).  I also cut back the top growth (which can then be eaten!) so the roots don't have so much top growth to support and they usually regrow much healthier.

With hardier perennial herbs such as thyme, rosemary etc, you are probably better off waiting for the garden centres to reduce prices at the end of the season.  I've bought rosemary, sage and thyme in different varieties for between 50p and £1. 

[Willow_Warren]

My supermarket herbs don't take long to die! But I thought that was par for the cause!

Basil certainly wouldn't last long in my kitchen even on the windowsill, it's far too cold!  I successfully grew some from seed in the conservatory last year, didn't grow big but will sucessional planting kept my pizzas going!

My sister was boasting how she was making pesto with all the basil she had growing as they had so much - she lives in Perth... (the one on the other side of the world)... er... even their winters are warm there by our standards!

Hannah

[brianbishop]

Summertime(if we ever get one!!) try splitting a pot of s/mkt basil and plant in amongst tom. plants in greenhouse.I have found this works well
Bish

[BussinSpain]

when you get your "supermarket herbs" home - re-pot them into more pots to have a succession of picking herbs - done deal!

[Lawrence]

The biggest problem with Supermarket Herbs is that they are really meant to be used as Herbs and not as plants.
They are grown in such a way to be nice and big on the shelf but are not expected to last long, just long enough to be cooked with.

[spottymint]

My last supermarket basil had a tough time, O/H put it in a unheated conservatory in the snow,

24 hours later when I inquired where it had gone, he said "if I was quick I may be able to save it" 

O/H has not got green fingers.

[Ema]

These plant are forced to grow under intense light and in heated spaces, the herbs don't taste as strong as they would if you were growing them yourself from seed. Your buying seedlings sown into a pot too small for all of them to survive in with cheap compost that doesnt have enough nutrience

[toasted]

i think its because they are grown in polytunnels or under lights with a long day length , then they are packed up into trays and transported in the dark or very low light before they are put on the shelves
so by the time you get them home they think its time to go to seed because they have just had two days of darkness.

[snowdrops]

So that you buy more & they get more of your money. they aren't raised as plants to keep growing just as an improvement on buying herbs that are already cut & beginning to perish.

[WirralWally]

In early May 2012 Mrs Wally purchased 2 pots of basil from our local Co-Op as she was going to create a pesto sauce.
Mrs Wally is not noted for keeping any plant alive for longer than a couple of days.
Before the pesto was created we departed these shores for a foreign holiday.
During our absence the plants were nursed by a neighbour.
After our return the plants once again returned to the care of Mrs Wally.
The pesto never got made . . . . . . even to now . . . . . Feb 2013, some 9 months later.
The leaves have been picked and frozen, on two occasions.
The 2 original plants are still in their tiny black pots.
There is still prolific growth on both plants.

The two pots sit on a small plate which is on a west facing windowsill.
They are only ever watered in the plate (never into the pots).

No, I can't understand it either; but Mrs Wally thinks that she's a superstar. 

[allotmentann]

WirralWally, you confirm that my method with basil does work (I have been doing just that for years, since long before I grew anything). I even went away for a week and came back to find a very droopy, sad looking plant. I just topped the dish it stood in, up with water and by the next day it was great again.
Hannah they don't mind a cold kitchen. Mine is very cold. My central heating thermostat is set to 9 degrees and then it is only switched on for an hour or two a day.I think of it as a very, large coldframe! Except they do get a blast of warmer air when I cook! I think if they will survive that, they will survive anything!
I am convinced that the most damage to basil is caused by watering from above, they are very prone to fungal diseases and I think a lot of people don't give them enough water, perhaps thinking of them growing in a warm climate, but I have found that they need quite a lot. They will certainly thrive for a long time in their original pots this way.

[mumofstig]

You  have been extremely lucky as is is definitely not the norm for Basil to survive, let alone thrive, in cold temperatures.