[hectic]

A few weeks ago I planted some basil and parsley seeds liberally sprinkled in half a seed tray each. They have all germinated and are growing well (most unlike my seedlings!  )

I'm now starting to think about potting them into bigger pots but the question I have is does one seed produce a proper plant as it were or do lots of seeds produce a bunch which then grow on mass?

If I go on the one seed one plant basis I have a small forest of herbs growing. If its lots of seeds per pot then I will have a healthy amount!

Sorry for the basic question but I need to get my head round how many seedlings would go in an 8" pot without strangling each other

Many thanks - apologies for the ramble having re-read it I sound as though I have been taking other herbal remedies! 

[rivkele]

well, basil does eventually grow into a fairly large plant ( 3 to a 20 inch pot kind of thing). but what i did last year with my basil was scatter seed directly into a large pot and then just keep thinning and thinning as they got bigger and bigger and eating the thinnings. i eventually ended up with just a few large plants which i made pesto with, and then i started again with seed.
they taste like basil right from the time they get their 1st proper leaves, so that way you get to use fresh basil all though the spring and summer plus you don't disturb their roots too much. Maybe you could plant yours out quite closely spaced into your pots and then do the same thing, just take plants out and eat them every time they start looking crowded.
I did the same kind of thing with parsley, although after a while i started just cutting bits off instead of pulling whole plants. hope that's some use.

[corynsboy]

This is by no means a definitive answer.

One seed produces one plant but they generally look a bit wafty and lost on their own.  You’d feel bad about taking the leaves! (The exception IMHO is Thai Basil which is like a tiny pongy Christmas tree and looks great on its own in a little pot.)

For basil, which I find a particularly tricksy herb, I like to pinch some seeds directly into a pot on the kitchen window.  A couple of weeks later I'll do another and so on throughout the Spring & Summer.  This saves on blowing all your seed at once and, in my case, losing all my basil at once! 

You can thin them directly in the pot if you think that they are getting too crowded.  You get a feel for it quite quickly but no two pinches are the same in my experience.  I have a collection of four inch pots that I use and I never have more than four or five plants in a pot.  I use as much basil as is ready to pick so this works for me.

I do the same for flat leaf parsley but this is far more robust and I pop it out into the plot in early May and grow the rest of the year right in the ground.  Just clear a patch and sprinkle a pinch of seeds on then another patch two weeks later.

I'm sure others have different ideas.

[rivkele]

oops sorry, i mean 8 inch (20cm i just automatically convert it!!!!)

[hectic]

Thanks all much appreciated - they still have their first leaves so will give it a while then separate them out to give them a bigger home  

[sclarke624]

Interestingly last year I found the basil I put straight in a pot in the garden (about a 5" pot) looked totally different to the one that stayed indoors.  One outdoors much bushier.  Didn't make a difference to taste though.  This year I have mixed lemon basil with ordinary basil.  Lemon basil is a real surprise in how lemony it tastes.

[Stripey_cat]

Thanks all much appreciated - they still have their first leaves so will give it a while then separate them out to give them a bigger home  

If they're in half-pans and have their true leaves, start pricking out now!  If you leave it, the roots all grow together into a tangled mess and they're a nightmare to separate.  I have "I will not put off the pricking out" written on a banner in the side passage as a reminder after last year's fun.

[DD.]

I prick out basil into seperate plants, but I do the parsley in clumps. After hardening off it goes straight from seed tray to ground.

[David.]

I sow flat leaf parsley quite thickly in seed trays in the greenhouse then transplant into 24 cell tray inserts with around 6 seedlings per cell which are then planted out very closely to suppress weeds. At a guess I've probably got around 100 feet of such rows - we do like our parsley!

[peapod]

Ive been brave today and sown a pinch of basil in two of Richys pots ready to transplant if they every grow..if this doesnt work I officially give up (till next time)

[sunshineband]

Peapod,basil usually comes up really quickly and grows well --- be positive 

[peapod]

Peapod,basil usually comes up really quickly and grows well --- be positive 

Ive tried
Ive sung (ok fair dos Id die too) , had a conversation, shouted at it, played the radio, been mean, been kind, been indifferent, gave it friends to play with, gave it peace and quiet, gave it hot, gave it warmish

It hates me...I cant defeat the basil monster 

[cooperman]

Peapod,basil usually comes up really quickly and grows well --- be positive 

Ive tried
Ive sung (ok fair dos Id die too) , had a conversation, shouted at it, played the radio, been mean, been kind, been indifferent, gave it friends to play with, gave it peace and quiet, gave it hot, gave it warmish

It hates me...I cant defeat the basil monster 

it could be the compost, last year I bought a couple of bags of "Gem" multi-purpose compost and despite my best endeavors zilch grew in it, i switched to Westland and totally different results, i did a trial with both at the sme time to prove a point - god knows what was in the Gem stuff....

[sunshineband]

Peapod,basil usually comes up really quickly and grows well --- be positive 

Ive tried
Ive sung (ok fair dos Id die too) , had a conversation, shouted at it, played the radio, been mean, been kind, been indifferent, gave it friends to play with, gave it peace and quiet, gave it hot, gave it warmish

It hates me...I cant defeat the basil monster 

Don't try so hard maybe  I just sprinkle seed on the compost (nothing special) and cover thinly with vermiculite in case it needs light to germinate and then keep it indoors about 15 -18 degrees . Growns like mustard & cress 

[BigPaddy]

I guess everyone knows the trick of watering parsley sowings with boiling water? I find it makes for much better germination.