On Sun, 15 Jun 2003 10:38:59 -0500, "Rona Yuthasastrakosol"
wrote:

So, I transplanted the basil and cilantro plants in larger planters. Now
half of them are dead. I did water them but the weather had been strange
here. Hot and sunny one day, rainy the next, so it is possible the soil was
very dry for at least a day, or overwatered. How wet do these plants need
to be? I read the little paper I got with them, and it just said to keep
the soil moist.

Yeah. How moist is "moist"? Roughly, it means growing in soil that
has enough organic material to prevent either extremely rapid drying
out, or water standing in a pot or on the ground. Directions for
growing many plants say "does not like to be transplanted." I wouldn't
think basil was one of these, as it's often sold in little 6-packs and
seems to transplant well. I always sow cilantro seed where I plan the
plants to live, however. The good news is that cilantro is *very* easy
to grow from seed. Repeated plantings are suggested to keep a
reasonable supply going. You don't even need to buy seed packets --
just find a jar of coriander seed and plant some.

Also, I'm wondering if the round-up I used on some weeds nearby had a
negative effect on the plants. I did not spray the round-up on the plants
or on an area touching the planters (but it was one or two feet away) and
there was no wind to speak of, which is why I used it at that time (I
wouldn't have if it had been windy, since I would have been afraid of the
wind carrying the round-up to my new babies). How much does that round-up
stuff travel? Even if there were no wind, could it have hit my plants some
other way?

How far does a sneeze travel? Roundup is a *very* effective herbicide.
1 or 2 feet away from new little plants is pretty close.. Roundup does
its work on exposed foliage. It decays quickly (within a 2-4 days) and
has no effect on subsequent planting in the treated area. Very
meticulous gardeners wanting to kill specific plants/weeds *paint* it
on with a brush or sponge to avoid the effect of aerosol spraying.