George Orwell wrote in message t...
I am trying to grow basil in containers with a mix of sphagum peat moss
and perlite (2:1), pH adjusted to 6 with horticultural lime. The last
two times, my plants did not look good after reaching about 4 or 5
inches. They get spots of silvery stuff on the leaves. This is
accompanied by tiny black spots and the plant growth slows to a crawl.
After close inspection, I don't think that it is any kind of insect. I
am feeding with a VERY dilute balanced nutrient solution with
micronutrients with every watering letting top of the soil dry before
watering again. I have also had this problem with my spearmint (although
it doesn't seem to bother the mint much) and patchouli (just starting to
happen here). Any ideas??
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It almost sounds like some kind of blight or mildew, although I've
never heard of anything like that attacking basil. I start my basil
indoors in a window sill every spring, using recycled plastic 6-pack
containers from the nursery and just regular garden soil. I soak them
thoroughly when I sow the seed and keep them very wet until most of
the seeds germinate. After that, I back off on the water. When the
plants are about 1 to 1.5 inches tall I start putting them in a
protected place outside during the day, as long as the temps are at
least 50F. At that point, I give them a little Miracle-Gro once a
week or so. As the weather gets warmer, the plants spend increasing
amounts of time outdoors until it's time to transplant them into the
garden. I live in Colorado, where the relative humidity is usually
quite low, so I don't have a lot of trouble with mildew.
Don't know if this was helpful or not, but good luck,
Gary