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Old 10-04-2009, 11:54 AM posted to rec.gardens.edible
Pat Kiewicz[_2_] Pat Kiewicz[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Oct 2008
Posts: 509
Default Basil leaves drooping

Gardener22 said:



Hi.
My Basil plant leaves are drooping, I have three theories,
1.) I am watering too much (watered it 3 times in one day when I saw it
drooping)
2.) Pot is too small (pretty large plant in small pot)
3.) Very Very well drained soil (may be letting moistuire out too fast

I know all of these need resolving but which is the most urgent and
which is the most likely to have caused my poor basil plant to droop


Is it outdoors or in a window or greenhouse where it might have been
exposed to unusually cold temperatures? That would add another possible
cause. (Comes to my mind as a possibility because large part of the eastern
and central US has suffered unseasonably cold weather recently.)

Dig a finger down into the soil in the pot.

Is the soil in the pot wet (and maybe has 'off' odor)? This is bad. If some
sort of fungal root-rot has set in, the basil may be doomed.

Or is the soil dry? When potting soil gets too dry it can be hard to re-wet.
Water tends to run right through the pot rather than be absorbed. In which
case, you need to set the pot in a bucket of water until it fully moistens.

The too small pot issue makes the probability of being too dry too often
a likely thing.

If the basil does recover, it would be best to re-pot it in a more appropriately
sized container.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"So, it was all a dream."
"No dear, this is the dream, you're still in the cell."

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