Basil

I wonder whether anyone grown basil as seedlings to harvest straight from the pot and then just keep sowing?

I have sown mine in 6" pots very thinly at the end of march and they are 4" high with 4 leaves. I have kept an eye on them in the green house and I did put the pots in large freezer bags so they did not get cold.

I'm trying for the uptieht time to grow Basil. This time around about 3 seeds have germinated. At least they are still alive and have not died in the great damping off disaster of 2012. Hopefully they will turn into plants I can use.

I never had much luck growing basil outdoors. I grow it in a pot in the kitchen and use it straight from the pot. The small-leaved Greek basil lasts for many weeks.

Basil seed germinates best at a temp in the low 20sC. It will germinate at lower temps but take longer.

It also roots very easily:  pick off a few shoots and strip off the lower leaves.  Put them in water, and within a week or so they will develop roots.  Pot up in the usual way.  No need to suffer the agonies of trying to get seeds to germinate (a bit hit'n'miss in my experience) and no need to repeat-puchase those leggy specimens in the supermarket! 

Shrinking Violet wrote (see)

It also roots very easily:  pick off a few shoots and strip off the lower leaves.  Put them in water, and within a week or so they will develop roots.  Pot up in the usual way.  No need to suffer the agonies of trying to get seeds to germinate (a bit hit'n'miss in my experience) and no need to repeat-puchase those leggy specimens in the supermarket! 

Yes, I do this having never managed to grow well from seed.  In May I buy a supermarket pot of basil.   There are usually more than 20 plants so I split them and put them into a 12 inch pot on the patio.   As the season progesses I nip a few shoots and root in a glass on the windowsill till I can plant on to have a fresh supply.   Spend £1 a summer on basil.   

Wow, I'm impressed, I'm going to give that a go. My basil is always dissappointing from seed and we love it. Thanks for the tip.