Carolyn, I need your advice. My basil starts look like yours, and I don't know if I need to (gasp!) cut the extras off, or if I can lift and transplant. What do you do? In the past I lifted and transplanted, and lost about 50% of the transplants. If you can tell me when and how to do it, or if transplanting is an exercise in futility, I'd sure appreciate your guideance.
Jane, I plant them in a 4" pot to sell just like they are. It makes the pot look like it's worth the $$. You can tease the plants apart (from the roots and use a pencil and don't hold them by the stem, hold them by the top two leaves) and plant them individually so they have room or *GASP* lol you can just trim off the extras in the clump and don't over worry it. I do think basil is a little fragile and not very tolerant to disease, so, maybe hand washing is a good idea before you handle the plants....just a thought. Thanks Barb.
Carolyn, I think I'll try teasing the roots apart. I have a chopstick that I've flattened on the end and it works great for lifting small seedlings. I'm not looking to sell any basil starts, so if I lose some, I can live with that :'( , or not. Thanks for the hand-washing tip. I didn't realize basil was prone to disease. I'll be careful!
