Winter basil?

Dr.Loretta

If I bring one of my basil plants indoors, can I keep it going over the winter?

sillyJane

yes. make sure you bring it in before the first frost and keep deadheading it (it'll stop growing if it starts making seeds).

littlemommy1

Mine already went to seed..can I still plant it in a pot and bring it in? If it continues to seed will it grow more in my pot? I didn't know this rule before.

sillyJane

Erm, I really don't know... my mom just told me not to let it go to seed, because then the plant's going to stop growing and focus on reproducing. I guess after that, like any good negligent plant parent, it dies to give more room to the babies. I'm not really sure what happens after it seeds... but I would suggest googling what you can do with it after it's gone to seed (can you collect the seeds and replant them?).

 

kastle

sillyJane:

Erm, I really don't know... my mom just told me not to let it go to seed, because then the plant's going to stop growing and focus on reproducing. I guess after that, like any good negligent plant parent, it dies to give more room to the babies. I'm not really sure what happens after it seeds... but I would suggest googling what you can do with it after it's gone to seed (can you collect the seeds and replant them?).

 

Once it goes to seed, the stems start to get woody and the leaves start to get bitter.  Not good eats!!

And, you can save the seed if it was an open pollinated variety.  If the basil you planted was a hybrid, then the seeds won't necessarily produce a plant that looks like its parent.

TarponMonoxide

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