Good enough to eat

BASIL is one of the most popular potted herbs, ideal on a kitchen windowsill to tear off as required and add to tomato and mozzarella salads, soups, sauces and home-made pesto.

However, the reality can be different. Within a few weeks the supermarket plant has often become leggy, yellow and a few steps from death. So, what did you do wrong? Here’s what to do:

Fill the base of your new basil pots, which need good drainage holes, with multipurpose compost. One large supermarketbought basil pot should make around five smaller plants. Split the existing healthy plant gently into sections, without touching the stem or the leaf, teasing the roots gently apart.

Plant them in the compost, packed around the plants to fill the pot, making sure the plants are at the same height they were in the original pot, and water from below.

Find a space with lots of sun, as basil needs 10-12 hours of light a day. Choose a southfacing window, or whichever one gets the most natural light.

Basil likes moisture too – but not too much. Its soil should be kept moist, but not soggy, or its roots may rot. Make sure your indoor container has good drainage.

Fertilising your basil plants every few weeks will keep them strong and healthy. Any household fertiliser will do, but use it at half the recommended strength.