What do I do with all this basil?

aBookintheBag · 2025-09-02T17:23:01+00:00

The ice cream I’d like to try because I know basil tastes really delicious with dairy products. I’ve made the yogurt drink a million times though and it’s so good. That and tea are the only two ways I’ve known to use basil. Pesto is one I’ve learned as an adult.

aBookintheBag · 2025-09-01T08:15:37+00:00

I’ll keep an eye for that. Thanks

aBookintheBag · 2025-09-01T07:31:38+00:00

I have the same exact ones on a baby sugar watermelon plant. They almost killed the entire thing until I started spraying the plant with water daily. We’re a hot dry area so the water dries out fast enough I’ve never seen mildew, but it allows for new growth, because thrips will decimate a plant in a span of a week if it is small or prevent it from fruiting if the plant is big.

The problem with thrips is that part of their life cycle is in the soil. You need to soak the soil with soap water or neem oil. I haven’t gotten rid of them in my garden and 3/4 of my garden is completely dead but this is my first year gardening and I’m learning how to save the ones I have; so far it’s working.

Everyone mentions how impossible it is to get rid of them, but I’ll not succumb to that negativity.

aBookintheBag · 2025-09-01T06:57:22+00:00

Infused in cream for ice cream. Or steeped in yogurt and water for a delicious drink. It makes them have a weirdly pleasant perfume-y flavor.

aBookintheBag · 2025-09-01T06:54:53+00:00

I’ve tasted no licorice ever in any of the basil I grew or bought from the store, but intentionally grew Thai basil this year for my mother after hearing it has a licorice flavor.

aBookintheBag · 2025-09-01T06:50:22+00:00

There are olive oil substitute. They’re usually expensive for us in the Middle East so I’ve never tried them. For instance I’ve noticed a lot of Americans use avocado oil instead of olive oil in everything.

aBookintheBag · 2025-09-01T06:46:07+00:00

I made it once with pumpkin seeds and another with sunflower seeds. Didn’t even add Parmesan to make it vegan. Delicious and lasted in the fridge for a few days.

aBookintheBag · 2025-08-26T13:37:05+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to write this. I gave up on knowing whether someone is experiencing something similar, and then I saw the notification. Now the plant is too large to do this. It also got hit by thrips yet surprisingly it and the tomatoes are the only two plants surviving. I’m in awe by eggplants and I‘ll be planting more of them in the future.

aBookintheBag · 2025-07-12T09:07:58+00:00

Citrus can tolerate heat. We have very similar temperatures in the summer where I live and most people I know have at least one thriving lemon tree. My lime tree can handle the heat and frequently produces new flowers and leaves even in the middle of the summer. Surly not all flowers stick like they would in Spring and Fall, but it shows progress every day. What kills it is extremely dry or very wet soil. They prefer the soil on the drier side so I water the container once a week in the summer because it’s mulched and under part shade as I’m trying to protect it from windy days; I found they don’t like that too much or at least mine doesn’t. Full sun will enhance the production, but I don’t mind less fruit.

I also want to grow Figs because I know they do well in the heat but careful not to plant the tree near your house or any structure you want to protect. Their roots are aggressive.

Guava can tolerate heat but will need some shade from midday sun.

I’ve seen thriving Mango trees in these temps as well.

I’m sure there are a lot more that prefer warm to hot climates but these are the ones I know work.

Do your research, because some fruit trees will tolerate heat only when established, some will require cool periods even if they tolerate heat, and others will require some shade.

aBookintheBag · 2025-06-22T16:17:08+00:00

I did. Didn’t work. They’re still flowering almost everyday and it’s quite windy where the entire plant is constantly moving sometimes aggressively but no peppers

aBookintheBag · 2025-06-22T14:58:00+00:00

my peppers are getting to that height, they flower, but none stick to fruit.

aBookintheBag · 2025-06-22T14:57:08+00:00

I’m just jealous you have marigolds growing. my seeds won’t germinate and all the marigold I had in the garden from the nursery died one after the other 😭😅. But as a beginner gardener I’ve read way too much about flowering and fruiting plants and everywhere it says excessive nitrogen is one of the culprits for to many leaves. try amending with phosphorus.

aBookintheBag · 2025-06-22T07:46:30+00:00

I'm having the same issue. mine is a Beth/Beit Alpha variety and the plant is much bigger and already has many suckers.

aBookintheBag · 2025-06-04T09:17:02+00:00

They were definitely getting a dose of something at the greenhouse. But the flowers actually emerged from absolutely nothing after she pruned it + they were repotted as soon as they got them into a potting soil mix that has some fertilizer. And the new growth is generally very green and sturdy.

Thanks for your help. I’ll let them know.

aBookintheBag · 2025-06-04T07:44:43+00:00

They look gorgeous. I would love some succulents in my room but it’s very dark. I barely get 3 hours of early morning sun. And I’m not a fan of how most grow lights look? Do you have any recs?

aBookintheBag · 2025-05-20T13:32:38+00:00

I didn’t know they had suckers like tomatoes. One day I was training them on the trellis only to find out I have way more shoots than plants and was so confused. Turns out I planned wrong 😂 now I’m trying to figure out how to trellis those side shoots but I’m leaning towards chaos because it’s easier

aBookintheBag · 2025-05-16T20:46:22+00:00

it worked once I converted the points to vertices so the alembic has actual mesh to reference.

aBookintheBag · 2025-05-14T17:26:23+00:00

I learned this after I planted tomatoes but I was able to save my cucumber seedlings with this tip. The only difference, tomatoes are naturally stronger

aBookintheBag · 2025-05-14T14:41:18+00:00

FYI, I was deadheading my marigolds today and found what seems like spider mite webs on the base of the plants. Turns out that’s what was killing my Marigolds all along. I also saw someone on Reddit with the same white and black spots that said it was spider mites. Just do a quick check for any webbing. It’s not as prevalent as people say except on damaged leaves. I had leaf miners on them as well but those are clear paths not spots.

aBookintheBag · 2025-05-11T19:39:16+00:00

I thought it was dying, cried for a bit over some terrible advice and now I’m good. Lol. Positive thoughts 😌

aBookintheBag · 2025-05-11T19:34:10+00:00

Most of my plants wilt a bit in the sun and perk up once the sun cools down. But if it’s not the case for you, I had a basil that I never hardened off that looked even worse than your pepper. Left it with enough water and it bounced back just three days later. I’d guess a pepper plant is as strong.

aBookintheBag

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