PLANTING: Genovese Basil

Ok, so I am Finally going to get going with my second garden. This one is in my pink AG3.
It is a Pesto Basil seed kit from AeroGrow that came with this AG3.
I got my pods going on Sunday the 12th of February.
Today I notice my first sprouting. A single Basil plant. Once a few more show up and grow up above the label cap, I'll post some pix and start my, "P+x Days" counter.

P+7 Days: They're Here!

All 3 pods now have little Basil-ette seedlings up above the pod label.
I'll keep the lids on for two or three more days.

P+17 Days: Looking Good

Not growing as fast as the Romaine, but WAYY faster than the Petunias. Those things STILL have not gotten above the pod label! I have replaced the water and nutes, once.

P+21 Days: Good Growth

Nothing fancy. I figure in 3-5 days I'll have my first pruning.

P+26 Days: Not Quite Yet

Its not quite ready for its first pruning. But soon. Probably a couple of days. Its has been fairly cool inside for the last couple of days and that may have slowed it down. I noticed quite a few suckers so I'll take those also, when I prune. Looks like I'll be raising the hood in the next day or two, also.

P+31 Days: Oh Yeah. I'm Pruning Now.

I have raised the hood twice. Seems to be every other day. I am pruning tomorrow (15th).

P+35 Days: Pruned and Eaten!

I pruned about 25% of the plants and converted it into a small amount of pesto. I then mixed the pesto into some pizza sauce and used the mixture as a base for a homemade pizza. Super yum!

You might be able to see, on the lefthand side of the AG, that the basil is like a long stem and then finally leaves on top. Well, I waited too long to prune and I though I was doing good by removing the "suckers", except they weren't suckers. They were the next set of leaves. Not any more. :-(

Ahh well. Live and learn.

P+46 Days: More Pruning. And Freezing.

I tried just refrigerating the leaves but I don't use them fast enough. So I tossed them into the freezer, in a Ziploc bag. Also, right after the previous post, I performed a mega-prune. All of the plants were about 1/2 the height of what was shown ion the photo.

Now, about 11 days later, they are ready for more pruning. I also did a water/nute replace on about day 38 or so.

P+57 Days: Same Ole Same Ole

Leaves still look the same, still smell the same, still prune the same, etc.

Really not too much to see. Still getting regular harvests. Not a ton of leaves, but even crushed up, I now have a Ziplock sandwich bag full of Basil. Once the full leaves are frozen I crush them up inside the baggie and then put them back in the freezer.

I did a water/nute refresh tonight.