Q: Young sweet basil plants wilting and leaves curling a little and main stem discoloured. George – Toowong
A: Wilting? This could be due to dry conditions and under-watering…BUT, is also brought on by over-watering.
Leaves curling? This could again, be due to under or over watering. Another reason could be that your plants are suffering from an attack by mite, and this is quite often brought on by very dry conditions.
Main stem discoloured? This could be due to a nutrient deficiency or plants ‘maturing’…but could also be due to stress, as a result of either under or over watering. Nutrient deficiencies are generally first noticeable on the leaves of plants and not on the stems. You have stated ‘young sweet basil plants’. Therefore, by a process of elimination, I suspect that your problem is either under or over watering.
Basil is a relatively easy plant to grow. It requires a position of full sun to grow at its best, and the soil it is growing in requires to be kept moist. The information you have given me is really insufficient for me to try and ‘nail’ your particular problem. Are your plants growing in pots or are they in the ground? What are the sizes of pots relative to the size of your plants? What type of potting mix has been used, if they are in pots…may be the mix is too ‘open’ (draining very quickly and not retaining water), or too ‘tight’ (holding too much water). If in the ground – what is the soil like? Sandy and ‘open’, or clayey and holding too much water?
Whilst I may not have answered your question, I hope that what I have written above will give you some hints on what your problem could be.
