The basil that turned purple on me was a total surprise

I planted some sweet basil seeds in a small window box back in May, and after a couple weeks half the leaves started turning purple. Turns out my balcony was getting way less light than I thought, like maybe 4 hours of direct sun instead of the 6-8 basil needs. The purple was a stress response to low light and cooler temps at night. I moved the box to a sunnier corner and now it's back to green, but has anyone else had a veggie freak out like that on a shady balcony?

2 comments

2 Comments

parker_patel844d ago

Haha I did the exact same thing with my cilantro last year. Thought putting it on the north side of my apartment would be "partial shade" but it was basically a dark cave. The whole plant turned this sad yellowish green and drooped like it was depressed or something. Moved it to a south facing window and it perked right up but now I have way too much cilantro. My salsa game is strong but my neighbors are getting tired of me dropping off bags of it like some kind of herb dealer. Gardening on a balcony is basically trial and error with a side of humiliation.

cooper.taylor4d ago

lol @parker_patel84 I had a buddy who tried growing mint on his balcony and thought "how bad could it be" and then it literally took over his whole railing and started creeping into his neighbor's potted plants. He was out there every weekend with scissors trying to contain it like some kind of plant hostage situation. Ended up having to rip it all out and now he just buys mint at the store like a normal person.