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A master gardener told me I was watering my herbs wrong

I've been growing basil and rosemary on my balcony for about two years now. Last month I went to a local plant swap at the community center and this older lady who runs a herb farm just watched me watering my pots. She said I was doing it all wrong, that I should water the soil directly and avoid getting the leaves wet at all. I told her I always misted them because I thought it helped with humidity. She explained that wet leaves on herbs like basil can cause fungal spots and rot the stems. Since then I switched to a long spout watering can and only soak the dirt. The leaves look way healthier now and I haven't seen any yellow spots. Has anyone else gotten similar advice from a seasoned grower that changed how you care for your plants?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly3381d agoMost Upvoted

oh yeah this is so true... i actually have a friend who runs a little herb nursery out of her garage, she told me something similar. she said she used to water her basil seedlings with a spray bottle and lost half of them to damping off. she switched to bottom watering her trays, where the pots sit in water and soak it up from below, and it made a huge difference. i tried it on my mint once and the roots just went wild, no leaf issues at all. it's funny how something that seems so small can mess up your whole setup...

barbara96715h ago

Oh man, @kelly338, I feel this so hard - I once killed a whole tray of tomato starts because I got lazy with the spray bottle and they all flopped over like they were giving up on life! Bottom watering is a game changer, I just have to remember to actually do it instead of drowning my poor plants out of guilt.