If you like the look of vibrant, leafy houseplants but find them prohibitively expensive or difficult to maintain, this £1.50 supermarket basil hack is for you.
Interior designer Leanne Kilroy (find her @goodboneslondon, and have a look at her gorgeous kitchen renovation while you're at it) went viral millions of times over when she shared her enormous mega basils, grown from a humble £1.50 supermarket plant.
Leanne's method is simple but meticulously timed: 'The only funny bit is at the beginning; you'll want to wait until mid-spring when the weather in your area is no longer chilly.' Below, she shares a step-by-step guide to growing your own.
Leanne will be starting this year's basil after the Easter weekend and sharing the journey on her Instagram – so make sure you're following her for a mega basil grow-along.
The mega basil toolkit
- A pot with a drainage hole – 'I prefer terracotta because it holds water well; something with a top diameter of 18 - 24cm will give you a very big plant.'
- An oversized saucer or bowl – 'You'll want one that holds a good deal of water.'
- Potting soil
- A supermarket basil plant – you can split one basil between two pots
The mega basil step-by-step guide
1. Repot your basil
Begin by repotting your supermarket basil into its new pot and water it normally from the top for the first few days, letting the water fully drain out of the bottom. Basil loves a warm, sunny spot and thrives best indoors.
2. Swap your watering method
After a few days, start the watering-from-the-bottom method, which will be the trick to keeping your basil alive (and very well) throughout spring, summer, autumn and beyond.
All you have to do is fill up the oversized saucer or bowl and keep it full. You'll notice your basil will become very thirsty as it grows and the weather warms up. 'I tend to top up my saucers every morning but a good rule of thumb is to always keep them full,' says Leanne.
3. Wait for active growth before trimming
Wait a while – at least a month – before you start using your basil, as you want it to be actively growing.
At that point, trimming its leaves will keep it healthy and bushy. Trim your basil by cutting off the stem above a leaf rather than plucking leaves off the stem – plucking leaves will absolutely kill your basil. If flowers appear, cut these off, as they will stunt your basil's growth. To keep it from becoming too tall and leggy, snip it regularly.
'I find that basil tends to survive around nine months, at which point it becomes a bit tired,' says Leanne. 'Also, it's normal to occasionally get a dud plant that doesn't "take". That's ok! Just start again and pretty soon you'll have a mega basil of your own.'
