I purchased the plant from the grocery store over a month ago and now it is hungry. I have it in water. It's healthy but fading. The last one I planted in soil died. I have fertalizer sticks that I use for my potted plants but the package is torn off and I can't read the ingredients. I suspect they could be too strong. What can I use to feed it? I was hoping to find someone with experience. Is there anything that I can use, that I may have around the house to feed the Basil plant? Thank you.

Personally, I wouldn't use any fertilizers that weren't specifically designed for hydroponics on a hydroponic plant.

Check the yellowpages, depending on where you live their may be a hydroponic store in your area, call them up and see what they recommend. They will have hydroponic plant food specifically for edible plants.

Otherwise, just take the basil, grind it up with some garlic olive oil and pine nuts and voila - delicious pesto

I tried looking up answers for ya hun... It was your only open question I hadn't answered yet. Looks like a bunch of companies make a "mineral solution" that they sell. There are a ton of them on the internet, but I haven't seen any site that references what is in it. Another solution people have is using fish. Aparently tilapia excrete stuff that basil can live off of and the fish live off the algae or something from the basil. Wasn't too clear on that but thought it was interesting. Wish I had a good answer for you on this one. The one with teh fish was called aquaponics. Will let you know If I see anything more concrete.

I found it!!!!!!

How do you grow them? The old adage that herbs like poor soil is false. However you should not use a fertilizer which is too rich. This will give you a lot of growth but not much flavor and very little oil in the leaves. Use a fertilizer such as 5-5-5 or 10-10-10 where all three elements are in balance. Use in moderation and don't feed too often. The clue as to what's happening as far as flavor goes is this: if the growth is too lush, then quite possibly you're not getting much flavor.

Most herbs grow well at temperatures between 70-80 degrees F. They like moderate fertilizer, some sun and good drainage. They do not like a soggy medium. They prefer a humidity of 40-50%. You can propagate from cuttings (3-5 inches long) taken from the new tip growth. You can also propagate by layering. Most growers grow directly from seed which is less labor intensive. The only advantage of using propagation methods other than seed is that you have the plant sooner than you do with seeds.


good luck!@