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While out for a walk this evening a cute little basil plant followed me home. This is all well and fine, as it promises to be good and not piddle on the carpet or anything, but I've never had sole responsibility for another living being before and am not really sure what to do now (sure, I've baby-sat the occasional plant for a loved one, but only ones which were well established in their locations and well cared for before I was told to look after them for a couple of days).
I've nestled it into a corner of the balcony railing, up high enough so that it can look over the edge if it wants (it is a concrete rail), and told it to be good and that I'd be home later. It is a north facing balcony, so it won't get much, if any direct sunlight till winter is over (and winter is coming, but it is also still a ways off yet, or so I assume by how green the tree leaves still are), but it is the only balcony in the apartment, so I figured that it would like it best of the choices it had available. I did take off the icky plastic wrap which surrounded its pot, and then removed the few mouldy leaves whcih were down among the stems near the dirt, probably caused by the enclosed space created by the plastic. Its soil was wet (gee, go figure, there was mould growing in there!), so I just left it to get settled in. I don't know if it is close enough to enjoy the company of the plants on the next balcony or the trees whose tops reach just about as high as my balcony, but hopefully it will be ok there.
So, my questions: How best do I take care of it? I know that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
baronsnorri frequently moves his little friends into bigger pots so that their roots can spread out a bit. The stems of this little one largely fill the space of the pot, so I suspect that it would like a pot upgrade itself, but since I don't yet know where one can obtain larger pots and more dirt in Milan, it will have to wait a while. And, anyway, I suspect that it is better to let it get used to its new setting and be certain that it still wants to live after the trauma of winding up in a supermarket. How long should that wait? How can I tell that it is time?
How long shall I give it before deciding that it likes its new home and is settled enough that I can charge it rent in terms of the occasional leaf in my dinner? Once it does start paying rent, what is a reasonable tithe I can take? How many (what percentage?) of its leaves can it spare in a day/week/month? Will it need anything besides water, light and, eventually, a bigger pot? How often will it want water? Does it like soggy dirt, wet dirt, damp dirt, or dirt which is dry on top by still damp underneath?
What kind of life-expectancy does it have? Can I expect it to survive the winter and keep growing next year? If yes, will it want to come into the house once it gets cold out? How cold is "cold" if one is a basil? Or is it better to leave it outside to sleep till spring? Is there anything else I should or shouldn't know about my new tenant?
I've nestled it into a corner of the balcony railing, up high enough so that it can look over the edge if it wants (it is a concrete rail), and told it to be good and that I'd be home later. It is a north facing balcony, so it won't get much, if any direct sunlight till winter is over (and winter is coming, but it is also still a ways off yet, or so I assume by how green the tree leaves still are), but it is the only balcony in the apartment, so I figured that it would like it best of the choices it had available. I did take off the icky plastic wrap which surrounded its pot, and then removed the few mouldy leaves whcih were down among the stems near the dirt, probably caused by the enclosed space created by the plastic. Its soil was wet (gee, go figure, there was mould growing in there!), so I just left it to get settled in. I don't know if it is close enough to enjoy the company of the plants on the next balcony or the trees whose tops reach just about as high as my balcony, but hopefully it will be ok there.
So, my questions: How best do I take care of it? I know that
baronsnorri frequently moves his little friends into bigger pots so that their roots can spread out a bit. The stems of this little one largely fill the space of the pot, so I suspect that it would like a pot upgrade itself, but since I don't yet know where one can obtain larger pots and more dirt in Milan, it will have to wait a while. And, anyway, I suspect that it is better to let it get used to its new setting and be certain that it still wants to live after the trauma of winding up in a supermarket. How long should that wait? How can I tell that it is time?How long shall I give it before deciding that it likes its new home and is settled enough that I can charge it rent in terms of the occasional leaf in my dinner? Once it does start paying rent, what is a reasonable tithe I can take? How many (what percentage?) of its leaves can it spare in a day/week/month? Will it need anything besides water, light and, eventually, a bigger pot? How often will it want water? Does it like soggy dirt, wet dirt, damp dirt, or dirt which is dry on top by still damp underneath?
What kind of life-expectancy does it have? Can I expect it to survive the winter and keep growing next year? If yes, will it want to come into the house once it gets cold out? How cold is "cold" if one is a basil? Or is it better to leave it outside to sleep till spring? Is there anything else I should or shouldn't know about my new tenant?
