My basil died 6 times before I figured out the drainage trick

I used to just toss seeds in any old pot from the dollar store and water them whenever I remembered. After killing 6 basil plants in 8 months on my Brooklyn balcony, I finally drilled extra holes in the bottom of a ceramic pot and added a layer of gravel. Now my cherry tomatoes are actually growing and I don't feel like a plant murderer anymore. Has anyone else had to learn the hard way that drainage matters more than sunlight?

3 comments

3 Comments

king.lisa1mo ago

Gravel layer doesn't help drainage like people think.

oliver_ward145d ago

Laughing at myself here because I literally put a gravel layer in my first raised bed thinking I was a gardening genius. Spent a whole weekend hauling bags of pebbles from the hardware store, feeling like a pro. Then my tomatoes sat in a puddle for two weeks straight and I realized I basically built a really expensive swamp for my plants. Turns out my "drainage system" was just a fancy way to trap water at the bottom. Now I just use straight soil and compost and my plants are way happier, go figure.

park.iris1mo ago

Gravel drama getting real deep huh.