Supermarket herb pots are an easy way to add new herbs to your garden on your weekly shop. To successfully plant herb pots outside, soak them well first and plant them into improved soil for success. Choose herbs in season to successfully plant them outside and allow them to keep growing.
How to plant supermarket basil pots outside
Supermarket basil can be moved outside in warmer weather. There are a few things to remember when planting out summer basil so follow these steps below for success.
Buy basil in the warm weather
Basil is a plant that loves warmer weather. To successfully plant out supermarket basil pots, buy them in spring or summer so that they are being transferred outside into weather that they love.
Basil from the supermarket can fail to grow if you try to grow it in Winter. Supermarket herb pots are raised in greenhouses where the temperature, water and humidity are controlled. This allows plants to be grown out of season and show up in your supermarkets.
Don’t feel like you have failed if a big green pot of supermarket basil dies off in the winter months. It was forced artificially to grow big and green through controlled climates.
To successfully grow basil form the supermarket outside, buy it in the Spring and Summer months.
Water the plant well before planting
Most supermarket plants will be almost completely dry before they are planted out. Through transport and time sitting on the shelf, the soil in the plant will dry out. This is actually desirable for the supermarket as they won’t have water dripping everywhere and they pot will be lighter.
To keep the basil plant alive it will need a good soaking to re-hydrate the soil before planting it out. The pot can even be placed in a shallow bucket of water with a splash of seaweed solution to rehydrate the soil. Leave it there for 15 minutes and then take it out to be planted.
Improve the soil or use a pot
Basil will need to be planted out into improved soil to give it the best chance of survival. When planting into a new pot outside, use good quality potting soil which will have added slow release fertilizer.
When planting supermarket basil into a garden bed, add some aged cow manure and pelleted chicken manure to give it a nutrient boost. Basil loves nitrogen as it has lots of green leaf growth so a boost of chicken manure will help it recover.
Most supermarket herbs are grown in soil which by the time it gets to your home will have almost all of the nutrients used up. Planting it out into good soil gives it the best chance of recovering.
Harden it off
Hardening off basil will be an important step when transferring it from the supermarket pot to the garden. Basil will have been grown in greenhouses out of direct sunlight and therefore can quickly burn and wilt if planted out into direct sun.
The plant may need a few days of transition from full shade to brighter light to handle the move. Even with this change, the basil may still wilt or have burnt leaf tips if you move it out into direct sun.
Keep the water up to the basil plants and they will quickly rebound and grow back. New leaves will sprout from the lower stem, replacing the old leaves and growing back.
The top of the stems can be trimmed off after a few weeks and new leaves will grow back to replace the old.
How to plant supermarket coriander and parsley pots outside
Coriander and parsley can be planted out in the cooler months and can transfer successfully from supermarket to your home garden.
Water the plants well before planting out as like all supermarket herb pots they are likely to be very dry by the time you get them home.
Parsley and coriander love well-draining soil so dig it over with a garden fork and make sure it is well aerated. Keep the plants well-watered over the next few weeks and pay attention if you have limited rainfall.
Mulching parsley and coriander with straw will help to keep the soil most and stop water from splashing dirt up onto the leaves.
Parsley and coriander are hardy plants and can transfer well from the supermarket to home. When you plant them out in your garden you can get a whole season of herbs instead of just one harvest. Avoid cutting off more than 1/3 of the leaves at a time to allow the plant to still grow, photosynthesize and recover from the harvest.
Can you plant supermarket herbs outside?
Supermarket herbs can be planted outside if they are grown in the correct season, are watered well and are planted into improved soil. Most supermarket herbs will be close to completely running out of nutrients by the time you get them home. A boost of liquid nitrogen fertilizer will help the plants to live on after planting them out.
Why do supermarket herbs die?
Supermarket herbs will die because they have been allowed to dry out, are grown in the wrong season or because they have run out of nutrients. To keep your supermarket herb pots alive, plant them out into improved soil, water them well and choose herbs that match the season you are in. Basil will grow best in Spring and Summer, coriander in winter and parsley all year round.
Can you plant supermarket herb pots outside? | Summary
Supermarket herb pots can be planted outside and keep producing more leaves for a season full of herb production. Plant them out as soon as you get home and water them well. Trim only up to 1/3 of the leaves off of the plant to allow them to photosynthesize and recover from the transplant.
Grow more herbs at home after your supermarket shop by planting them out in your yard.
Happy planting.
I am an accredited practicing dietitian, experienced gardener and a dedicated cook. I love writing and sharing my experience so you can learn from my successes and mistakes.