>
> >So, I transplanted the basil and cilantro plants in larger planters. Now
> >half of them are dead. I did water them but the weather had been strange
> >here. Hot and sunny one day, rainy the next, so it is possible the soil was
> >very dry for at least a day, or overwatered. How wet do these plants need
> >to be? I read the little paper I got with them, and it just said to keep
> >the soil moist.
>
> Yeah. How moist is "moist"? Roughly, it means growing in soil that
> has enough organic material to prevent either extremely rapid drying
> out, or water standing in a pot or on the ground. Directions for
> growing many plants say "does not like to be transplanted." I wouldn't
> think basil was one of these, as it's often sold in little 6-packs and
> seems to transplant well. I always sow cilantro seed where I plan the
> plants to live, however. The good news is that cilantro is *very* easy
> to grow from seed. Repeated plantings are suggested to keep a
> reasonable supply going. You don't even need to buy seed packets --
> just find a jar of coriander seed and plant some.
>
> >Also, I'm wondering if the round-up I used on some weeds nearby had a
> >negative effect on the plants. I did not spray the round-up on the plants
> >or on an area touching the planters (but it was one or two feet away) and
> >there was no wind to speak of, which is why I used it at that time (I
> >wouldn't have if it had been windy, since I would have been afraid of the
> >wind carrying the round-up to my new babies). How much does that round-up
> >stuff travel? Even if there were no wind, could it have hit my plants some
> >other way?
>
> How far does a sneeze travel? Roundup is a *very* effective herbicide.
> 1 or 2 feet away from new little plants is pretty close.. Roundup does
> its work on exposed foliage. It decays quickly (within a 2-4 days) and
> has no effect on subsequent planting in the treated area. Very
> meticulous gardeners wanting to kill specific plants/weeds *paint* it
> on with a brush or sponge to avoid the effect of aerosol spraying.
We once had a neighbor that applied a herbicide on a windy day and we had extensive damage near the property line. Fortunately a small hill protected our koi pond but we lost around 20 plantings due to his carelessness. My beautiful euphorbias croaked first within an hour! Anything with lush green foliage (like peas) got hit the worst. A few things managed to come back like my climbing hydrangea but the damage was both expensive and heartbreaking. A few of my heritage roses never came back and all he could say was that he thought it was not windy and that was why he did not spend a lot of money on plantings.