It's been drowned. Once the roots have begun to rot from excess water, it's rare that you can save them. You might have been luckier if you'd repotted with all new, dry soil. Basil (and most other plants) really hates constantly wet feet.

Re-using soil which has gone 'sour' and which has become infected with fungi and other nasties is NOT a good idea. When repotting, always use all new potting mix.

In a decent-sized pot, basil should not need watering every day. Poke your finger into the soil as far as it will go. If the tip of your finger feels cool and moist, don't water. Never allow soil to dry out completely - potting mixes become water-repellent once dried out.

There's another issue, too. Often, when you buy plants from the supermarket (unless from the Gardening section) you'll get plants which have been 'hurried up' for culinary use of the leaves, to the neglect of the roots. They'll be potbound. Now, when the roots of a plant get squashed or bent, it's like perming your hair - they'll stay that way. They don't grow out. The plant then has to try and eat and drink through bent straws, so to speak.

A plant from a nursery shouldn't have that problem, and home gardeners shouldn't have that problem either if they put their plants into decent-sized pots or the garden.

As for no drainage holes - the very thought gives me palpitations. Excellent drainage is ESSENTIAL. Even those self-watering pots are not good for the most popular culinary herbs.

Basil really needs lots and lots of full sun - real sun, not the filtered stuff you get through glass windows. If you can't give it sun, you'll need special grow lights.

You've got one very sick plant there. Let it die in peace and get another one.

Thank you very much for your professional advice, that was the wisdom I was looking for, I could not let the plant die with ease until some one put me at ease, the next one will have the love an affection it deserves.

What is an ideal size pot for a healthy Basil plant?

Thank you again for all your help.

Jamie Claughton

How long is a piece of string?

In its ideal environment, in the ground, basil can get quite large - more than a metre tall and about as wide. In theory, the root system will spread roughly the same.

Any plant in a pot will be stunted to some extent because the roots cannot spread as far as they want to. The health of a plant is largely dependent on the health of its roots. So, the smaller the pot, the smaller the root system, and consequently the smaller the plant will be.

I generally ignore any pot that's smaller than say, 30cm (12 inches) in diameter. I tend to choose pots at least 50% larger than that, but there are no hard and fast rules. Just picture to yourself the optimum size of the plant and visualise if it will fit in the pot you're looking at. As a very rough rule of thumb, if you can fit the top bit into the pot comfortably, the underground bits should be comfortable in there.

My personal belief is that there is no such thing as 'over-potting' ie putting a plant into a pot that's too big for it. Especially when you're planting babies. Babies grow. Others might disagree. My view is that if you give them room to spread, they will.