How long have you had them? It's possible you bought them and they had already flowered and were developing seeds.

CaraRose seems to be correct.

I have had them about 3 weeks. There are no flower stalks anywhere, so where are the seeds coming from?

A picture of both the plant and the "seeds" would help to figure out what's going on.

Rodney

Pardon the dog hair & dirty windowsill :)

Are u sure they are seeds, and not bugs or caterpillar droppings?

I have never seen seeds fall off a basil plant ever. They stay on the plant even after it has died completely.

I have not seen any bugs or caterpillars. They are hard and about the size of poppy seeds. Hmmm..

I can't tell you what those are, but they are definitely NOT basil seeds.

Basil seeds are brown and slightly curved and pointed, with stripes. Very different from whatever that is.

Here's an enlarged view:

(My bad - original post pointed to the wrong photo - that was photo of caraway seeds- - this is basil - got to be more careful before I hit the submit button)

This post was edited by nickl on Wed, Jul 17, 13 at 23:07

Right! not even close!!! I put the plant outside on the patio table.....I'm real curious now as to what the heck they are! Wonder if it is some kind of critter that I carried home from the box store?? I will check the sill in the AM and see what is there. It is raining now outside, so I don't know if I will find anything on the patio tables in the AM around said plant. The other plant has nothing. BTW the plant in question seemed to be more weakly than the other, so maybe it is a little critter of a sort I cant see??

So Weird! My basil seeds are small and black. Yours look like wheat or barley seeds. I have grown them from these seeds, so I know I'm not freaking out! How the heck can a basil plant have seeds that big???????

Those are no basil seeds, they are droppings from someone who's eating your basil. If you don't see anyone during the daytime, try to catch the culprit at night.

possibly mouse (?)DROPINGS !!!, agree withgvozdika

I am pretty sure there is not a mouse in here, my dog would go nuts, but I agree it may be something eating on the plant, there are a couple chewed leaves, but only on the one plant (which is now outside). What other kind of critter (bug) could make droppings that look like that?

â¢Posted by dinajean upstate SC -Zone 7b (My Page) on
Thu, Jul 18, 13 at 5:59
I am pretty sure there is not a mouse in here, my dog would go nuts
................................................................
Even cats cannot cope with the mice, never mind a dog.
Just set up a trap(with some yummy cheese and peanut. You will find out. (somewhere that your dog can not reach)
The evidence is there. Probably it was a baby one..hehheh

HA! Rained all night but did not wash away evidence. If it was a mouse...why would he follow plant outside instead of staying inside with the other basil plant (which still has no "seeds" or "droppings". So I found a leaf chewed even more, some droppings on the leaves & some "whatever" on the table, which are not hard & black like they were inside, but rather squishy & yucky green when squashed. Still don't see a critter though. Now what do y'all think?

Guess who lurked out into the open?? I sure am glad I did not make a protein shake with basil "seeds"!!!LOL

Ho ho ho. I was wrong for blaming the mice. Innocent until proven guilty. Sorry !

did you ever find our what these black dots are , I have them !

Joanaldrich- The "black dots" were caterpillar poop. A couple comments above yours the OP posted a pic of the caterpillar that was responsible for them and the chewed leaves.

Rodney

You have no idea how relieved I am to find a fat caterpillar on my cyclamen plant!

Thank you so much for your helpful photos and information, folks. Thank goodness it's not a dying mouse lost in the house!

I've been discreetly Googling "green rodent droppings", not wishing you alarm my husband, until I had confirmation of the cause; and a plan!

I was starting to think it must be mouse, haha, but I took a look at the plant again just now, and found that huge green beastie, munching away - with a fresh poo attached to its tail end,

I found these same things on my basil plants today - same stuff - looks like poppy seeds but squishable! And I could shake them off. I've been harvesting and drying basil for over a month THIS YEAR (and for years prior) and have NEVER seen anything like this - they were all over the leaves and windowsills! And they were not there 3 days ago!!! YIKES! I thoroughly washed the basil I cut today (warm soapy water with multi-rinses) and it's in the dehydrator - should I throw it away?

Geez - I just reread all the comments above and today - for the first time - I FOUND ONE GREEN CATERPILLAR like the one in the picture! LOL.... would it be additional protein? AND I CAN DEFINITELY TELL YOU - THIS WORM WAS 'FULL OF IT'!