AeroGarden Pesto Basil Seed Pod Kit (6 Coated)

I've used these multiple times to start my Aero Garden over from scratch. The pods sprout within days and once the leaves start peaking through the paper, they grow very quickly! Often times within 2-3 weeks, I have so much basil I can hardly use it fast enough. Trimmings from the plants can also be used as starts and transplanted to other pots. Many times I take trimmings and put in a glass of water and they'll start rooting into the water if I don't eat them after a few days.Within a month, the Aero Garden is overwhelmed with basil and I make pesto. But if I don't get around to making pesto or using as much as I thought, the plants can easily get out of control and take over. They'll grow around the lights and even go to seed if not pruned regularly. I'm still kind of learning how to extend the usable life of these plants because after about 3 months of regular pruning and using small quantities daily, the plant just gets thicker and more hearty and the leaves grow kind of yellow instead of deep green. They'll sometimes begin to flower and go to seed if left untouched long enough. Right now, I have some older growth from my last kit, and the stalks are so thick now that they still produce a lot of leaves, but as a mature plant, they drink nearly a pitcher of water a day and drop leaves all over the place. When it gets to this point, I usually order another kit to start over and when I clean out the Aero Garden reservoir, the root system is incredible almost completely filling the machine. I think it's probably best to transplant each pod into a pot outside the Aero Garden before the roots get so embedded once it hits maturity like this.

This is the second box of "pesto basil" I've received which contains what are clearly different varieties of basil. Three of the plants have sharply pointed leaves and absolutely reek of mint - NOT appropriate for pesto in the slightest! The quality control is miserable.To be clear, basil and mint are closely related plants, and many varieties of basil have a minty smell/flavor to them. Not Genovese, though. This is some wacky crossbreed that doesn't suit its purpose in the slightest. I even gave the last batch the benefit of the doubt and made my (typically wonderful) pesto with them. It was worse than disgusting.One weird batch may have been a fluke, but twice is a company who clearly doesn't care about their customers, quality, or delivering on the promise of their products. There are plenty of alternatives out there - looks like I'm going third party and sourcing seeds myself from here on out.I would absolutely not recommend this product.

There was something wrong with this batch. I use the aero grow system all the time usually buy my pods from Canadian Tire. They do not sell a pack with all Basil so ordered this pack. Only 3 pods grew and the other ones that grew died they looked like they had something wrong with them. Never had this happen and been using this system for a long time. The unit was cleaned before I put these pods in. Not sure if I will be ordering these again. I went to Canadian Tire and bought the pods that you can plant your own seeds put the basil seeds in and now growing beautifully.

The basil pods produces dollar (coin) sized petals with amazing flavor.. You can have these all year long!! I keep them in a vegetable green bag for longer storage but you can dry them or freeze them too.. Absolutely my favorite!!

This is the only thing the aerogarden does wellKeys1. Only use 2-3 pods. The basil will bush out2. Only only only cut from the top. Down to the next little baby sprout. It will grow to the light. Leave the side leaves alone , needed to keep the plant strong3. Keep topping uo the water, every 2-3 days. Fertilize when red light comes on. Err on side of less fertilizer, too much will kill the plantAnd thats it. I have 2 Aerogarden harvest elites, 2-3 basil plants each. I can get a good handful of basil almost every day