I planted some herbs (lavender, basil, cilantro) mid October, almost 6 weeks ago. I started them from seed in an egg carton, transferring them to their current planter box about 2 weeks later. The cilantro plants need immediate attention for obvious reasons but I think I’ll eventually have the same problem with the basil: too many plants and much too close together. But I’m not sure how to go about thinning them out.
I also should mention that they were planted in 4 “pods”. Either I waited too long to transplant and/or didn’t put enough soil but the roots were growing into the bottom of the egg carton. For fear of destroying the roots, I planted the seedlings with the bottom of the egg carton, thus the groups of plants. This goes for all the herbs.
So, what approach should I take in thinning out? How do I choose the stalks to remove? How should I remove them - pull them out of the soil (though they might still be intertwined beneath the soil because of the egg carton issue) or cut them off? If I should cut them down, where should I make the cut?