Sweet basil seeds (Sieger Seed, Imlay City,
Mich.) were sown in 11-cm (600-ml) plastic
azalea pots with two seeds in each of three
holes » 1.5 cm deep using a commercial peatperlite–
vermiculite mix. The seedlings were
thinned after 2 weeks to three equally spaced
plants per pot. This method of sowing and
thinning had been found in preliminary experiments
to produce more biomass than one
or two plants per pot (data not shown).