So, I heard about this thing called ‘Botelli’ a while back. Someone on a forum mentioned it, you know how it is. Said it was some special way to grow herbs, maybe some kind of pot or system. Sounded interesting enough, I guess. I’m always messing around with plants, trying stuff out.
Figured I’d give it a shot. Took me a bit to even find what they were talking about. Turned out to be these odd-looking plastic pots, kinda flimsy if you ask me. Ordered a couple online. They arrived, looked just like the pictures. Cheap plastic feel, like I said. No real instructions, just a small leaflet with basic planting steps. Nothing special.
Getting Started with the Planting
Alright, so I got my potting mix ready, same stuff I always use. Decided to try basil in one ‘Botelli’ pot and some mint in the other. Just followed the basic steps, put the soil in, popped the seeds in, watered them. The pots had this weird bottom section, maybe for water? Wasn’t clear. I just watered from the top like usual at first.
- Filled the pots with soil.
- Planted basil seeds in one.
- Planted mint seeds in the other.
- Watered them lightly.
First week, nothing much happened, which is normal. Then the sprouts came up. The mint, well, it’s mint. It would grow on concrete, probably. It took off like crazy inside that ‘Botelli’ thing. No surprise there.
The Basil Situation
The basil was slower. It grew, yeah, but didn’t seem any better than in my regular terracotta pots. Maybe even a bit leggier? I noticed the soil stayed wet longer in these ‘Botelli’ pots. That bottom section, maybe it held too much water? I tried watering less, but it was tricky. The plastic just didn’t breathe like clay does. Had to be careful not to drown the poor thing.
Honestly, I fiddled with it quite a bit. Tried watering from the bottom thingy, tried adjusting sunlight. It just seemed… average. The pot itself felt like it would crack if I looked at it wrong. Not impressed with the build quality for what I paid.
So, What’s the Verdict?
End of the day, the ‘Botelli’ pots didn’t do anything magical. The mint thrived because it’s mint. The basil did okay, maybe slightly worse than usual because of the water thing. It was just another plastic pot, really. A bit over-designed and flimsy.
Maybe it works better for other plants, I don’t know. For me, it was just a thing I tried. It didn’t revolutionize my herb garden. It just sat there, holding soil, like any other pot. Won’t be buying more, that’s for sure. Back to my trusty old clay pots. Sometimes the old ways are just fine.
