Thinning Out the Basil

My basil seeds have gotten off to a great start this year.  Nearly every tiny seed that I planted has germinated and the tiny cells they are in were sure to quickly become overcrowded.  I waited until the first set of true leaves appeared which was only about 10 days after they germinated.

 Nearly every cell had two or more seedlings, so I very carefully used my scissors to trim the extra seedlings down to soil level.  I didn't want to disturb the delicate root systems of the tiny seedlings, so pulling out the extra plants wasn't an option.  The trimmed seedlings will simply die back and decompose leaving the whole cell for the surviving plant.  

The plants are much less crowded now and they will hopefully take the extra light and nutrients to grow quickly.  When they are big enough I will transplant them into larger pots since it will be some time until they will be able to get planted out in the garden.  I am hoping to have them fill in some space around my tomato plants to help deter pests and to shade out weeds.  If they do well, I may try selling bundles of basil at the local farmer's market.