Question
The weather is now very warm even at night. The basil unfortunately continues to wither. Now it's very skinny. I've been watering it only when the top inch of the soil in the pot is dry, as others have suggested.  

So it doesn't seem to be the temperature. What else is withering a sign of?

Thanks for your help.

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Followup To
Question -
I got a dwarf basil about two weeks ago and it was thriving nicely in an outdoor plant on my patio. The other day though, I noticed several stems/leaves had withered overnight. It had been windy and cool that night.

Could this have been the problem? I've gotten rid of the withered leaves and the plant looks half the size. How can I save the plant and take better care of it?

Answer -
Basil is a good plant to start with in the cooking herb category.  If it was fairly cool, that could be it.  Basil will not tolerate cold temps at all.  It could need watering more frequently if it has been growing aggressively.  Hope that helps.

Chris

Answer
Hi Tammy,

It could have a disease or bugs.  Did you look for little crawlies?  Is the stem healthy?  Are the leaves at the base of the plant healthy, if they are ... cutting it back hard may give it enough of a breather to restart growth.  

In the mean time.... Basil is very easy to start from seed and it isn't to late to seed some direct in practically all climates. A few seeds direct sown in a warm spot of the garden will sprout in less than a week.  Basil is a quick growing annual. It isn't too late to get plenty to make pesto.

Chris