Basil on my porch is wilting

I planted some basil seeds this year and I keep having an issue with wilting. I keep watering them constantly but I'm starting to think maybe my area is too hot for basil.

Sometimes I have to water them every day and some days a few days will suffice. I'm getting to my breaking point, especially today because I asked my boyfriend to water them yesterday and I assumed he did and now half of them are just about gone because they are so badly wilted. What upsets me the most is that I watered them on the 12th really well and asked him to water them on the 13th and now on the 14th a lot of them are dead. I'm pretty sure I can't bring them back but I watered them to see what happens. I sometimes move them to the full sun area of the porch during the raining time because it's the only place that isn't covered by a roof and then if I'm not paying attention a few hours of sun and they almost croak.

I have also been wondering if it's the soil. It is a mix of a bunch of soil a friend gave me and a small bag of miracle grow. The stuff my friend gave me wasn't the greatest but I figured if it was mixed with miracle grow it would be a decent mix. I guess maybe I'm too cheap when it comes to soil but I just didn't have the money at the time to get what I wanted but now I'm afraid that by doing this I'm killing my plants off slowly. Should I redo all my work and get a different mix?

What am I doing wrong?

Is it the soil? Is it the sun? Is it me?

I can't speak for whether or not basil will grow in TX, but there are a couple other possibilities too. Too much water is just as bad for plants as too little water. Wilting can be a symptom of either too much or too little water, and especially if they're wilted and don't perk up a bit after being watered that's a sign that the problem is too much rather than too little. Given the watering frequency you're talking about, too much water would be a definite possibility. I also don't know what kind of soil your friend gave you, but if it's garden soil (vs potting mix) or if it's a lower quality potting mix it may not drain well, which will make overwatering even easier. The other thing that could be making things worse is the sun exposure--if they're typically not getting a lot of direct sun and you move them to an area that does get a lot of sun, they're not used to that light intensity and they can sunburn. If you want them to get more sun, you need to adjust them gradually to higher levels of light. I suspect watering may be the main cause of your problems, but the extra sun exposure that they're not used to wouldn't have helped them.

I had trouble growing basil in pots for the last two years - they would get too much sun, not enough sun, too much water, not enough water . . . . it was such a pain and I could never find a spot they seemed to like. This year I planted them in the ground with some tomatoes and they're happy as clams. They're in full sun, but I think the dappled shade and wind protection from the tomato plants is just what they needed. They don't get dried out as much since they're not in a container, so it's not as hard to get the watering right. If it's at all feasible for you to do so, I'd highly recommend trying this kind of companion planting arrangement. Good luck with them - I totally understand your frustration! :)

Your plants may have out grown their pots. Basil can get a fairly large root system.

Thank you for all the replies. I don't think it's the over watering since they do perk up each time I water them. I never knew they had large roots... that might be the main reason. I don't have very deep pots and they are all crammed in them together in some of the pots. Maybe next year I will get a deeper pot and see if this helps. :)
After all you can't always get it right every year.

Basil does grow in Tx I planted mine in the ground. Maybe a new BF (teasing)

there are several basils that grow in Tx, I have a hard time with sweet basil, needs 3x more dirt than plant, keep it trimmed back, makes it want to grow. use soil you know where it grew, clean, not reused. old dirt reused can carry the problems and toxins the old plants had to your new plant, even if you thot the old plants were great, chuckle. All dirts were not created equally.

I agree with hollyd77 and kitriana's comments. I never had sweet basil do very well in a pot either. It does best when planted out in the garden near tomato or cucumber vines so they'll have part sun part shade (since too much direct sun keeps them from growing fast and big - we want a bunch of it so we can make pesto.)

We grew basil in full sun in New Mexico, altitude about 5000 ft. We always bought plants and made sure to put them about 6 inches from the soaker hose. If they get too much water when they are young they will die. These are mediterranian plants and grow where it's hot. Keep trimming new growth off to use or share. My basil plants were as big as bushel baskets at then end of the summer. Our beds were lovely sand and peat moss mixture with a weekly nutrient feeding and automatic watering. Don't give up. It's worth having.