With these stunning plants, add a little zest to your cuisine! Home gardeners make Basil (Ocimum Basilicum) for its sweet taste and lovely scent from seed. Basil is highly popular and available in many delicious species, all of which offer distinct taste and scent to gardens and borders.
In pots both inside and outside, colorful, compact basil plants do well to bring interest to the herbal and decorative beds of the flower. The original significant leaved type is excellent for fresh or dry foods, is a favorite in Asian and Italian cooking, and is most commonly referred to as the pesto component. Fragrant plants measure between 18 and 24 inches and are very productive.
This delicate year likes warm temperatures but can’t cope with cold or freezing conditions.
Quick guide: Basil plantation, cultivation & harvesting
- Classic, Italian, Thai, and other species Choose
- Easy to start with or without the seed
- Start seedlings 4-6 before the end of the freezing danger
- Does it require full sun and soil compost
- Use either dry or fresh
- Protect against frost and cold weather
- Aphids, slogans, and beetle are among the plagues
Sunlight: Full sun to partial shade
Maturity: 60-90 days from seed
Height: 18 to 24 inches
Spacing: 6 to 12 inches apart
Site Preparation
Basil grows in soil or pots and loves whole light, frequent water, and quick-dry, rich soil. Work before planting in a lot of old animal dung or organic compost. Read our post about starting a herb garden for more information.
How to Plant
Sow basil seeds outside when the soil is warm, and the temperature is less than 65 ̈/F. Within four to six weeks before planting, you can start under the light. Space plants are 6 to 12 inches apart in every direction. Sow seeds below the soil surface. In 5-30 days, the seeds germinate, so stay wet. During the gardening season, once or twice the use of natural and organic fertilizers helps encourage strong plant development.
Make successive sowings and store all surplus for use later in winter, with continual summer supply. Allow plants to get to the seeds at the end of summer to attract positive insects and pollinators.
Note: To encourage a whole, bushy way and prevent plant woody, you have to maintain the flower spikes clipped back.
Harvesting and Storage
When it grows approximately 6 inches tall, Basil is ready to harvest. Cut in the morning, right above the leaf node after the dew has dried. Don’t wash the sheets or lose fragrant oils. Frozen leaves can best be stored in plastic bags but frozen.
Dry Basil by hanging it back in a dark, airtight container in a well-ventilated room. Learn more here about herbal harvesting and preservation.
Tip: harvest often to promote new development for plants.
Insect & Disease Problems
Basil is familiar to the insect pests of aphids, slugs, and beetles of Japan. Check attentively and adopt the common sense approach, which is less harmful, if found:
- To remove alternative hosts, remove weeds and other plant residues.
- Throw away seriously infected plants by bagging and storing them securely.
- Dispose of helpful insects commercially available to attack and kill insect pests.
- Spot treatment of diatomaceous soil and neem oil in plague problems regions.
- The organic bait of iron phosphate Scatter Sluggo® is a plant-based killing bait.
- To destroy Japanese turf beetle grubs, use Milky Spore (Bacillus popilliae).
Choose a place with adequate air circulation and use organic fungicides like copper, sulfur solutions early when there are initial signs to prevent many common garden illnesses.