Growing Instructions for Basil

Season:

Summer (but some varieties can grow through winter)

Basil is grown in summer, but some varieties (like Thai Basil) is a perennial and therefore grows

through the winter months too.

 

Position:

Full sun

In very hot areas, basil can be grown under 25% to 30% shade netting.

 

Soil ph:

Between 6 and 7.5

 

Watering needs:

Water regularly – two to three times a week

 

Possible pests & problems:

Black mildew under leaves (spray with bicarb of soda)

Aphids (very rare)

 

Maintenance & Extras:

Basil is easy to grow, but to avoid a stringy plant, the flowers must get pruned off regularly.

Some basil varieties, like red basil and lemon basil, are a bit more fragile and should be grown in semi-shade.

 

Additional fertilizers:

Foliar feed (once a month)

Root feed (once a month)

 

Harvest:

Basil leaves and flowers can be harvested at any time during the season, as soon as the plant

reaches around 30cm in height.

 

Cultivars:

Because basil can cross-pollinate easily, there are many different varieties available. Thai Basil is

a perennial that grows into a large, woody shrub, with a slightly aniseed flavour and a purple-ish

appearance. “Normal” basil or “Sweet” basil varieties have large, green leaves, especially the

Italian Large Leaf variety. Lemon basil is a smaller plant with light green-yellowish leaves and has

a lemon flavour. Red basil is great to use in salads for its colour and medicinal varieties include

Tulsi (also called Holy Basil), where the leaves and flowers are steeped as a tea.

 

General:

Basil is one of the easiest herbs to grow and can be used in various different ways in the kitchen.

Just make sure you nip off the flowers regularly. This will cause your plant to keep producing new

leaves and bush out nicely. At the end of summer, leave the flowers and you will see that the

plant will produce more and more flowers and the leaves will become smaller and smaller. Once

the flowers dried, and seeds have formed, you can harvest the seed and store it in an airtight

container for next summer.

Basil can be grown in containers of about 20cm to 30cm deep.

Basil is a great companion plant for tomatoes! It can also be grown with radish, cucumber,

peppers & chillies, borage, chives, asparagus, chamomile, oregano and garlic.