Growing Basil

Introduction

Instead of buying fresh basil at the store you would be far better off buying an established plant at the nursery. Not only will the plant born basil be fresher, you'll also be able to harvest some basil from the plant perpetually for some time to come.

Types

Basil comes in countless varieties with the most common being the Genovese basil; also know as "sweet" or "Italian" large leaf basil. Other good ones to grow are lemon basil which tastes just like lemons and is phenomenal with fish and Thai basil which has a licorice scent due to its higher content of Estragole (p-allylanisole, methyl chavicol).

Other common varieties include Rama Tulsi (Holy Basil), Vietnamese basil, American basil and puple basil.

Germination

Basil is easily sprouted within several days if the seeds are fresh. Place two or three seeds in a small quarter inch hole in every germination pot. You can grow multiple plants in the same pot. Seeds are best stored in the refrigerator and can be purchased directly from us via our Seed Store.

While you can easily grow basil in beds, I prefer to grow them in small containers.

Planting

Once sprouted in smaller pots I transplant them into a six inch pot. Try to thin any seedling pots than have more than three plants to three or less. Use the Best Hawaiian Soil Mix.

Plants in beds should be planted 10 to 12 inches apart.

Sun and Water

Basil grows very well in Hawaii. Four to eight hours of direct sunlight per day is ideal; water the plants on a schedule that provides them with a cycle of wet followed by letting the soil dry without causing any wilting or plant stress. That way the roots have access to both water and air so as to bolster vibrant growth.

Fertilizing

Feeding basil is somewhat tricky; while they will happily eat what you provide; trying to limit it to just what they need is where you want to be. Since basil is primarily leafy it eats a lot of nitrogen. The perfect top feed is a Nitrogen rich fertilizer like a dessert bat guano with added blood meal.

Harvesting

Basil needs to be cut, pruned and harvested regularly. The best parts of the plant are the young fleshy leaves (left picture below); these should be cut before they get too large. By harvesting the top two or three nodes while leaving at least two or three behind helps keep the plant from flowering and creating seeds (right picture).

When basil forms flowers and seeds the leaves are no longer suitable for harvest. I’ll usually cycle my basil plants every three months or so with flesh seedlings.