Learning how to grow basil is surprisingly easy...and incredibly delicious! Who doesn’t love fresh basil?
Basil is not hardy in northern climates, and therefore needs to be grown as an annual – meaning you have to plant a new plant every season to benefit from this herb yearlong...
OR...
Plant it in a pot in your kitchen!
More on this in a minute.
How to Grow Basil Outside
I have not attempted to start basil from seed, so I cannot attest to how easy or difficult that is. Cilantro grows very easily from seed, but I do not know if basil has the same ease of germination.
I prefer to purchase a small basil plant from a local nursery, as opposed to starting it from seed. And believe me, small is all you need! Don’t concern yourself with purchasing a large container basil plant as even the small ones will take off if nurtured properly.
There are many types of basil available for your gardening and culinary delight, however my personal favorite is the Genovese Basil. This is the variety most frequently used in Italian cooking. I’ll focus on planting and caring for this variety, although you can certainly follow these “how to grow basil” instructions for any type of basil plant you purchase.
You have 2 options for growing the basil plant:
Placing your basil directly in the garden placing your basil in a container I don’t know that there’s much of a difference in growth rates between each of these options, so go with whatever you prefer. I have planted basil in the garden in years past, and they always did well, however now I have mine located in a container (that I have “anchored” in the garden) and it is doing equally as well.
Actually, I've had a bit more success with planting my basil in a container, and then burying the container at least half way in the garden as I did in this picture. This gives you the flexibility to amend the soil (i.e. use the good stuff!) by using the container, but helps with water retention and nutrient supply to the plant from the garden soil below.
This is a young basil plant very early in the season after being relocated from it's toasty indoors environment. It suffered a bit of transplant shock initially.
Factors that determine success with basil
The 4 main factors that will determine the success of your venture with how to grow basil are:
Sunlight: Basil plants need to receive "full sunlight" or at least 6 hours of sunlight in order to thrive. This goes for plants grown in the garden OR in a container.
Water: You will need to water this plant somewhat frequently, but want to ensure that it is never in standing water. Basil will not tolerate that. The soil beneath the plant should be allowed to dry very slightly between watering.
This will help to prevent over watering.
Equally as important as preventing over watering, is to ensure that you are watering enough. You will quickly notice if you’ve let your plant go too long without water as the leaves will start to wilt.
Not to worry, they’ll pick up again just as fast as you can replenish with a good drink.
What works particularly well in keeping moisture in the soil is placing compost around the base of the plant. This helps provide the basil with the nutrition that it needs for growth, and also helps to keep the weeds at bay.
When you place your compost or mulch around the base of the plant, make sure the stem has room to breathe. Suffocating the stem could cause problems with stem rot or disease.
Soil: As with most plants, the type of soil you have (hopefully well-drained, rich, organic, nutrient dense soil) will often determine the quality of growth you see in your plants. Basil prefers a nutrient rich, well-drained soil.
Pruning: To ensure bushy growth, trim tall stems back to the buds lower on the stem. You can see in this picture that the stem on the left was pinched back, and new growth shot up as a result. Keeping the branches trimmed back will serve to create a much bushier plant and therefore more basil leaves for you to harvest. Do not let your basil start to flower. Cut the flower stems off as they appear. This will keep the basil plant focused on leaf production instead of flower production. You do not want the plant to put its energy into flower production as that will take away the energy it uses for plant (leaf) production.
How to Grow Basil Indoors
The same rules basically apply. Plant in rich, well-drained potting soil (I use a mix of potting soil, compost, peat moss, perlite and slow release granular
fertilizer), and use a pot that allows for water to escape from the bottom. An enclosed pot may cause the roots to rot if over-watered even the slightest
amount.
Fertilizer WILL be important for potted plants that have no access to soil other than what's in the pot. Eventually, the nutrients in the pot are depleted.
Applying fertilizer to container grown plants outdoors is not always necessary depending on the amount of amendments in the soil that you are using.
When I do use granular fertilizer I use organic fertilizer that does not container any harmful chemicals. Certain products can actually kill beneficial organisms in the soil, and I prefer to let those beneficial organisms help my plants. What works particularly well for a fertilizer replacement is worm compost.
And for both indoor and outdoor plantings, be sure that your basil gets a lot of sun! This herb drinks it up!
Now that you know how to grow basil, I surely hope you use it fresh as often as possible for all of your favorite Italian recipes. Here’s one of my favorite ways to use fresh basil:
Mozzarella Basil Salad
12 fresh sliced basil leaves
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 small container fresh mozzarella balls
Olive oil
Sea Salt & Pepper
Empty mozzarella balls in strainer. Pat dry with a paper towel and slice each one in half. Rinse tomatoes and pat dry. Slice all tomatoes in half. Combine mozzarella and tomatoes with basil leaves. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Serve as a side dish.
I hope these instructions on growing basil have you enjoying this herb all year long!