Sweet basil is that quintessential Mediterranean herb that we all seem to love. Let me show you how to grow this wonderful herb as well as share some of my favourite uses for it.
Like so many herbs there a lot of varieties of basil. The more common being sweet and Thai basil. For this blog I am just going to focus on sweet basil. This is the variety that is probably the most common and on we will use the most.
Basil can be an easy herb to grow once you find the right location and pot for it. That is something that I have found has taken me some time to do. But I think I have finally got it right for my garden. Let me share what I have learnt. I hope this will help when it comes to growing your sweet basil
What does sweet basil like?
Basil can be quite picky with what it wants. What it comes down to is likes to be warm it does not like the cold at all.
If temperatures get below 10C (50F) the leaves will begin to lose their sweet flavour and they will also try to produce flowers, this means it is wanting to go to seed. You will know this is happening because the leaves will change shape. They will look skinny and pointier.
When I say the like it warm that includes the roots too. So the soil needs to be warm. I have found they like a plastic metal or large terracotta pot. I do have more advice when it comes to terracotta pots below.
Where I live which is in BC Canada I have found basil does the best in a pot or raised bed and not so much the ground. Our garden does have a lot of clay so that impacts the plants. Most Mediterranean plants do not like clay, they prefer loose free draining soils which clay is not.
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How to plant sweet basil seeds
Basil seeds are really easy to sow They come up really well in seed pods/ trays. The seeds also aren’t super small like thyme and oregano, this means you can control the planting easier, not sowing them too thickly which eliminates the need for pricking out which is always nice when you don’t need to do this.
One
I like to take my seed tray, add my seed starting soil and place it into a tray with no drainage this is where add my water. Try not to water from above, I just fill the tray with water instead. I have found that the seeds do not move around doing it this way.
Two
Once the soil is moist I will plant my seeds.
A cool tip for picking up individual seeds is to wet the tip of a pencil and use that to pick them up and place them. It works great. I saw this tip on gardeners world with Monty Don.
Once you have places the seeds on the soil lightly cover with a layer of seed soil.
Three, How to sprout basil seeds
Do you need to soak your sweet basil seeds first? I don’t, in fact I never do for any of my seeds. I have found I prefer to use a heat mat (this is the one I use, click here and a grow light (like this one, click here . If you don’t have a heat mat then just a sunny window sill or heated greenhouse works too. The main thing is to keep the soil nice and warm and moist.
The reason for soaking seeds is to make them germinate faster, that is pretty much it. But using my heat mat and maintaining the moisture the basil seeds germinating in 1 week I don’t think you can get much quicker than this. Plus I don’t have the time. Who does?
Four
Once your seeds have germinated and they have a set of true leaves. These will be the second set of leave you will see. We are going to prick them out and repot the them.
I like to use a 2.5 -4.5 mm pot and plant 4 seedlings in each corner. We are wanting to give each plant room to grow. As they get bigger you will repot them again in to their final pot.
Use a rich but well draining soil. Basil does like to get watered often it doesn’t like to dry out. But it will not like to sit in cold damp soil either. Which is why I have found at least for myself it doesn’t grow well in a ceramic pot. I don’t think they warm up enough for the roots and they also hold water longer.
I grow my basil in a very large terracotta pot and water it often. Terracotta is porous so it does dry up quickly which is why it needs consistent watering, but I find terracotta also gets nice and warm, that sweet basil love.
But saying this young basil that is small hates small terracotta pots. Below is a picture of what NOT to do, even though they look so cute. My basil either refused to grow or it died. So for young tender basil that you may have bought or grown from seed use plastic.
I would also recommend a nice deep pot nothing too shallow. It will let the roots establish nicely.
These tips are just what I have found works and if it works and my sweet basil grows lovely and lush then that is all that matters.
Store bought sweet Basil
You do not need to buy basil seeds and grow it that way basil plants are the one herb that is always readily available in stores especially in supermarkets.
The only thing with buying them this way is that usually it has a number of plants all crammed together. So the first thing to do when you get home is to divide the plants.
I like to divide into 3 or 4 clumps. You may still have 2 to 4 plants still together but they will be fine and a lot happier than they were before.
When dividing the plants be very gentle try to get as much root on each clump as possible.
Once repotted give them a few days before using the basil this will let the plant recover.
Harvesting
To harvest your basil pinch off the tops this will encourage the plant to send of side shoots making it bushier.
If your plants are nice and big. They will grow to around 12-20 inches tall and wide. You can cut the plant down by around a third to a half. Obviously you don’t want to cut it down so that there are no leaves it needs some good sized leaves left on the plant. Those leaves are like satellites absorbing the sun making it grow. So do not over harvest.
But, if you do have lots of basil and you can get a big harvest then you will be able to make your own pesto!
Drying/ preserving basil
I tend to dry my basil I use a lot of dried basil in my cooking during the winter.
Theres a couple of ways to do this.
- If you have the space then you can remove the leaves from the stalks and lay them onto drying racks.
- If like me you have limited space then you can tie the bunches with string and hang up to dry.
Once dried you can crush the leaves, using your hands, a pestle and mortar or by using a mini chopper. Keep it stored in an airtight container.
Another way to store your basil is by freezing it. Begin by finely chopping the basil, putting around 1 tbsp worth into each section of an ice cube tray and top with either water and oil.
Recipe ideas for sweet basil
Here are a few of my favourite recipes
- The obvious one is pesto. Did you know that pesto means paste in Italian?
- A creamy tomato basil soup has to be a favourite especially paired with a grilled cheese sandwich. A classic combo
- Mozzarella balls, cherry tomatoes and basil on cocktail sticks drizzled with a balsamic syrup makes for a delicious appetizer. And easy too.
- Most Italian tomato based sauces, which are an amazing dipping sauce for my fried mac and cheese bites.
- I will also substitute oregano for basil if I am out of oregano I find the flavours interchange really well.
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