Basil

[SoftRain]

I've thought about trying to grow basil again (it died last time). Do you have any tips?

I do worry that I'll pick all the leaves to use and never let the poor plant get very big.

 

[naturelady]

My best tip is to make sure it gets lots of sunshine. I had a small herb garden once that was partially shaded and my basil never grew very big. The next place I had a garden was in the full sun, and it grew to several feet! I had lots of pesto that summer.

 

[SoftRain]

Thanks, naturelady. Does that hold true in Florida? The sun gets pretty intense here and I don't want to bake the poor plant.

I hope I can get my basil to grow as big as you did!

 

[naturelady]

Gosh, I don't know. I am no expert, but I would think it would still be okay. But I bet you could get away with a some shade during part of the day, since you get so much sunshine over all.

 

[strawberry]

I kept a basil plant in the house on a south facing window sill for the better part of a year. When it started to get spindly, I'd pinch off a piece or two and root it in water. I had a fresh supply for the longest time, but it finally died.

 

[amelia]

Root Depth and Pot Size

I'm not sure if I remember this correctly, but I think some kinds of basil need, or at least like, a loooot of soil to spread their roots in (the summer, small-leaf kind?) and other ones don't, i.e. they do fine in confined soil. I just put in a bunch of basil pots and have both the wide-leaf and a couple tiny-leaf varieties. Does anyone remember which is which?

 

[Trudy]

I'm glad to be reminded to plant some basil really soon. We can't get through the summer without it. For avoiding spindly pieces, be sure to keep pinching back the leaves. The more you pinch, the more basil you have.

 

[dissn_it]

I have basil on my kitchen window sill and use it frequently in cooking so I tend to do a lot of pinching. It is true that the more you pinch, the more basil you get. I try to give the plant some recovery time in between pinchings, so I now have two plants to work with. If they start getting too tall, cut them back about half way down. I use the stick part to make infused olive oil.

 

[Jailynnsgrandma]

I have never attempted to grow basil, but I might. Our next door neighbor used to grow it and when he watered his garden it smelled so wonderful. I loved it.

 

[rayne]

I plant basil in my little vegetable garden every summer. It grows to be about 2 feet tall and I use it with fresh tomatoes and in salads. I love to smell it. Just walk by and pick off a leaf and inhale. It's wonderful!