How To Grow Basil

By

ThriftyFun

To keep the bugs from eating your planted basil, plant them with marigolds!

By Fay Ruggles

By

ThriftyFun

How To Grow Basil
By Green Thumb Times
From Green Thumb Times: Vol. 2, Issue 16

Fresh basil is an indispensable part of many dishes and a necessity for those of us who love to cook with herbs. Fortunately, basil is very easy to grow in either the ground or containers.

You should choose a site that gets full sun. Like most herbs basil is not fussy about its environment, but it likes plenty of sun and enough moisture to keep the plant from wilting. Be sure to work plenty of organic matter into the soil.

Basil seeds can be sown directly in the ground when all danger of frost has passed and the soil temperature has reached 60 degrees F. Basil may have problems with numerous fungi if planted in cool soil, that why you should wait until the ground has warmed
to 60 degrees.

You can certainly start your seeds indoors, but the seeds germinate so quickly in warm soil, it's hardly worth the bother. Besides that, direct-sown plants will quickly catch up to your transplants.

You need to water regularly using air-temperature water which will encourage faster growth. The seedlings should be thinned to about ten to twelve inches apart. When the plants reach about six inches tall, pinch the tips to allow for bushier growth.

Remove the flowers as soon as the buds appear. This will keep your leaves growing. You may pick your basil leaves whenever you need them. The more you pick, the more you will get.

If you want instant results for container growing, you can plant your seeds in an "in-house" container.

One final tip: Basil planted among tomatoes helps to repel horn worms.

About The Author:
Rex's Seedco is a family owned and operated business serving the home gardener, truck farmer, hobbyist and greenhouse grower. http://rexseedco.com The above article appeared in Green Thumb Times, their free weekly gardening newsletter. To subscribe, visit their site or send an email to subscribegtt@rexseedco.com.