(Best months for planting Basil in USA - Zone 5a regions)

S = Plant undercover in seed trays. P = Plant direct in garden where they are to grow.

A frost tender low-growing herb. Basil is a culinary herb prominently featured in Italian cuisine, and also plays a major role in the Southeast Asian cuisines of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The plant tastes somewhat like anise, with a strong, pungent sweet smell. There are many varieties including, thai, purple ruffles and lemon.

Can be grown inside in pots in winter. As the plant develops, pinch out the top to encourage bushy growth. Pick off flowers to encourage more growth.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Basil

Basil is commonly used fresh in cooked recipes. It is generally added at the last moment, as cooking quickly destroys the flavour. Tear rather than chop.
The fresh herb can be kept for a short time in plastic bags in the refrigerator, or for a longer period in the freezer, after being blanched quickly in boiling water.

Your comments and tips

15 Mar 12, Anonymus (USA - Zone 10a climate)

I have had no problem seeding basil indoors. They come up easily. My plants grow fine. But after I pinch of all the god leaves, it produces a little more then stoppes producing altgether. What did I do wrong? Everone says to just keep pinching to help encourage new growth. That doesn't work for me. The plant just dies before producing god regrwth.

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20 Aug 12, (USA - Zone 9b climate)

Don't pinch or cut the leaves off. Instead use scissors to cut the *stem* just below the pair of leaves you intend to harvest. Then, in the kitchen, pick the leaves off the stem while washing them.

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20 Aug 12, (USA - Zone 9b climate)

I had the same problem at first. Most instructions aren't very clear on the details. The trick is to wait until there are 3-5 sets of true leaves on the seedling. Then, only cut off the top pair of leaves. Also don't pinch or trim until it is transplanted or in its final pot for growing. For the second "pinch," wait until the suckers (like on tomatoes) have 2-3 new sets of leaves, at least. Always use scissors or shears, btw. A good rule of thumb is to never remove more than 1/3 of a plant's leaves at a time, if you want it to keep growing. Once I figured out how to trim my basil plants, they went nuts within a couple of months. Now I have more basil than I can handle!

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17 Feb 12, Dion (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

When Basil is producing leaves on mass, I make up a big batch of simple pesto - normally using just basil, roasted almonds, lemon juice, and olive oil (plus maybe garlic, chilli, or cheese). It keeps very well in the freezer in take away containers, and it means I can bust out a Spaghetti Pesto in about 10 minutes. I would advise strongly against drying basil as it really tastes terrible - as does dried parsley and coriander. These herbs are really meant to be eaten fresh.

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29 Jan 12, Kate (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

My Basil isnt growing at all this year

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13 Feb 12, Rose (Australia - temperate climate)

Try a different position to grow and add a lot of nitrogenous fertilizer and manure,... Or better still try a different variety

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25 Jan 12, Kam (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Try planting them I a pot with some tomatoes. Also I have been watering mine with worm tea and it has gone nuts you should look into a small worm farm. They are awesome for everything :) hope this helped

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24 Nov 11, Amy Mitchell (Australia - temperate climate)

My basil has started getting brown dots. I don't think this is good. What can I do?

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11 Apr 11, (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

As basil plants grow older, they loose their taste and become very bitter and odd tasting, so i find that if you pinch the flowers off when they are dead and sow them into the soil for the next crop, which means you have fresh basil. The flowers contain seeds and i have used this method and I have never bought any basil seeds or plants.

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22 Jan 11, Trish (Australia - tropical climate)

We have a few basil plants around a foot high right now and are picking and eating happily. They haven't flowered, and I'm told I should pinch off the flowers to prevent it. my question - I'm such a beginner - do they die off and require replacing, or do the carry on forever if I keep pinching off the flowering heads? If they die, I should be planting again now!

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