Basil
Herb · warm season
When to plant
- Start seeds indoors about 6 weeks before planting out.
- Plant outdoors about 2 weeks after your average last spring frost.
- Ready to harvest about 30 days after planting out.
Pinch flower buds to keep leaves coming.
Frost dates depend on where you live. Enter your ZIP code to get exact dates.
Dates by zone: 3a 3b 4a 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a 8b 9a 9b 10a 10b
Growing basics
- Sun
- Full sun (6+ hours)
- Spacing
- 12 in
- Soil temperature
- At least 60°F
- Time to harvest
- About 30 days
- Containers
- At least 1 gallons
- Plant family
- Mint family (herbs)
- Harvest per plant
- About 0.5 lb
- Seeds keep
- About 5 years
Companions
Good neighbors: Tomato, Pepper, Cherry tomato
Keep apart: Horseradish. Horseradish spreads aggressively. Give it its own spot.
Keep apart: Mint. Mint spreads aggressively into neighbors. Keep it in a pot.
Keep apart: Fennel (bulb). Fennel slows the growth of most garden plants. Grow it on its own.
Keep apart: Sunchoke (Jerusalem artichoke). Sunchokes spread aggressively and shade neighbors.
Pests and problems
Grow it well
Tips
- Pinch herbs often. Pinch basil just above a pair of leaves, and it grows two stems where there was one. Pinch off flower buds too, to keep the leaves coming.
- Freeze extra herbs in ice cube trays. Chop basil, parsley, or cilantro, pack it into ice cube trays, and top it off with olive oil or water. Pop out a cube or two for soups and sauces all winter.
- Grow herbs by the kitchen door. You'll use them far more if you can step out and snip some while dinner cooks. Basil, parsley, chives, and thyme all do well in pots.
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