Learn how to grow basil indoors as a houseplant in this article to have this popular aromatic herb available year-round in your home. It’s quite wonderful if you don’t have any outdoor space available or you want to grow it in winter to enjoy the fresh basil sprigs instead of preserved ones.
Botanical name: Ocimum Basilicum
Plant Type: Annual herb of the mint family
Hardiness Zones: 2-11
Propagating Basil is easy. You can start it with cuttings or seeds. However, instead of growing from seeds, better to buy one healthy basil plant from your nearby store or garden center and multiply it anytime during the growing season.
Grow basil from cuttings in soil or water and create new specimens in no time.
Take 4-5 inches long cuttings from an existing basil plant. Make sure to make a cut below the leaf node. Remove all the leaves off the cuttings, but save a couple of sets of leaves on the top end. If there are flowers, remove them too.
Place the cuttings in a jar of water, submerging only the bottom 2/3 part of the stems. Keep this jar in a warm spot–A windowsill that receives morning sunlight would be fine.
Basil is very easy to grow from seeds. Start the seeds anytime after early spring and as late as 5-6 weeks before the average last frost date. If you live in a frost-free climate, you can plant the basil seeds indoors or outdoors anytime, except for your peak when the temperature goes above 90 F (32 C)!
Fill up the seed tray or mini pots with seed mix, and sprinkle the basil seeds on top, work them into the soil gently. As the seeds are tiny, plant them no more than 1/4 inch deep and cover with the soil briskly. Follow the usual care steps you take for growing other plant seeds.
Your sweet basil may grow anywhere between 6-28 inches
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