Basil seedlings are a kind of prelude to tomato salads and other pestos that instantly make your mouth water. To do them properly, here are all our tips… Ready for a delicious season of forkfuls!
When to sow basil?
You can start your basil sowings as early as March and through May. To ensure you have vigorous plants as early as possible, since we’re talking about sowing in plugs or pots, it’s best to start promptly.
If you want to do outdoor sowing, you’ll need to wait until there’s no longer any risk of frost, namely by mid-May at the latest.
How to grow basil from seed
Indoors
Start by grabbing any seed tray and line the bottom with gravel or clay balls to ensure good drainage. Basil is relatively sensitive to moisture, but especially to fungi that can thrive there.
Once that’s done, mix a good horticultural potting mix with a quarter of sand and a quarter of well-matured compost or, if unavailable, garden soil. Then simply sow your basil as evenly as possible before covering with a thin layer of potting mix and watering.
Finally place your basil seedlings in a warm, sunny spot!
Here’s what your basil seedlings in a seed tray will look like before transplanting © Sarah Cojocaru. Once your sowings have grown into young seedlings, you can transplant 3 to 4 plants per pot, preferably a good-sized container. Not that basil has a huge root system, but it really likes having constant access to water, which is easier with a generous amount of soil.
In the ground
When the time is right, that is, once all frost risk has passed, you can sow basil directly in the ground at a rate of 3 to 5 seeds per sowing pocket, spaced about 20 cm apart.
Prepare your soil so that it’s fine-textured and add mature compost in ample quantity; your basil will thank you for it.
Planting basil seedlings
Once your basil plants are robust and at least 10 cm tall with a healthy root system, you can transplant them into the ground… Provided there’s no frost risk left.
Dig a small hole in soil that you have carefully weeded and into which you have mixed a bit of compost, then plant your basils so that the root ball sits level with the soil surface.
Firmly firm it all and create a small basin to facilitate watering before… you arm yourself with patience!
How to grow your own basil seeds
The first thing to know is that the different varieties of basil can cross-pollinate and thus hybridize. You’ll want to grow only one variety if you intend to harvest seeds of a specific variety.
Let your basils flower without stripping too many leaves so they stay vigorous, and leave them undisturbed until September or October. The stems of your basil will start to dry out and the seeds will appear, leaving you with nothing to do but cut the stems gently and harvest the seeds over a table to collect all that falls.
Then place your seeds in a kraft bag or a jar to keep everything out of light and at room temperature.
What could be more rewarding than tasting a vegetable you grew yourself in full?
And what if you took it a step further by also learning to harvest and store the seeds from your own harvest?
To be discovered on Cultura.com
