Greens & herbs
Basil
Pinch flowers to prolong the picking.
- Indoors
- 6 wk (early Apr)
- Outside
- Direct after soil warms, late May
- Where
- Raised bed or in ground
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Even moisture; soak every 3 to 4 days in July, water early
- Harvest
- Continuous, Jun to frost
Care
- Water
- Basil wants steadier moisture than the dry-side herbs, so keep the bed evenly damp with a soak every 3 to 4 days through July and August, easing toward weekly in the cooler shoulders. Water low and early in the day so foliage dries fast, which keeps downy mildew at bay.
- Sow
- Start in cells 6 weeks ahead, a pinch of seed a quarter inch down, thinned to the two strongest. Set plants 4 to 8 inches apart in the bed once nights hold above 50F.
- Start inside
- Basil is a warm-season herb, so a heat mat near 70F earns its keep; up in 5 to 10 days. Grow it on under lights, then out in late May once nights hold above 50F.
- Feed
- A shovel of compost or castings worked in at planting carries it most of the season. Go easy on nitrogen from there; too much puffs up soft, bland leaves, so let the compost do the work and taper off toward fall.
- Ready
- Cut whole stems just above a leaf pair and two shoots break from the cut, so every pick thickens the plant. Snip off flower buds as they rise to keep the leaves coming.
- Trouble
- Downy mildew is the Northeast basil plague: grow a resistant strain, water only in the morning, and give plants room to breathe. Pale squiggle trails: leafminer, pull the marked leaves. Ragged chewing in July: Japanese beetles, hand-picked into soapy water at dawn.
In a bag?
- Yes
- Up to a 2–5 gal bag.
- Water
- Daily in July and August, every 2 to 3 days in spring and fall; a small bag dries far faster than a bed. About 15 to 20 sec on the shower dial until the seams drip, in the morning so leaves dry by night.
- Feed
- A bag leaches with every watering, so a weak fish and seaweed drink every few weeks keeps a bagged plant cutting; still go easy on the nitrogen.
- Sow
- One plant per 2 to 3 gallon bag, a small cluster to a 5 gallon.
Pesto insurance: basil started indoors in early April, set out when nights finally warm, and pinched all summer. A short row keeps pace with a tomato-heavy kitchen from June to frost.
Growing
Six weeks indoors from early April, but no rushing the move outside; basil sulks below 50F, so late May is the honest date, the same window as direct sowing. Set plants four to eight inches apart in the bed, or run a cluster in a 5 gallon bag. Harvest by cutting stems back to a leaf pair, which doubles the branches, and pinch every flower spike the moment it shows. Before the first cool nights of fall, cut hard; cold-checked leaves blacken first. A bed holds moisture longer than a small bag, but basil still wants even, morning watering, so the leaves go into the night dry.
Varieties
Genovese for the pesto standard. Prospera or Rutgers Obsession bring downy mildew resistance, which matters in a humid river valley; Siam Queen covers the Thai side.
Pests
Basil downy mildew blows in on humid air most summers; the tells are yellowing panels between leaf veins and gray fuzz underneath, and resistant varieties plus morning-only watering are the whole defense. Japanese beetles take lacy bites in July; pick them into soapy water before the day warms up and they can fly.
In the kitchen
Pesto in batches, frozen flat in bags and snapped off by the square all winter. Whole leaves belong on tomato sandwiches while both crops are running.