Growing Basil in Zone 7b

Basil is easy to grow and so great to have on hand fresh!

I bought “Emily” basil seeds way back when I first started gardening. And that’s mostly what I’ve grown ever since. Emily is a variety of classic Genovese basil.

Start basil inside in early March. Sprinkle a few seeds per plastic cup filled with seed starting mix. Cover until germination, then put under grow lights.

Basil really prefers warm weather, so there’s not much point in transplanting it outside until after Mother’s Day here in South Jersey. Basil needs full sun.

Once the really warm weather hits, basil will take off. It’s good for using anytime all summer, up until it starts going to seed around late August. You can prevent it from going to seed by pinching off the flower buds that will start to form, but it’s hard to keep up with that, and eventually it’s going to set seed. The taste of the leaves seems a little different to me at that point, in a way that’s hard to pinpoint. Also, there’s often some kind of disease happening at this point. So, use (and preserve) basil in high summer.

Basil needs a good deal of water if it’s very hot, especially if you have it in containers.

Towards the end of the summer, you can break off a sprig, put it in a glass of water, let it grow roots and then transplant it to a small pot. Keep the pot inside in a sunny spot during the fall for continued fresh basil. If this indoor basil doesn’t make it through the darkest days of winter, I usually end up buying a live basil plant from the supermarket and planting it in a pot to get me through the spring (and then planting that plant outside in the summer). It’s the circle of basil.