Basil – Part 2 – From seeds

I started basil from cuttings a few months back and those plants flowered and gave me lots of seeds. So, I started my next set of basil plants from seeds.They are really easy to grow and are such wonderful plants to have. I love the smell of fresh basil and the wonderful aroma that lingers when we just water them or touch them. Also the fresh basil used for cooking is really awesome and packs a punch in terms of flavor and aroma.

Sow Seeds

Cover with plastic  (optional)

Remove the plastic after germination

The seeds germinate in 4-5 days with no extra care.  If you cover the pot with a plastic cover after sowing, the high humidity makes them germinate in just 2 days. Make sure to keep an eye on them , for the plastic needs to be removed as soon as the seeds show signs of germination, else they develop some fungus.
I have overcrowded them, for the seeds are tiny and I went over board and sowed too many in a small pot. They did tolerate being over crowded and looked so pretty.

Day 7

Day 14

Day 28

I love that you get more basil leaves after every harvest. Two nodes of leaves grow from every cutting point hence you end up doubling them in size in a few days. Make sure to leave a few leaves on the plants while harvesting so, they can survive and keep producing more.

1st Harvest on Day 32

Day 44

I barely fertilised my basil plants, apart from the compost I added while planting them initially. Its mostly a low maintenance plant. Do keep an eye out for the occasional mealy bug  or ants. I just removed the leaves which were affected or the bugs / ants from the plant and they were fine after that.

Ready for another harvest

Day – 60

To see how to propagate them from cuttings see here.
To see how to save basil seeds see here.