Basil grown from seed

Growing Basil from seed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Basil is a herb that is well loved for cooking, but did you know that it is also a very easy to grow indoor plant?  Basil is easy to grow from seeds and is a very fast growing plant.  It also is great to have your own fresh herbs ready at any moment for cooking, garnishing, or just plate decoration.  If you want to grow your own, you can buy basil seeds for under $2 here.

It’s always best to grow basil in the warmer months, however this particular story proves that its not impossible to grow out of season, just a little slower than normal.  This basil plant was grown by @pghplantmom and was planted in mid January 2018.

 

23rd February 2018: The seedlings have sprouted and have begun to produce adult leaves

6th March 2018: all of the seedlings have now produced large and healthy adult leaves – they aren’t quite ready to harvest because you want the plant to have enough leftover leaves to continue to grow.

13th March 2018: The plant is now much more mature and a few leaves could be harvested if required

15th March: Just two days later the leaves have continued to increase in size and more new leaves are growing rapidly

20th March: The basil now has plenty of leaves that could be harvested for cooking – once the plant has enough leaves don’t be afraid to pinch them off, it actually encourages more growth!

 

Tip: this plant had white spot mould growing on the top layer of soil – this can be quite common with plants and is easily fixed if caught early.  This one was resolved by scooping out the pieces with mould, sprinkling cinnamon (a natural anti fungal!) and being put in direct sun for two days to dry out.  So if your basil plant has white spots on the soil, don’t throw it away, it can be rescued!

 

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