Growing Basil In Pots
Basil is a very popular herb for growing in pots. It goes well in almost any dish made with tomatoes, cooked or raw. It also tastes great with fish, meat, rice, and even some fruits!
Basil needs heat, and will not grow in cold climates. You cannot successfully grow basil indoors unless you keep your home warm, or unless you have one room in your home that you can keep warm enough. If you set your air conditioning to under 75 degrees, you will probably have serious problems growing basil indoors.
Basil can be grown from transplants or seeds. Starting the seeds is not particularly difficult, but if you can find the variety you want as a transplant in your local nursery, it is probably best to save yourself the trouble. Of course, buying seeds and starting them yourself might be cheaper, but only if you already have everything you need other than the seeds. I would stick to using plants if you can find what you are looking for. If you simply must start your basil from seed, follow the directions on the packet.
You should use a standard potting mix with a bit of sand and dolomite lime added. Simply fill the pot with soil and plant the basil transplant at approximately the same level it was in the starter pot. Pack it in a bit, then water lightly to settle the soil. It's that simple to transplant basil!
Basil grows best when it is very hot, and when the soil is allowed to go dry between waterings. Overwatering this plant will cause a serious lack of flavor, and may even kill the plant. Of course, it does need to be watered, and you shouldn't let the soil stay bone-dry. But going a day or two between waterings is good for basil.
Never plant basil before the night time low temperature is consistently above 50 degrees F. If you must, you can cover the plants at night, but the warmer the weather is, the better they are likely to do.
You should fertilizer basil when you plant it with a high-nitrogen plant food. Then you should fertilize it once more in the middle of the summer. It does not need to be fertilized often.
You should harvest the last of your basil before there is any threat of frost, no matter how light. Even the lightest dusting of frost, something that most other plants would not be harmed by at all, can devastate basil. Even the lightest frost can turn basil into a shriveled black nightmare. Trust me, bring your basil in before any threat of frost!
To harvest basil, simply snip off the number of leaves you need. To stimulate nice, busy growth, you can also pinch off an inch or so of each branch, but don't get carried away. Basil is subject to diminishing returns. If you pinch too much, you'll only encourage it to flower and stop producing as much foliage. You should harvest the larger, darker leaves, as they have the most flavor.