What do Basil Plants Like?

[Gary350]

I want to grow basil again what type soil and growing conditions do basil plants like???

I planted basil 3 times last summer 2010, first 2 times it died then last time it did not do well. We had rain every day until mid June then 100 deg weather every day for 6 weeks with only a couple small rains all summer.

Summer before that 2009 my basil grew like a weed plants were very large 3 ft diameter bushes.

I usually buy plants from the Omish people but last year after having all my plants die twice I planted seeds and I had a hard time with them the plants never got larger than about 12" tall.

[rainbowgardener]

Basil does well in any soil, slightly acid to neutral, not over fertile. It is a Mediterranean plant that likes hot and dry and is used to lean soils. Two years ago we had a very rainy summer and my basil didn't do real well. Last year we had terrible drought, killed off a lot of stuff, and I had my best basil crop ever. (I did water some.)

[hendi_alex]

I tend to have trouble with my container grown basil if the potting mix is too heavy or moisture retentive. A few years ago I started amending the potting mix with about 1/3 perlite and have had pretty good success ever since. Still the plants have to be grouped with the somewhat lower water needs plants as it is easy to drown them.

[Susan W]

My basil is in pots, lots of them! 10" on up. Last summer was hot and long and dry. I found the plants did best when moved away from all day sun. I didn't water them daily, but checked them. They needed more water than the other herbs (thyme, lavender, tarragon etc). The pots are up off the ground or deck so have good drainage (important!)

[ButterflyGarden]

It might be the rain that is doing it in. I find my basil (which I grow in containers) grows best if it dries out a bit between watering. Not enough to make it wilt but I let the soil go dry and then water it.

[Savtadeby]

Last season I grew both Purple Ruffles and Italian large-leaf basil in self-watering containers that look like half barrels. Got a great crop, and now have plenty of frozen pesto, as well as dried basil for use until next year's comes up. Using the self-watering containers seemed to solve all the water problems, as long as I remembered to move them under cover if rain threatened. (That is only a problem in the very early spring, here.)

[Beatriz]

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