I'm way behind needless to say.
Is it too late to direct sow lemon basil seeds in my garden right now?
Is it too late to direct sow basil seeds?
Sow away. Basil is one of those plants that will grow in about anything but cold weather. It should grow this time of year in just about any medium including yard dirt. I just propagated some in a landscape mix which is very heavy in pine bark and they popped right up thru the bark and wood slivers. They are kind of tender seedlings though and will need protection from direct sun and strong drying winds untill they get a little size on them.
Cottage Rose -- I planted some sweet basil seeds just last Sunday (four days ago) and this afternoon I saw some little sprouts coming up!! You got a head start on me and mine are off to a good start. How are yours doing?
Mine are coming up. Hope the recent rain will make them happier. Its been rather dry and the sprinkler doesn't seem to do anything to make the grow. My borage is growing fast though.
Weird thing...I planted 3 paks of sunflower seeds and only a few are coming up. Those usually are so easy to grow so I'm not sure why so many failed to germinate???
Not only should you plant them now, but hold some seeds back to plant every two or three weeks so that you will have a continuous supply of basil.
If you keep pinching them back, they won't flower (which makes them get bitter), and you should get a continuous supply that way also. I pinch each branch or stem right above the second set of leaves. Where you pinch, you'll generally end up with 2 new branches (often, you can see the new pairs of leaves forming right at the base of the larger leaves... each of those little pairs will turn into a new shoot if the stem above is cut off). When these new shoots or branches get several sets of leaves, again pinch them back to the second set of leaves. The more you pinch, the bigger and bushier your plant will be, and the more delicious basil you'll harvest.
Of course, sowing new seeds every so often also increases your supply! :-)
You can also propagate additional plants by taking cuttings... basil will generally root readily in water. I like to pot the cuttings up into cell packs or 2 inch pots, then transplant once they've filled their little pot with roots.
Oh what great tips Critter!
I didn't know allowing them to flower makes them bitter!
I have some that have started to flower due to me being busy and not tending to them more often.
So if I took some cuttings from the ones that flowered already (actually they were mainly buds not full blown blossoms) will the new plants be bitter?
Also...
How long can you continue to sow basil seeds?
Do Lemon Basil seedlings transplant ok?
New growth is not bitter, even on older plants that have put up some blooms, at least in my experience. Different varieties seem to change flavor to different degrees when they bolt, but I think all of them have the best flavor in the newer leaves. You could take cuttings from plants that have flowered, but it would be best to use a stem that has not started to put up buds or flowers for the cutting. I've rooted stems with buds, but they seem to take a little longer, as if the stem's energy is going into the flower rather than into other growth.
I would advise just cutting your basil back hard, to above the second set of leaves on each stem, and then giving it some time to put up new growth, which you could harvest and/or use for cuttings.
You can continue to sow basil seeds as long as the summer weather holds... I think basil likes temps above 70 to germinate, and of course frost will kill it dead as a doornail. I like to sow seeds fairly thickly and then transplant them in little clumps. I think I wrote a summary somewhere of Tom DeBaggio's "clump transplanting" method of seed starting... let me see if I can find it... http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/589725/ This is about starting seeds indoors, but the clump transplanting stuff still applies to seedlings that you've direct sown and want to move. I have better luck transplanting nearly everything if I first put it into a little pot and transplant it into the garden after it has filled the little pot with roots.
Thanks for all the useful advice, critter. I didn't know that you could root cuttings. I've had very bad luck with the Genovese basil that you kindly sent me. Only four of the seeds germinated, then three of those died from all the wet weather. Maybe if the last one survives long enough I can get a few more from cuttings.
Sorry those seeds didn't do better for you! If you've got any left in the packet, go ahead and give them another try. I know the Genovese Basil seeds were more limited in number, as I just didn't have as many to go around. I've got a bunch of them growing well in front of my tomatoes, and I'll be sure to let them set a lot of seed at the end of summer! Meanwhile, I hope your remaining plant grows like gangbusters! That one really is my favorite for pesto, sauce, etc. I brought a bag of it up to my folks this weekend, and my mom was nibbling it out of the bag.