Let's look at what basil is like. Growing out of seeds, caring for them will not add much difficulty to the gardener. Basil is popular with many for its special taste, aroma, and beneficial properties. It is a lush medium-sized bush, about 60-80 cm tall, often used not only for cooking, but also as a decorative piece of the site.
Fragrant spices such as fennel, rosemary, thyme, tarragon, cilantro, basil are popular with many people, so they have been successfully grown in our gardens for a long time.
- What a plant basil
- Growing basil
- Basil - planting and care in the open ground
- Planting basil seeds in seeds immediately
Green and purple basil on the 
Green Basil On the contrary, our purple sibling, which has a brighter, more pronounced aroma, is more common.
Purple Basil Baku variety leaves have a purple color, their smell is somewhat reminiscent of a mixture of mint, clove( seasoning) aromas. Basil with a bluish color( Yerevan) smells of tea, allspice, green( Spoon) - the smell is a bit like laurel mixed with cloves.
In addition to culinary purposes, this aromatic culture is quite widely used, since its leaves, stems contain many vitamins, essential components, camphor, carotene, potassium. Violet basil has bactercidal, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory properties. Its use has a positive effect on the nervous, urogenital system. An interesting fact is that mosquitoes, midges, flies do not like the smell of basil, so it would be advisable to sow it near pavilions, benches or other places of rest at your summer cottage.
Dry or fresh basil leaves are used to prepare a wide variety of dishes, sauces, and soups. It should be added very carefully, as it is able to completely change( kill) the taste of the main ingredients.
содерж to content ↑Growing basil
This herb prefers a light fertile soil, begins to bloom from mid-summer, continues to the first autumn days. Basil loves warmly, lighted places, reacts poorly to temperature drops. How to grow basil from seeds at home? Seasoned gardeners recommend pre-soak the seeds( 2 times) with hot water - no more than + 30 ° C, for about 15 minutes. If you have potassium permanganate, you can add some powder to the water.
Basil seedlings Shallow containers( 5-7 cm) are prepared in advance with a substrate that is thoroughly moistened before direct sowing of seeds( early-mid-April).Also for planting, you can use a soil mixture consisting of humus, peat, sand( proportions - 2: 4: 1).Seeds are deepened by about 1 cm, gently watered, after which the box is exposed to a place lit by the sun, where there is a temperature not lower than + 23 ° C.After 7-10 days, the first shoots appear, by which time the temperature should be lowered to + 17..20 ° C so that the seedlings do not stretch. At all stages of growing basil, watering should be done only with warm water. Also, it should not be allowed to dry out the soil, as well as waterlogging( in order to avoid the appearance of a black leg).
How to plant basil in separate pots? When the seedlings appear two true leaves, it is time to picks. To do this, you can use special cassettes or other small containers that are filled with the same soil that was used previously. At the bottom you can put medium-sized rubble or pebbles, which will be drainage. The picking is done carefully, for fear of damaging the root system. Plants are placed in small depressions, followed by regular watering.
содерж to content ↑Basil - planting and care in open ground
Somewhere 7-10 days before the transfer of plants to open ground, you need to start hardening - reduce the amount of water during watering, produce airing, gradually reduce the temperature( not lower than + 7..10 ° C).By the end of May / beginning of June, when the earth warms up to about + 15 ° C, seedlings can be removed from the pots, transplanted into the ground.
Next we plant basil on the beds, planting and care in the open field for this crop is almost no different from any other seedlings. Bushes are located at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other, the depression in the soil should be approximately 7-10 cm. The distance between the beds should be approximately 30 cm. The well should be watered well before planting. The bush itself should be planted in such a way that its main bud, leaves, are located above the soil. As in the case of other seedlings, for planting bushes it is better to choose a cloudy day, so that the sun's rays minimally contact with young basil.
So that the bushes develop well, please you with lush leaves, the tops of the plants can be plucked at the stage of the appearance of the fifth or sixth full leaf. This maneuver contributes to the expansion of basil in breadth, its density. Subsequently, in order for the plant to also give lush leaves, the inflorescences must be promptly removed - pinch off or cut. The earth, of course, requires regular watering, loosening, weeds should be destroyed. 
Planting basil seeds directly into the ground
You can also plant this fragrant spice immediately into the ground, bypassing the process of pre-cultivation in boxes, pots. If you live in the south of the country, then this process should be done by mid or late April. If you are in the middle lane, then sow basil is better by the middle / end of May, when you are sure that cooling will no longer be expected.
Similarly, seeds are first soaked in hot water. Shallow beds are formed in the garden, while the specificity of sowing seeds repeats the above described method of sowing seedlings. The depth of the seed - no more than 1 cm, followed by watering, puffing the earth, removing weeds. When the plants reach 20 cm, pinching the top is performed. The more you remove the leaves from the bush, the more they will grow again.
Basil is a plant whose best time for harvesting in the fall, winter is the period before flowering. By this time, it reaches the maximum concentration of beneficial components, vitamins, essential oils. As soon as you see the buds that have not yet blossomed, immediately tear off the sheet to the blank. When the seeds ripen, you can collect them, use them as intended with the onset of spring. 
Basil comfortably feels in the garden before the onset of the first severe cold snaps. Before the frost approaches, you can dig up a bush, plant it in a room pot, so in winter you will always have fragrant spice and at the same time a beautiful plant at home. 
You should know that it is not recommended to plant basil on the same place for several years - this increases the risk of the disease of the plant with fusarium.
Now you know when to plant basil on seedlings, plant it, how to care for seedlings and grown bushes. It grows well with the usual care, but if you decide to feed it with organic fertilizers, it will not be worse. The above method can be used to grow basic varieties of basil or hybrid, such as "Balconstar", "Anisovy", "Dreamer", "Lemon Flavor".
We hope that the fragrant spicy ornamental annual basil, growing from seeds, the subsequent care of which was described in this article, will now settle in your summer cottage. 
