basil - holy
Ocimum tenuiflorum - Indian basil / holy basil
- approx 200 seeds
- £2.99
- available to order from autumn
Delivery options
- Seed Packets (only) £2.99
- Position: Full sun, sheltered and warm or a sunny windowsill
- Soil: Fertile, moist but well drained
- Rate of growth: Average
- Hardiness: Tender (will need winter protection)
- Garden care: Pick plants over regularly and remove any developing flowerheads immediately to prevent bolting (running to seed) and to encourage lots of fresh young leaves.
- Sowing instructions: Sow seeds into pots of free-draining seed compost on a warm, sunny windowsill or in a greenhouse from late spring. Protect seedlings from slugs and cold and keep well-watered as they grow. Plant out into the herb garden or into roomy pots or troughs from early summer, after all threat of frost has passed, allowing 15-20cm between plants.
- Sow: April to June
- Harvest: July onwards
- Approximate quantity: 200 seeds
A small, upright, bushy variety with highly aromatic, purple-green, serrated leaves that are used in culinary dishes, particularly Thai. Ocimum tenuiflorum boasts attractive spikes of pink flowers that appear in summer and is a useful companion plant when grown alongside tomatoes (it deters whitefly). A short-lived, tender perennial, it is most commonly grown as an annual when regularly picked.
