Ocimum Species, Common Basil, Sweet Basil

Basil has been about the easiest plant that I've ever grown (aside from Aloe vera). I clip the growing tip to harvest, pull off the leave...Read Mores I need, root the remaining bit, and then plant it back in the garden or give it away. I find that this keeps my basil plants under control.

Two quick notes about dry leaves:
1. You don't have to dry on the stem. I make a baggie out of tulle and hang it full of the larger basil leaves that I also strip when rooting up a tip cutting. They dry the same as they would on the stem.

2. When using dry leaves and you have to crumble them, grinding them between the heels of your palms does a much better job (or faster) than a mortar and pestle.

Pick off flower spikes early. Harvest before it bolts, otherwise the leaves turn bitter, which I learned the hard way.

I've grown Sweet Basil in my herb pots for years. But until this year, when I picked some for my kitchen - put it in water on my counter...Read More and promptly forgot to use it - I didn't realize how easily it rooted. :-) Plain water, no special technique used, and a few days later...NEW plants!

A great way to begin learning about propagation...and tasty, too!

~julie~

The Chinese name for basil is 'jiu ceng ta', or 'nine-storey pagoda'. It is easy to see how it got this name when the plant is in full fl...Read Moreower. It is widespread in Hong Kong gardens, a favourite of both local Chinese and foreign residents, used in many dishes. It is also reputed to be effective as a mosquito repellent, by simply squeezing the leaves and rubbing the juice onto your skin.

A small plant (unconfirmed type -- most likely Thai basil) found growing at the side of a dirt path was transplanted with massive success in our sprawling garden, and has re-seeded itself, with some human intervention (scattering and/or planting some seeds), across large areas, equally successful in the ground, potting compost, growing through cracks in concrete. One of the plants that flourishes throughout the year in Hong Kong's extreme climate (summers up to 37 degrees C, hot drought-like spells, with high humidity, interspersed with heavy tropical rainstorms, cool winters with occasional drops to as low as 3 degrees C).

Has anyone tried basil and raspberry ice cream..... ? A real delice!
Just one of the other many uses of this useful plant.

Not only for insalata Caprice and pesto.... I use it with a mixture of other green herbs as part of salads and fillings for flour tortil...Read Morela wrap ups.....

I make my pesto with macadamia nuts instead of pine nuts, since they are more readily available to me....in quantities so I can freeze it.

It propragates fast by rooting stems in water. At the moment I have 6 new ones and one so old the main stem is quite woody. Still wonderfully fragrant.

The other two foot basil 'bush' in the front yard. The only bad part was trying to figure out who to give a shopping bag of basil to eve...Read Morery two weeks. Lived for years before a frost zapped it.

Pesto!! One of my all time favorite pasta additions. very easy with your own plant. pine nuts, basil leaves, olive oil, salt, garlic, ...Read Moreand a food processor.

Also, I always pick the flowers off of my basil plants-- they arent that pretty and sap the energy right out of the plant. it will grow much faster and bushier if you pluck them off the second they start coming.

I find it amusing that the comments regarding this wonderful herb fail to mention its culinary uses. Basil, tomato, mozzaella, and olive...Read More oil (Italian "Ensalata Caprice") is a marveleoous example of Basil's wonderful flavor.

Easy to grow in average soil with ample water, full sun. Good as container plant. Very attractive to snails, etc. The foliage is an attractive bright green, making it pleasant to see in any garden. Flowers a very small, white, on short spikes.

These plants, as well as oils from them, have received lots of attention for their potential medicinal properties. Of these plants, O. ba...Read Moresilicum is the most widely used. It is used in cosmetics, liqueurs, medicines, and perfumes.

Most common type grown. White flowers. Bright green, 2 to 3 inch long leaves. Erect habit. Clovelike scent.