Guv's Gardens
Photo: Castielli, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sun
- Full sun, warm
- Soil
- Fertile, moist, well-drained
- Soil pH
- Best at pH 6.0-7.5; tolerates acid, neutral or alkaline soil
- Water
- Water in the morning; avoid overwatering
- Hardiness
- Tender, RHS H1C (frost-tender, half-hardy annual)
- Height and spread
- 20-60cm tall, 10-50cm spread. Tall cultivars can reach 0.5-1m; overall range 10-90cm
Guv's tipBasil likes it warm. Water in the morning, don't overdo it, and keep pinching out the tips and flowers. Lovely stuff.
Through the year
Timings are for the UK as a whole. Northern and exposed gardens often run a couple of weeks later.
When to plant
Sow indoors Mar-Jul, successionally. Plant out Jun-Aug in a warm, sheltered spot once nights stay mild
Harvest or flowering
Harvest Jun-Sep
Pruning
Pinch out tips and remove flowers
Making more plants
Seed, softwood cuttings
Watch out for
Aphids
Look for: Colonies of small green/black insects on shoot tips, sticky honeydew, distorted leaves
What to do: Squash or wash off, encourage ladybirds and other predators; insecticidal soap if severe
Slugs and snails
Look for: Irregular holes in leaves, slime trails, seedlings eaten
What to do: Hand-pick at night, barriers, beer traps, encourage predators; ferric phosphate pellets sparingly
Damping off
Pythium, Rhizoctonia spp.Look for: Seedlings collapse at soil level
What to do: Clean pots, fresh compost, tap water, avoid overcrowding
Grey mould
Botrytis cinereaLook for: Fuzzy grey mould on flowers, fruit or stems, rotting
What to do: Remove affected parts, improve ventilation, avoid overcrowding
Powdery mildew
Various (Erysiphales)Look for: White powdery coating on leaves
What to do: Water in dry spells, mulch, improve air flow, resistant cultivars
Always read and follow the label on any treatment, and check it is approved for use where you live.
Safety and spread
Pets and people: Non-toxic to dogs and cats, according to the ASPCA. Edible culinary herb
Weed risk: Not listed as an invasive plant in Great Britain; a frost-tender annual, not invasive in the UK
Growing somewhere else? See this plant for the USA and Australia.
The Plant Doctor and the Guv's book
Printable pest and disease charts with real photographs, and all 50 UK plants in one book.
