Basil growing and caring tips

You know basil . Surely you have a pot “that says basil” in your spice cupboard at home. If your experience with basil does not go beyond opening a small glass jar, you are not familiar with basil. Simply running your hand over the plant unleashes an unprecedented aromatic feast. What’s more…

We always say that you have to look at the classics to answer many of our concerns. The school of the sophists. The great Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Wise men we still have today when we think about it.

The sculpture, which reached a degree of perfection without equal, creating a model that has been in force for centuries. Sophocles, Euripides, great playwrights and writers, who after millennia continue to read and perform their works.

Well then, gentlemen of classical Greece: you were wrong . Each and every one of you was wrong … WITH THE BASIL !! and why do I scream? Now you will see.

In classical Greece, basil represented poverty, misery and hunger !! How is it possible? If Plato or any of them raised their heads and read this blog it would surely change their schemes. Luckily for us, the Italians had to arrive to save her, spice up her life and consider her a symbol of love.

In fact, it is considered an aphrodisiac.   Yes, classical gentlemen; A frodis í aca, a word derived from your goddess Aphrodite, goddess of love, lust and sexuality. It seems incredible that they hated her so much, (the basil, not the goddess). We are going to instruct these wise men by learning a little about the properties and cultivation of basil.

I smell basil and Italy and its cuisine comes to mind. Along with oregano, it is perhaps the spice most used by pasta and pizza wizards. And it doesn’t surprise me at all. I can’t tell what it smells like. Plain and simple, fresh basil.

Behind that aroma there are endless uses and properties for the kitchen, for ourselves and even for the garden itself, if we have it.

PROPERTIES AND USES OF BASIL

AT HOME:

  • In the first place, and the most obvious: its culinary use . Fresh basil is undoubtedly one of those fresh spices that you cannot miss.
  • Mosquito repellent . Yes that’s how it is. A basil plant near a window and mosquitoes will prefer the neighbor’s without basil. Why can’t a purchased jar of dried basil do that?
  • In Africa they say that it is used as a repellent for scorpions. I cannot corroborate that, nor do I feel like doing it ;-).

IN THE GARDEN:

  • Protects crops from aphid attacks. So you can plant them among the crops you want to protect. Its use is very common to protect peppers and tomatoes.
  • Its leaves mixed with the earth, stimulate the productions .

CLIMATIC REQUIREMENTS

TEMPERATURE

It is a plant whose optimal development is found in the upper medium temperature ranges. From 16-18 ºC to 28 ºC is its optimal range. He doesn’t like thermal changes at all and frost is the most dangerous thing that can happen to him. He can’t stand them at all. Taking this into account, we will plant basil in the garden from March (in a protected seedbed) for cold climates, where it can still be frozen in the following month.

BRIGHTNESS

The more the merrier. It supports very well exposure to the sun, even direct. It will not affect you at all.

HOW TO WATER OUR BASIL

Although it supports dry periods well, if we want to see it exuberant and displaying the aroma that characterizes it, it should not lack water. If we have it indoors, it will have to be watered daily or every 2 days during the summer. In the cold times of the year, every 4 or 5 days.

 SOIL CHARACTERISTICS

It adapts well to different types of soil but prefers draining , aerated, deep soils, with good humic content, and well fertilized. This recommendation is for its optimal development but we insist that it withstands lower quality soils well.

REPRODUCTION OF BASIL

One way to reproduce it is by seeds. The soil must be well fertilized. Soil temperatures for germination should be mild, temperate. The most important thing is the sowing depth . No more than 1 cm deep.

BASIL VARIETIES

In this last section we are going to give you some of them. If we put all of them we would not end in life. There are countless varieties in terms of shape, color, aroma …

  • Genoese or small leaf basil:  The one used for the Italian pesto sauce.
  • Neapolitan or broadleaf basil : (Main photo of the post). From my point of view it is the one that brings the best aroma to the dishes. It is a personal opinion, but I still have a lot to prove. Together with the previous one, they are the 2 that are most cultivated.
  • Alb. lemon
  • Alb. lima
  • White. cinnamon
  • Alb. anise
  • Alb. morada
  • White. spicy
  • Alb. thailandesa

DISCOVER OTHER MEDICINAL PLANTS

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