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Growing Basil in the UK

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THREE OPTIONS FOR GROWING BASIL

There are two common methods for starting a basil plant into growth - by seed or by cuttings. If neither of those mehods suits you then your third option is to buy a basil plant and grow it on.

This page compares the advantages and disadvantages of all three methods and provides links to in depth pages on how to proceed with all three methods. Each of those three pages has a detailed calendar for growing basil by that method.

GROWING BASIL FROM SEED

We start with growing basil from seed because it is the most obvious method. The key advantage of growing basil from seed is price. Rather absurdly it is possible to buy a pack of 1,000 basil seeds from a reputable seed merchant in the UK for less than £2.

One thousand basil seeds is rather irrelevant for the average UK gardener but is does illustrate how cheap the seeds are.

Another advantage of growing basil from seed is that you can choose from many different varieties.

The principal disadvantage of growing basil from seed is the time and effort it takes up to the point at which you can harvest a meaningful crop.

For our step by step instructions on how to grow basil from seed, click here.

GROWING BASIL FROM CUTTINGS

Growing basil from cuttings is far more fun than growing basil from seeds, it's also far quicker. The simple explanation of this method is to cut off a stem of basil, place it in a jar of water, wait a couple of weeks for the roots to form and then plant it in a pot of compost.

The principal disadvantage is that the variety of basil you can grow is limited to the variety of the donor plant. One donor plant however can easily provide enough cuttings for five or six more plants. For our step by step instructions on how to grow basil from cuttings, click here.

BUY BASIL PLANT(S) AND GROW ON

This is undoubtedly the easiest method of growing basil plant(s) but also the most expensive. Plants can be bought from garden centres and / or online. A quick look at the prices for basil plants online indicate that when delivery costs are taken into account, a single plant will cost you at least £15 from a reputable supplier.

There is a huge number of varieties to choose from but after extensive testing we have come to the strong conlusion that one variety of basil is barely indistinguishable, as far as flavour is concerned, when used for cooking a meal.

One other option available however, as far as buying a basil plant is concerned, is buying a potted plant from your local supermarket. At this time, a potted basil plant is available from Tesco (other supermarkets are available) for just £1.50.

Often people find it difficult to grow on a supermarket bought basil plant but with the correct treatment they can be grown very successfully. See our page here for growing on basil plants.

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