Thai basil
Herb · warm season · also called holy basil
When to plant
- Start seeds indoors about 6 weeks before planting out.
- Plant outdoors about 2 weeks after your average last spring frost.
- Ready to harvest about 60 days after planting out.
Anise-flavored and more heat tolerant than sweet basil.
Frost dates depend on where you live. Enter your ZIP code to get exact dates.
Dates by zone: 3a 3b 4a 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a 8b 9a 9b 10a 10b
Growing basics
- Sun
- Full sun (6+ hours)
- Spacing
- 12 in
- Soil temperature
- At least 60°F
- Time to harvest
- About 60 days
- Containers
- At least 1 gallons
- Plant family
- Mint family (herbs)
- Harvest per plant
- About 0.4 lb
- Seeds keep
- About 5 years
Companions
Keep apart: Horseradish. Horseradish spreads aggressively. Give it its own spot.
Keep apart: Mint. Mint spreads aggressively into neighbors. Keep it in a pot.
Keep apart: Fennel (bulb). Fennel slows the growth of most garden plants. Grow it on its own.
Keep apart: Sunchoke (Jerusalem artichoke). Sunchokes spread aggressively and shade neighbors.
Grow it well
Tips
- Pinch herbs often. Pinch basil just above a pair of leaves, and it grows two stems where there was one. Pinch off flower buds too, to keep the leaves coming.
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