How To Grow Basil From Seed – 5 Easy Steps To Growing Basil!

Basil is an easy, rewarding herb to grow and once you know how to grow basil from seed you will be on your way to enjoying fresh basil in no time.  Basil grows quickly and you can have multiple harvests for the season.  I like to start my basil early indoors around 7 – 8 weeks before I transplant it outside to my greenhouse.  There is quite a variety of basil to choose from and you may want to try out a couple of different varieties to find your favorites.  My favorite is the sweet basil.  Let’s talk about the material you will need to grow your basil from seed indoors and then once you have your materials you can come back and follow along with my easy step by step below.

Containers To Grow Basil From Seed In

You can use pretty much anything for containers to start your basil seeds in as long as there are drainage holes on the bottom of it.  You can use the 6 pack single cells which I have used before or you can use a larger round pot like I used this year.  I use to plant single basil plants and place those in my green house but this year I decided to plant them in groups in my round pots like the ones below.  If you are going to plant lots of basil like I do or have other herbs or vegetable seeds that you are starting then having a large tray like the black one below comes in handy to hold all your containers in and they can safely drip in there and not cause water damage.

Zicome Plastic Seedlings Starter9GreenBox – Seedling StarterYield Lab 10 x 20 Inch Black

Choosing Basil Seeds To Start Indoors

There is quite a variety to choose from when it comes to the basil plants.  My all time favorite is the sweet basil.  It produces large leaves and has a great flavor which I really enjoy using in my soup and salad recipes.  You can always try one or two new varieties each year and see which ones you like the best.  Here is the sweet basil seeds I like and a assorted 8 pack of basil seeds to try.

Large Leaf Italian Basil SeedsBasil Seed Packet Collection

How To Grow Basil From Seed Indoors – A Step By Step Follow Along

You will need:

• Basil Seed of Choice
• Soil For Starting Seeds In
• Containers For Planting In
• Tray to Place Potted Containers In
• Grow Lights or Very Sunny Window Ledge
• Newspaper
• Water
• Masking Tape and Felt Marker

Step 1:  Gather all your materials to your desired working station and lay out some newspaper to protect the area.

Step 2: Fill your containers 3/4 full with your soil of choice and lightly press it down.

Step 3: Place your seeds over your dirt and add a little more soil over top.  Gently press soil down.  If your are going to use the single cell containers then you will want to place 1-2 seeds in each container.  For the larger round containers you will want to sprinkle 10-15 seeds around it.  You can always thin it out if it is getting crowded.  If you are going to try a few different varieties of basil seeds it is best to label your pots with the name of the seed you just planted so you don’t get them mixed up.

Step 4: Water your seeds.  Give them a good drink but don’t drown them.

Step 5:  Place your potted basil seeds under your grow lights or in a sunny warm location and watch how quickly your basil plants grow!  Now you know how to start basil indoors from seed!

Basil Growing Tips

Basil does not like to be over watered!  The leaves will easily get brown/rust spots on them.  They tend to like to be on the dry side.