Fragrant and healthy herbs are actively used for cooking second courses and salads. To grow basil on your site or at home is not so simple, but with strict adherence to all recommendations, this is quite realistic.
Planting the seeds of basil
You can plant the basil with seeds, both in the open ground and in the pottery method with the preparation of seedlings. If you have a moderate climate in your latitudes, you can go first, in colder latitudes it is preferable to grow seedlings first, and it's much easier to work with it.
Below are the main stages and subtleties of planting basil with seeds.
- You can sow seeds in a greenhouse or a hotbed in pre-prepared boxes. They pour a nutritious and light soil mixture. There are sown individually or in pairs.
- Holes for disembarkation are about half a centimeter, they are located at a distance of not more than 3 cm. Thus, up to 6 g of planting material per square meter.
- When planting and caring for basil seedlings, it is important to constantly maintain the correct temperature. For rapid germination in the greenhouse should be set to 30 ° C, well, or at least 25 ° C (in this case, the time for gouging slightly increases).
- After disembarkation everyone cover with a film and in a week there will be first shoots. As soon as all the seeds have risen, lower the temperature a little to 25 ° C and, if necessary, thin out the planting.
- In order to avoid the debate, you should periodically ventilate the greenhouse and planting, watering in moderate mode. As soon as the seedlings have two real leaves, you can start diving. For these purposes pots and plastic cups about 5x5 will do.
- Some summer residents prefer to plant seeds directly in pots for several pieces with subsequent thinning. This is convenient if you live in a strip with a rather harsh climate and there is a chance of sudden frosts: then take the pots to a warm place or hide them much easier.
- With such care for seedlings of basil at home, do not forget about the feeding. Liquid complex fertilizers are the best. Plant in the open ground can seedlings with age not less than 45 days, ideally it is 50-60 days.
Basil landing in the open ground
There are a number of recommendations that will ensure an abundant and high-quality harvest. First of all, you should choose the right time for planting basil. In different climatic latitudes they are their own. But in any case, this period comes only when the threat of frost passes. In the northern latitudes the recommended dates for basilica planting are early in June, in the southern regions, it is possible to begin in the middle-end of May.
The landing site should be well lit and not get into the zone of strong winds. Prepare the site for disembarkation should be back in the autumn. The preparation consists of making humus and compost during the digging process.
During landing of a basil it is possible to use some techniques of disembarkation:
- the so-called ribbon method will fit in two or three rows with a distance between them not exceeding 30 cm,
and between plantings leave up to 30 cm; - you can use a private with a distance between rows of about 40 cm, then the distance between the plantings will be of the order of 50 cm.
For planting basil and further care, it is transferred to the ground with a clod of earth and buried into the ground to the cotyledons. The main in the care are periodic loosening, weeding and feeding. Be prepared for the fact that for the first time your seedlings will be slightly behind in growth. Therefore, in the third week they begin the first fertilizing. This is necessary to strengthen growth. Nitrogen fertilizers are introduced in the form of dilute urea .