Vegetables/Easy
Basil
Ocimum basilicum
Basil is a heat-loving Mediterranean annual that resents cold nights and wet feet. Grown warm and picked often, it produces a bushy, aromatic mound for months. Grown cold and left to flower, it goes leggy and bitter in weeks.
The single most useful thing you can do is pinch out the top pair of leaves as soon as the plant has 4 sets — this triggers branching from every leaf axil below and doubles your harvest. Pick from the top down and never let it flower.
Year at a glance
Common problems
Leggy, floppy stems with big gaps
Not enough light, or you never pinched the top out. Move brighter and prune back to the second leaf pair.
Full guide: Leggy or Stretched Growth →Yellow lower leaves
Overwatering or cold. Let the top of the soil dry between waterings and keep it above 15°C.
Full guide: Yellow Leaves →Flowers appearing on top
Pinch immediately — flowering makes the leaves bitter and signals the plant to die back.
Questions, answered
Why does my supermarket basil die?+
Those pots contain 20+ seedlings crammed together — they exhaust the compost within days. Split them into 2–3 pots and re-pot in fresh compost.
Can I grow basil indoors year-round?+
Yes, on a very bright south-facing windowsill or under a small grow light. It will slow in winter but survive.
How do I harvest basil?+
Pinch off the top rosette of leaves above a lower leaf pair — never strip individual leaves off the stem. This encourages branching.