Ocimum tenuiflorum seed

LATIN NAME: Ocimum tenuiflorum

COMMON NAME: Holy Basil

Holy basil is the fragrant, sacred herb of the warm gardens of the east, and it has been grown around the temples and the homes of the region for thousands of years. The upright, branching plant carries small, oval, softly hairy leaves with a warm, spicy, clove-like scent, and slender spikes of the small, white or pale-purple flowers rise above them through the warm season. The whole plant is aromatic and generous, and it keeps producing through the heat of the summer. It is a fine, easy herb of the warm, sunny garden and the pot.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

Holy basil has a long and careful place in the plant science, and the aromatic compounds that give the leaves their warm scent have been studied for a very long time. The essential oil, the traditional uses of the plant and the ways the leaves are used in the kitchen have all been looked into, and the plant keeps showing up in the work on the aromatic herbs of the east. The plant is also a familiar subject of the studies of the sacred and the ceremonial plants of the region, and the breeding of the leaf forms is documented in the horticultural journals. The information here is well grounded in the long traditional practice.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

Holy basil is one of the most widely used of the aromatic herbs of the east, and the fresh leaves are used in the warm-country kitchens, the teas and the traditional preparations. The plant is grown around the world as a fragrant culinary herb and a fine, easy garden plant, and the flowers pull in the bees and the butterflies through the warm season. It has been written about in the horticultural and the herbal papers for its warm scent and its long history of use, and it is a generous, dependable herb of the sunny, warm garden. A pot of it on the patio is a fine, useful companion.

Holy basil has a deep and sacred place in the homes and the temples of the east, where it is grown and tended with care and used in the daily life. The warm, spicy, clove-like leaves are used in the cooking, the teas and the traditional preparations, and the plant is grown in the gardens and the pots right across the warm world. The many forms of the plant, from the green-leaved to the dark, purple-leaved kinds, come from the long cultivation, and the whole plant is aromatic and generous. It is an easy, useful herb with a rich, quiet history.

To grow the holy basil from seed, the fine seeds want the light, so scatter them on the surface of pots of moist, free-draining soil and press them in lightly, then keep the pots in a warm, bright, sheltered spot and water gently. The seedlings show themselves within a week or two and grow on fast in the warmth. Pinch out the growing tips to keep the plants bushy, give them the sun, the warmth and the well-drained soil, and the aromatic leaves will be there to pick through the whole of the warm season.

NAME: Holy Basil
OTHER COMMON NAMES: Thai Holy Basil
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Tulsi Ocimum Sanctum syn O. Tenuiflorum
COLOR: Pink – White Blooms
PLANT SEEDS: Outdoors after frost / Indoors weeks before last frost
BLOOM TIME: All year
HARVEST: 68 Days
HARDINESS ZONE: 10 – 11 (or indoors over winter in pots)
PLANT HEIGHT: 24 – 36″
PLANT SPACING: 24 – 36″
LIGHT REQUIREMENTS: Sun
SOIL & WATER PREFERENCES: Average
OTHER: Holy Basil is an aromatic herb with a sweet fragrance like cloves. It is used in teas, soups, salads, etc, and has several medicinal herbal uses. It is considered a sacred herb in its native land of India where it is used in religious ceremonies.