Growing Basil in Florida?!

4 months ago

Hi, everyone!

OK, so it seems that there are no posts here in this Herbs section yet, so... *first!!!* :D

I have had a long, arduous battle with growing basil here in central Florida. Most common scenario is it stops growing shortly after I put it in the ground (full sun! happy, moist soil! or even happy, dry soil!). It looks lovely at first, but after a week or so, it starts looking all forlorn and then dies. I've never overwatered, or underwatered, sometimes fed with plant food. Same thing every time.

Absolutely no clue what I am doing wrong. Sometimes, some nurseries are better than others, as my basil bought from Publix seems to have a much longer life and vigorous growth than the Bonnie basil I pick up from Home Depot (I've been trying to convince my mom that something is quite wrong with Home Depot basil--or is that just me??).

So, you central Floridians out there--any suggestions or stories from you would be greatly appreciated! <3

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Comments (3)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
4 months ago
if full sun is too much.. based on your failures.. then try in full bright shade.. especially during the heat of the day .. basic hosts info i would give to anyone north of FL ..lol ..

and im surprised art your description of the soil .... i thought native soil was sand ... how did yours become so amended??

ken
Miss Hibiss thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
kevin9408
4 months ago
Basil is a tropical and sub tropical plant and commercial growing in Florida. I've seen pictures of basil growing at Stephen's produce in palm bay county set out in the field under full sun and they looked good. But the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, university of Florida states It prefers sun (with a bit of afternoon shade to protect it from the heat) and moist, but well-drained soil, OK, but actual growers in Florida (with about 500 acres in production) contradict what the university of Florida suggests and don't see them shading 500 acres.

What I did notice in basil field pictures in Florida was raised beds which does supports the university about well-drained soil. Another thing about basil is they don't tolerate drought well, so raised beds kept well moistened with irrigation dippers would offer you the best chance of success growing basil. A sun screen of say 50% in the hot afternoon would be optional but I personally don't think it's the problem. You can get a simple dipper kit from home depot for less than $10.

A plant that is over watered will look similar to a plant that is under watered, and you don't want either one.
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The ones in the house, I guess they just "fail to thrive". They seem to struggle along, don't grow and eventually die off. No yellowing. I think the last two were root rotted before I got them. The ones I've tried in the ground, I think I've tried to plant too late in the heat and they've literally burned up. I've just tried three more sweet basil. I got one from Home Depot, two from Sprouts. The two from Sprouts (a grocery) are sorry looking creatures, made for "living food" which I guess you're supposed to harvest when you get home but I decided to plant instead. They were so rootbound it was amazing they were still alive (but barely). I took out about 10 of 15 little plants from a tiny container out of each, loosened up the incredible root balls and stuck them in a window type container but put them outside with a pretty little globe basil from Home Depot. The one from Home Depot looks quite healthy, I put that one right in the garden on the east side of the house (figured if it survives the winter it will have some shade in the heat of summer) In the past I haven't really added fertizer. This time when I planted I put a handful of bloodmeal and bonemeal in a mixture of good potting soil in the pots. The one in the ground has good garden soil, vermiculite and I also gave it a little bonemeal/bloodmeal. It seems like all the plants have perked up and darkened in the past two or three days, a good sign. I gave some the sweet basil each a haircut, especially the one's from Sprouts which had huge leaves on long skinny stems that were weighing them down so that they couldn't stand up. That seemed to perk them up quite a bit. I'm open to all suggestions about what to do next. I stuck the window container out in the yard in full sun. Also planted a few cilantro seeds on one side of it, hope that's ok with basil.
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I'm still fairly new to gardening, but I have, so far always planted basil next to tomatoes. For tomatoes, I only plant Brandywines. Personally, I think they are the best beefsteak tomatoes and I actually live in the Brandywine area of PA, so it seems kinda sacrilegious not to, but I digress. I plant basil and tomatoes in a 2 to 3 ratio. That means a lot of basil, yes, but my pesto is a favorite of my family and friends so I make it a lot. The tomatoes do shield the basil a bit, but not overly. Brandywines are, like all beefsteaks, indeterminate, so they don't have the sprawling shoots and wide shade cover of your bush tomatoes -- and I'm very anal about pinching off suckers as soon as I see them. So, my tomatoes are tall any aery and my basils get plenty of light. Basil generally likes roughly the same watering as tomatoes, if a bit drier. Tomatoes are more temperamental about dry spells due to the blossom end rot, so I try to keep the soil nice and moist. I've never noticed my basil getting too wet. Even if, on average, the soil may be wetter than basil would ideally prefer (which I'm not saying is the case), the tomatoes are thirsty enough that over-watering is not a big problem, especially since my beds are raised and have decent drainage. I have yet to notice any significant insect problems on my tomatoes. Although I don't know it for a fact, basil could help. Basil, being a mint, is very pungent and if evolutionary biology has taught as anything it is that plants have strong smells for one of two reasons -- to attract animals (for fertilization) or repel them. In basil's case, regarding insects, I suspect the latter. Unfortunately for my tomatoes, while the basil doesn't seem to get eaten by vermin, they don't seem to keep the vermin away from my tomatoes, either. This year, I'm putting in a bit better barrier protection and planting lots of garlic and onion in my spacer rows. Might help, probably cannot hurt.
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Miss Hibiss
Original Author
4 months ago
@ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5, thank you for replying! Florida native soil IS very sandy. When I said dry soil, I meant I keep the soil very dry because I've read a lot that basil does not like excess water, especially standing water (which is why many of my basils got grim-reaper'd by the torrential rains of FL summer). I also tried keeping soil moist by misting it a lot, or watering it frequently. Also--I tend to mix native soil with potting soil, or use potting soil alone. I wonder which would be better now? (Also, what do you mean by 'amended'?)

@kevin9408, I completely forgot about looking at UF IFAS when it comes to basil! That is now my reference for citrus growing. You're right, though-- I've never seen basil put in shady spots in nurseries or garden centers, so hmmm. Thank you for your suggestions, too!

Maybe I WAS underwatering. Now that it seems the 32* nights are behind us, I think I'm going to try basil again. I'll keep you guys posted on if it starts getting all depressed-looking again.

Growing Basil in Florida?!

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

kevin9408

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Growing Basil in Florida?!

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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