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Species library › Ocimum › Ocimum basilicum
Edibles Well documented

Ocimum basilicum

Basil

Sweet basil is a tender, sun-loving herb from tropical Asia and northern Australia. It grows as a short-lived perennial in the wild and as an annual in cooler climates.

Ocimum basilicum
Photo: Castielli, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Dry airBand in Plantistry
Light Full sunDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

It grows in open, sunny, often disturbed ground in the seasonal tropics: clearings, field margins, roadsides and grassland. It is a soft-wooded herb that becomes woody at the base with age.

Recorded at 10–2100 m, with a median of 194 m. It is mainly a plant of hot lowlands.

IndiaChinaThailandIndonesiaAustraliaPhilippinesPapua New GuineaVietnamMalaysiaLaosSri LankaTaiwanMyanmarCambodiaNepalBangladesh

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.