Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

General information and discussion about cultivating herbs.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old June 25, 2014   #1
Hermitian
BANNED
 
Hermitian's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Vista, CA
Posts: 1,112
Default African Basil

Below is a photo of an African Basil (Ocimum gratissimum) plant in a 17" pot. This plant is often sold in the western U.S. as African Blue Basil, but I will caution readers that the virus-induced variegated version has dissimilar properties.

The plant is perennial in USDA zone 10 and zone 9b areas with mild winters (i.e., only a few minor trips below freezing for a few hours). In Europe and in the eastern U.S. the plant is sometimes sold as clove basil, an appropriate name because the leaves are very pungent compared to the mild Italian Basil -- in my estimation about 1/10th the volume of fresh African Basil are equivalent to 1 volume of Italian Basil. For dishes that demand a strong basil flavor it is a must. Commercially it is the source of Basil Oil.

Another feature of this plant is that it flowers incessantly. This is only interrupted by winter temperatures in zones 9b and 10a, in which the plant might defoliate. Otherwise it is in constant bloom and bees are present from pre-dawn through twilight. If you are growing fruit trees in zone 9b+, then it is one of several ways to insure that bees are always coming to your orchard.

__________________
Richard
_<||>_
Hermitian is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 26, 2014   #2
Zana
Tomatovillian™
 
Zana's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada
Posts: 4,521
Default

Beautiful. I love basil. Period. Have probably grown close to 20+ so far...and have the seeds for more that I'll be planting this weekend.

I'm going to go looking for seeds now after reading your description. Thanks for the tip.
__________________
Zana

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
There is a fine line between genius and crazy.
I like to use that line as a jump rope.

~Anonymous (but I totally agree with this! LOL)

Forgive and Forget? I'm neither Jesus or nor do I have Alzheimers.

~ Anonymous

Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace.

-- Dr. Albert Schweitzer
Zana is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 26, 2014   #3
peppero
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: selmer, tn
Posts: 2,944
Default

Thanks for sharing this with us.

jon
peppero is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 26, 2014   #4
ChristinaJo
Tomatovillian™
 
ChristinaJo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: NE Texas
Posts: 425
Default

Is this the basil that you have to propagate by cuttings,because the seeds are sterile?
ChristinaJo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 26, 2014   #5
Hermitian
BANNED
 
Hermitian's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Vista, CA
Posts: 1,112
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by ChristinaJo View Post
Is this the basil that you have to propagate by cuttings,because the seeds are sterile?
The seeds are fertile. It can interbreed with other Ocimum so breeding in isolation is recommended. Further, it is easy and faster to grow from cuttings.
__________________
Richard
_<||>_

Last edited by Hermitian; June 26, 2014 at 10:09 PM. Reason: Spelling
Hermitian is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 26, 2014   #6
biscgolf
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Virginia
Posts: 353
Default

African Camphor Basil is not sterile. African Blue Basil which is a hybrid of Dark Opal and African Camphor does not produce fertile seed. It is quite easy to grow all basils from cuttings.
biscgolf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 26, 2014   #7
Zana
Tomatovillian™
 
Zana's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada
Posts: 4,521
Default

Clove Basil is not sterile and seeds are available out there.
__________________
Zana

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
There is a fine line between genius and crazy.
I like to use that line as a jump rope.

~Anonymous (but I totally agree with this! LOL)

Forgive and Forget? I'm neither Jesus or nor do I have Alzheimers.

~ Anonymous

Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace.

-- Dr. Albert Schweitzer
Zana is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 28, 2014   #8
ChristinaJo
Tomatovillian™
 
ChristinaJo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: NE Texas
Posts: 425
Default

O.K. Thanks.
I was thinking of the Opal and Camphor hybrid.
Interesting.... I do need more bee pollinators in my area. Thank you for the information

Last edited by ChristinaJo; June 29, 2014 at 10:12 AM.
ChristinaJo is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:50 AM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★