Tried planting basil next to my tomatoes in Westlake this year and the basil took over the whole bed by August.

Planted a 4 inch basil starter next to my Better Boy hybrid in late May and by mid July it was 3 feet wide shading out the tomatoes, so now I'm wondering if anyone else has had aggressive basil run wild and if there's a trick to keeping it contained?

2 comments

2 Comments

haydenburns12d ago

Betty said she thinks your soil is too rich, but I gotta push back on that a little. Basil actually does better with moderate soil, not poor soil - mixing in sand to keep it leaner might actually stunt it or make it bolt faster. The real issue is probably that you're not pinching it back enough. I've seen basil go crazy in standard garden soil, but if you stay on top of cutting the tops every week or two, it stays more compact and doesn't take over like that. Morning sun might help slow it down a touch, but that could also just make the tomatoes sad since they really want full sun.

betty14412d ago

Funny you mention that, my grandmother grew basil in a half-barrel planter for 30 years and it never got that big. I'm in the camp that thinks your soil might just be too rich or you're watering too heavy. Basil loves that stuff and if you give it high nitrogen soil and consistent water, it will absolutely go nuts and crowd everything out. I'd try planting it in a spot that only gets morning sun or mixing some sand into the bed to keep it leaner. Also, you gotta stay on top of pinching the tops off every week to keep it bushy instead of letting it spread out wide like that.