Crop fact sheet · Warm season · frost tender
Basil
Not in season right now in Houston. Dates below.
Your dates in Houston
| Window | Order seed by | Start indoors | Plant | First harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 2026 | Dec 21 | Jan 11 | Feb 15 – Sep 30 | from Apr 16 |
| Season 2027 | Dec 21 | Jan 11 | Feb 15 – Sep 30 | from Apr 16 |
Worked out from AgriLife planting windows (days before/after average frost) and Houston's average frost dates. "Order seed by" is our own 3-week heads-up, not an AgriLife date.
The numbers
- How to plant
- Sow seed or set transplants 0.25" deep, 12" apart, rows 36" apart.
- Days to harvest
- 60–70 days
- Start indoors
- 5 weeks before planting out
- Sun
- Full sun
- Family
- Lamiaceae (for rotation)
Water
Keep soil consistently moist but well drained, watering at the base to keep leaves dry. AgriLife's herb guide suggests about 1 inch per week when rain is short, with mulch to hold moisture.
Feeding
- At planting: Clemson: work in 5-10-10 at 3 lb per 100 sq ft (or per soil test). AgriLife: balanced fertilizer, avoid excess nitrogen.
- About 2 months after planting: Side-dress with calcium nitrate only if growth slows and leaves turn pale; over-fertilizing reduces flavor.
Not sure what your soil needs? Get a soil test first.
Texas heat
LSU AgCenter: basil 'thrives during our hot, humid summers' and declines when chilly weather comes in November and December. Clemson notes downy mildew spreads fast in mild, humid summers; choose resistant cultivars such as Prospera, Rutgers Devotion or Rutgers Obsession and keep leaves dry.
Pests to watch
- aphids
- Japanese beetles
- slugs
Diseases
- downy mildew
What to do about them: pest sheet · what's wrong with my plant?
When it's ready
Pick leaves or pinch off branch tips with one or two sets of leaves; pinching encourages branching. For a big cutting, cut plants 4 to 6 inches above ground just before or as flowering begins (AgriLife).
Storing it
Fresh leaves don't keep long even refrigerated. Dry in a cool, dark, airy room or below 125 F and store in airtight containers for up to 12 months; pesto can be frozen.
Texas tips
- Timing as the sources word it: plant 'after the danger of frost has passed' (Univ. of Arizona; Purdue HO-189: 'late spring after all danger of frost has passed'). Clemson says to transplant once days are consistently in the 70s F and nights stay above 50 F. This is stored as spring start = 0 days after last frost.
- No extension source gives a frost-relative end for spring planting, so spring end is null. For the Gulf South, LSU AgCenter (Dan Gill) says to sow seed through July and set transplants through August or early September, and not to plant before April. Those are Louisiana calendar dates, not frost-relative ones.
- Fall end = 70 days before first frost is calculated, not quoted: UMass says basil is first harvested 60 to 70 days after seeding, and basil is frost-tender, so seed sown later than that won't reach first harvest before frost. Fall start is null because basil keeps growing all summer; there is no separate fall start.
- AgriLife Growing Herbs in Texas: fast-growing annual 20 to 24 inches tall; start seed indoors in early April or sow in early spring, spacing 12 inches; prefers protected, sunny spots and grows well in pots.
- LSU: begin light harvests when plants are about 10 to 12 inches tall, taking no more than a third of the plant at a time.