Basil is one of the favorite spices in salads or as a seasoning for signature dishes. Basil is loved for its distinctive taste and many health benefits.
Today, basil is a favorite of many people to grow hydroponically so that it can be enjoyed all year round, even in the off-season.
Basil grown by the hydroponic method will help you save area, fertilizer, and care time and still have a greater yield than traditional farming.
How to grow basil hydroponically? Let’s learn in detail about the standards and important notes when growing basil hydroponically.
How To Grow Basil Hydroponically?
As you know, the hydroponics method is being considered one of the more innovative and effective growing methods than traditional farming, so popular spices or plants like basil, tomatoes, peppers, and Arugula vegetables… are often grown by this method.
Any type of basil can be grown hydroponically in your home. Usually, many gardeners love growing sweet basil and bush basil more hydroponically.
To start growing basil hydroponically, we need to learn in detail about the hydroponic model, seeds, nutrients, pH, light amount, pruning, care, and harvesting process.
1. Choosing The Right Hydroponic Model
Basil plants are a good fit for any hydroponic model because they are so easy to grow and grow. However, to facilitate the care and harvesting of basil, you should choose a hydroponic model in which you can easily access each basil cluster.
This will make it easier for you to prune, remove yellow leaves, damaged leaves, rotten plants and harvest more easily. Pruning with basil also has a special role to help plants grow faster and give higher yields.
2. Selection Of Basil Seeds
Basil grown hydroponically can be grown from seed. On average, basil seeds will germinate in 3 to 10 days. When basil seeds begin to sprout, you need to keep the average temperature around 75 degrees F to create the most favorable environment for the seeds to grow.
You can also not grow basil from seeds but can clone them. Basil is a spice that is easily cloned and uses seedlings to start a new crop.
You can separate the seedlings in the bush and proceed to place them in a hydroponic model to start growing them. This can save you the cost of buying seeds and save time from planting to harvesting.
3. Important Notes When Growing Basil Hydroponically
- Basil will grow best in average temperatures between 65 and 80 degrees F. It is recommended that you use a temperature controller to control the temperature and humidity in your home.
- The best spacing between basil plants in a hydroponic model is between 9 and 12 inches. This distance will create the right space for the bushes to grow as they grow.
- Basil doesn’t need a lot of direct sunlight so you can grow them under fluorescent lights. In addition, you can use LED lights to illuminate the basil plant.
- Normally, basil needs to receive 14 to 16 hours of light per day to maximize crop yield.
- The average pH for basil plants to grow best is between 5.6 and 6.5
- Basil requires a simple nutrient source so you just need to provide a nutrient mix with high nitrogen content. In addition, for the best source of nutrients for basil, your nutrient mix should add a little magnesium and calcium.
4. The Process Of Pruning And Harvesting Hydroponic Basil
Pruning is one of the most important tasks in basil care. Regular pruning, and removing old leaves, yellow leaves, and tops help the basil not focus on growing in height, but will give more branches and leaves to harvest.
During the harvesting process, you can either harvest the whole plant or get the leaves. Usually, you should harvest the leaves and keep the basil plants so that they can be harvested for a longer period of time, even year-round.
Basil is very easy to spoil if the weather is too hot or improperly stored in the refrigerator, which will also make the basil leaves black, soft, and lose flavor.
You should store basil leaves in ventilated or vacuum bags at 60 degrees F to increase shelf life from 10 to 12 days. If you already have a hydroponic system in your home, you can harvest daily to keep the best flavor of your basil.
Conclusion
Basil is one of the most effective herbs that can be grown hydroponically. The hydroponic method helps to save area, limit fertilizer, eliminate pests and give better yield.
In particular, you can harvest basil all year round if you know how to care for and preserve them well. You also need to pay attention to the standards of basil plants such as temperature, light time, pH, nutrient concentration, or humidity in the air.
Regular pruning will help the basil plant to produce more leaves and branches and increase the maximum yield. What are you still wondering? Join us to learn more about hydroponics with other plants.