• Water regularly – basil likes to stay moist and requires approximately 1 inch of water every week. Water deeply at least once a week to keep roots growing deep and the soil moist. Basil growing in containers will need more frequent watering. Your goal when growing basil in a container is to keep the soil from drying out. The best time of day to water basil is early in the morning.
• Fertilize lightly –basil is a vigorous grower requiring very little to no fertilization. In fact, too much fertilization will kill the basil's flavor. If you choose to add fertilizer, a light application of a liquid fertilizer twice a season is all you really need for basil growing outdoors. If you're planning to grow basil in a pot and want to add fertilizer, your plants will require only a very weak liquid solution every 3 to 4 weeks to compensate for nutrients washed away by frequent watering.
• Pinch back leaves – pinch leaves from the tips of your basil as soon as the plant has two sets of true leaves. This encourages your basil to grow full and bushy.
• Companion planting – using this technique gives basil an excellent advantage. It may be an old gardener's tale, but many say, and I wholeheartedly believe, that planting basil with your tomatoes makes both taste better. Some of my favorite companion plants for basil include oregano, lettuce, tomatoes and peppers.
• Avoid bolting – also known as going to seed, you can avoid bolting by keeping a close eye on your plant. Basil tends to bolt once summer days are consistently hot. You can prevent this by keeping the soil moist and providing light shade in the hottest hours of the day. You can also pinch off flowering stems 1 inch below the flower to keep the plant from producing seeds and becoming bitter.

Basil è un'ottima pianta da interno (come la maggior parte delle erbe) se non avete una stagione di crescita senza gelo tutto l'anno. Mettete le piante in vaso vicino a una finestra ben illuminata, annaffiate regolarmente e raccogliete le foglie regolarmente per scoraggiare la pianta ad andare in seme. Le piante emetteranno un piacevole profumo in casa e avrete un raccolto per tutto l'anno da usare con il vostro cibo.

Basil, prezzemolo, origano e timo sono buone piante da appartamento. Il rosmarino e il finocchio non tanto perché tendono a crescere selvaggiamente.