Last edited on October 08, 2019. View history
Dark Opal Basil
- 3
- plantings
- 0
- harvests
- 0
- seed packets
Dark opal basil facts
Lifespan
Spread
15cmCrop cycle
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For dark opal basil, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 7°C and a shortest growing cycle of 80 days at its best temperature, about 1240 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your dark opal basil will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Growing dark opal basils
- Sow seeds indoors 6 weeks before planting out
- Harden off the seedlings 1 week before planting out
- Water regularly at planting out every week
- Pinch out the growing tips 3 weeks after planting out every 2 weeks
- Pick leaves regularly at first harvest every week
- Pinch off flower buds 8 weeks after planting out every 2 weeks
- Pull out finished plants 12 weeks after first harvest
How members grow dark opal basils
Sunniness
Planted from
Plant dark opal basils with
grape
Photos
Photos
Dark opal basil plantings
Video
Where dark opal basils grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about dark opal basils
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Who's planted dark opal basils
- shiny back yard shaded garden · Wellington, NZ
- corvi seed trays · salt spring island
- nodosa Budding food garden · Mayenne, France
Dark opal basil harvests
Nobody has harvested this crop yet.
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Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 80 to 270 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Ocimum basilicum L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Asteridae Lamiales Labiatae |
|---|---|
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | shallow (20-50 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about dark opal basils
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