Planting guide

When to plant thai basil

Spicy, aniseed-scented leaves for stir-fries and curries; loves heat. In Melbourne it goes in Oct–Jan.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Ready in: 5–8 wks
Spacing: 25 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means thai basil can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Brisbane	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Perth	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Gold Coast	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Central Coast	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Geelong	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Wollongong	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Townsville	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Cairns	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Darwin	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mandurah	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Bendigo	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mackay	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Bunbury	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Bundaberg	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mildura	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Wellington	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
London	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Singapore	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant thai basil

Sow seed 0.5 cm deep on warm soil, or plant seedlings after the last frost.
Keep it watered in hot weather.
Pinch out flower buds to keep it bushy.
Add leaves at the end of cooking to keep the flavour.

Thai Basil varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Siam Queen Classiccolourful · heat-tolerant · 5–8 wksPurple-flushed, spicy-sweet leaves and showy flowers
Horapha Classicheirloom · heat-tolerant · 5–8 wksClassic Thai basil with strong aniseed scent
Holy Basil (Tulsi) Adventurousheat-tolerant · 6–9 wksPeppery clove-scented basil for stir-fries and tea