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is this a lemon basil plant?

srin2

srin2

i planted this basil from seed from my mother in laws place. Since then i have them growing all over my garden. growing to a big bush. can someone tell me what type of basil is this ?? the plant is very fragrant and we use it in our cooking!! i got thai basil as well which has a purple flower but the other basil has white flowers.

p1010257s.jpg
 
I have a straight basil with white flowers, but you may not get the same varieties where you live. I was also told that you are better not letting them flower as they become more bitter after they flower. If all those seeds drop you are gonna have yourself one hell of a basil garden!!!
 
It's hard to tell scale from the pic but I don't think that Lemon Basil has such small leaves. I have grown many different varieties and the best way is to smell the leaves for the lemon flavour. Cinnamon basil has a really strong licorice smell and a lot of others have a faint licorice smell, but the difference can be really subtle. It's definitely not Sweet Genovese they have big rounder leaves. It sort of looks like a Dwarf Greek variety but I've only seen pictures of that one and never seen it go to seed.

A quick story- I grew the same vareity in two different pots. I let one go to seed like yours has done and the other I regularly pinched off every single bud that dared show its face. The once that went to seed grew thin and had few leaves and the one I pinched every day grew fat and bushy and had better flavour. When the season was getting colder I finished the experiment and let the bushy one go to seed and I snipped all the seed stems off the thin one. The thin one promptly exploded into life with many fat juicy leaves and was much bigger that the other one.

Point of that story is... if its not too late you can get youself a pair of secateurs and cut off all the flower and seed stems and your basil plant will instantly divert all its energy into the leaves, giving you better herb for cooking. Keep the stems and dry them. The flowers the bees visited will be chock full of seeds and you can scatter them where you want, or start them in pots etc. Plus your hands will smell awesome!!
I sound like a gardening show
 
That looks just like what I grew this year, but it was called Lime Basil. From Johnny's ... It had smaller leaves than my Thai Basil. It also wanted to grow seed heads sooner and kept it up !!!!!! I liked the taste but will only grow one .... maybe .... next year. It was to hard to keep it the trimming where it would grow more leaf.

Peace,
P. Dreadie
 
geeme said:
Does it look close-up like the image on wiki? Wikipedia Lemon Basil
Click to expand...

looks a bit like it when its younger. leave shape..similar

Moshman said:
I have a straight basil with white flowers, but you may not get the same varieties where you live. I was also told that you are better not letting them flower as they become more bitter after they flower. If all those seeds drop you are gonna have yourself one hell of a basil garden!!!
Click to expand...

i know i had to remove that bush and burn them but i still have many more growing here and there.


franzb69 said:
looks sorta like lemon basil to me. at least like the ones i have growin. =D
Click to expand...
i got this plant from a nearby state to you. SABAH.
 
megamoo said:
It's hard to tell scale from the pic but I don't think that Lemon Basil has such small leaves. I have grown many different varieties and the best way is to smell the leaves for the lemon flavour. Cinnamon basil has a really strong licorice smell and a lot of others have a faint licorice smell, but the difference can be really subtle. It's definitely not Sweet Genovese they have big rounder leaves. It sort of looks like a Dwarf Greek variety but I've only seen pictures of that one and never seen it go to seed.

A quick story- I grew the same vareity in two different pots. I let one go to seed like yours has done and the other I regularly pinched off every single bud that dared show its face. The once that went to seed grew thin and had few leaves and the one I pinched every day grew fat and bushy and had better flavour. When the season was getting colder I finished the experiment and let the bushy one go to seed and I snipped all the seed stems off the thin one. The thin one promptly exploded into life with many fat juicy leaves and was much bigger that the other one.

Point of that story is... if its not too late you can get youself a pair of secateurs and cut off all the flower and seed stems and your basil plant will instantly divert all its energy into the leaves, giving you better herb for cooking. Keep the stems and dry them. The flowers the bees visited will be chock full of seeds and you can scatter them where you want, or start them in pots etc. Plus your hands will smell awesome!!
I sound like a gardening show
Click to expand...

the leaves are too tough now.. the main stem had harden like wood

siling_labuyo said:
if it have lemon scent, its lemon basil(IMO):)
Click to expand...
hehe.. ok i will just do that. :)
if it does not smell like a lemon.. what else could it be ?

i will try to take a close up photo of the younger plant..

megamoo said:
thats what i meant to say but quicker
Click to expand...
:)
 
I went through a Basil obsession last year, not really out of it yet :crazy:.

I ordered the seeds and grew :
Sweet Genovese,
Genovese Giant (it grows really huge leaves!),
Fino Verde (good for making pesto),
Napolitano,
Dark Opal (purple one),
Thai -Siam Queen,
East Indian Clove, (has brown stems)
Sacred,
Lemon,
Lime,
Cinnamon (strong licorice smell)
and some others I've forgotten. I've also bought some seedlings that I didn't know what they were.

Lemon is really nice flavour, but I love the Genovese ones for flavour best.
There is one called Purple Ruffles which looks like it sounds but I like the smoother leaf varieties better so I never got it. Can't seem to get hold of Greek Basil but want to.
If you want a good looking plant go for Thai - Siam Queen or Sacred Basil !
 
i got this plant from a nearby state to you. SABAH.
Click to expand...

got my seeds from the states. lol. ebay.

I went through a Basil obsession last year, not really out of it yet :crazy:.

I ordered the seeds and grew :
Sweet Genovese,
Genovese Giant (it grows really huge leaves!),
Fino Verde (good for making pesto),
Napolitano,
Dark Opal (purple one),
Thai -Siam Queen,
East Indian Clove, (has brown stems)
Sacred,
Lemon,
Lime,
Cinnamon (strong licorice smell)
and some others I've forgotten. I've also bought some seedlings that I didn't know what they were.

Lemon is really nice flavour, but I love the Genovese ones for flavour best.
There is one called Purple Ruffles which looks like it sounds but I like the smoother leaf varieties better so I never got it. Can't seem to get hold of Greek Basil but want to.
If you want a good looking plant go for Thai - Siam Queen or Sacred Basil !
Click to expand...

those italian varieties do make great pestos.

growing the purple ruffles right now, needs a lot of sun to keep it purple. older leaves turn green eventually. only the newer growth has purply leaves.
 
Ciao Srin2-

The top photo you show looks just like how my Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil looks right now. It's really the end of my season, although I'm still picking a few leaves here and there before we get frost. I've left it to flower and it has long racemes like yours. When it's younger, the leaves are larger, which is true for any basil variety. Once it's allowed to form long flower spikes, the leaves get smaller as the plant puts forth most of its energy to make seeds.

Now, what you can do if you want is to cut down your basil plant at the end of your season and allow the stems and flower spikes to fully dry. You can then use that wood for adding to your wood chunks when smoking fish. All of the scented basils retain their scent well after drying. I've also kept the dried flower spikes for chopping into a lovely scented potpourri for the winter. I don't know about you guys, but I strongly dislike artificial fragrances and the lonely months of winter without brushing against scented plants in the garden is a real buzz kill.
 
Sorellina said:
Ciao Srin2-

The top photo you show looks just like how my Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil looks right now. It's really the end of my season, although I'm still picking a few leaves here and there before we get frost. I've left it to flower and it has long racemes like yours. When it's younger, the leaves are larger, which is true for any basil variety. Once it's allowed to form long flower spikes, the leaves get smaller as the plant puts forth most of its energy to make seeds.

Now, what you can do if you want is to cut down your basil plant at the end of your season and allow the stems and flower spikes to fully dry. You can then use that wood for adding to your wood chunks when smoking fish. All of the scented basils retain their scent well after drying. I've also kept the dried flower spikes for chopping into a lovely scented potpourri for the winter. I don't know about you guys, but I strongly dislike artificial fragrances and the lonely months of winter without brushing against scented plants in the garden is a real buzz kill.
Click to expand...

Ciao Sorellina,

thanks for your tips.. i usually just cut down the whole bush and dry it for burning. i don't bother to keep the seeds either as there are plants continuously growing in my garden at different stages. to me that basil has become a weed! growing all over my back yard. we do use the young stalks for cooking.
will try the putting the basil along with the fire when i am barbecuing fish next time. :)

ciao
 
nice ...
you got a big bolt& metal gate to protect your plants ?? hehe
Click to expand...

that's standard out here. all windows are grilled, all gates locked as much as possible, dogs in every household (almost).

=D
 
srin2 said:
nice ...
you got a big bolt& metal gate to protect your plants ?? hehe

if u trim off the 2 inches of the top of each shoot, it will come more shoots :)
Click to expand...

well here, anything that is outside the gate is considered "public property". I have a pepper plant growing outside and people passing by just pick the pods even when its still green. so the plants from imported seeds are grown inside. :)

Thanks for the tip on pruning the basil.
 
franzb69 said:
that's standard out here. all windows are grilled, all gates locked as much as possible, dogs in every household (almost).

=D
Click to expand...


siling_labuyo said:
well here, anything that is outside the gate is considered "public property". I have a pepper plant growing outside and people passing by just pick the pods even when its still green. so the plants from imported seeds are grown inside. :)

Thanks for the tip on pruning the basil.
Click to expand...

i guess its all same here for the windows. where all my windows are grilled , but my perimeter wall and gate is not that secure i guess. i don't even lock my main gate but there is a lock.
 
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