Basil is a fragrant culinary herb. It can fresh to flavor cuts of meat, salads, soups as well as pasta.
For this reason and more, the demand for fresh basil is mostly found in kitchens, warming up every space from small home ones to Michelin star-rated restaurants.
One of the best way to get basil fresh into your kitchen is to grow them yourself. Hydroponics is a good way, even for beginners, to grow your own.
Aside from there being dirt free approach, you can produce a lot of basil in even a small home space.
What is Hydroponics?
Hydroponics is an agricultural method that consists of growing plants in gravel, sand, or a liquid and applying nutrients, relying on water to deliver oxygen and hydrate the plants because it does not use soil.
Because of this, you have to add a mixture of nutrients to the water.
Water will hydrate the plants and provide oxygen while carrying nutrients.
Plants will acquire carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) from the atmosphere or through water exchange.
Overall, hydroponics is a great method for growing basil for many reasons, including:
- Control: When growing in hydroponics, you can control every aspect of the growing variable, pH, light, air, temperature, tilth, microorganisms, etc, compared to soil grown plants.
- Less Water: Hydroponics can reduce water consumption up to 90 percent what a same-sized farm would use to water the crops at scale.
- Continuous Production: You don’t depend on the season to grow plants, and you can have continuous production all year round.
- Diversity: Hydroponics can be grown anywhere.
- Less Chemical Toxins: You can less herbicides and pesticides on the plants to control weeds and pests, allowing you to grow healthier food.
However, there are some challenges you face with hydroponics.
Some of these include:
- This has a negative impact on the environment because of the high amount of plastics used for piping and grow.
- Systems can be very fragile.
- The mineral content may be different from plants grown in soil.
Why Hydroponic Basil Thrives
When it comes to cultivating your basil using hydroponics, you will be pleasantly surprised at the plentiful harvest that can be enjoyed with proper care and nutrient delivery.
The growing conditions for basil are easily accomplished in hydroponics.
Basil requires that you provide them plenty of sun, warm temperatures, humidity, and nutrients.
First and foremost, plants appreciate good airflow and little competition for the air and nutrients. Hydroponics provides these benefits to your plants!
Good air flow, great climate control, and simply eliminating the competition will allow basil to thrive.
And just as importantly – Hydroponics have little vulnerability to pests, and with proper care, your basil will not experience a fungal infection.
The perfect combination of the needs of basil and the benefits of hydroponics is why basil grows so well, and that is why it is easy to produce abundant crops.
7 Tips For Growing Hydroponic Basil Quickly
Cultivating your own herbs via hydroponics are a simple and rewarding hobby, especially for beginners.
Nevertheless, to ensure you have a greater chance of success while cultivating hydroponic basil here are some helpful suggestions.
1. Make the containers pitch black
You have the option of undertaking a small DIY hydroponic project at home and growing your basil in mason jars.
If this is the case, you will want to paint the jars pitch black to prevent algae growth in the nutrient solution.
You can use black spray paint or wrap the jars with washi tape. You can also use a light-blocking fabric sleeve.
2. Maintain Optimal pH and TDS Levels
The perfect pH for basil to grow is in a range between 5.8-6.2.
The TDS (Total dissolved solids) levels range from 700-1120 ppm. You should regularly be checking your nutrient solution to ensure it is within range.
Even if the TDS or pH spills out of range it can be corrected, with the use of supplements and pH-correcting chemicals.
A perfect TDS level is important for your plants to thrive. If it is way too low your plants won’t have enough nutrients, but if it is way too high your plants can be overwhelmed.
You can increase the TDS levels by dissolving more nutrients into the water or decrease it by adding clean, fresh water into the solution.
3. Prune the basil
Pruning when necessary is one of the best ways to manage your hydroponic basil.
You should begin pruning when the plant has developed the second leaf node.
As basil grows, the fresher leaves are the ones at the top–which means you can get rid of all the dry or drying leaves at the bottom that are not getting sun.
By Pruning – You let the basil only use the nutrients on the more healthy leaves (which means it is more flavorful) and maintain the shape of the basil plant as it grows.
4. Maximum sunlight exposure
Basil that is grown in soil should receive 6-8 hours of sunlight.
In contrast, hydroponics basil needs at least 14 hours of sun each day. Basil loves the sun.
Therefore, direct sunlight is optimum. However, the sunlight is a seasonal. Therefore, the intensity and length of daylight will decrease through the day.
An excellent replacement is to use growing bulbs.
With the right light, your basil will not know the difference. Some bulbs emit visible light (390-700 nm in wavelength) that is similar to the sun that can be used to grow your basil.
But if you want to really maximize your artificial lamp, the following three items must be matched:
- the spectrum (blue and red wavelengths)
- the intensity (brightness and energy output)
- and the duration that your plants will receive artificial light in a given day.
5. Optimal warmth for your basil
If there is not enough heat for your basil plants, they will not be able to effectively photosynthesize. If there is too much heat, they may simply wilt and/or die.
Either way, you want to ensure that you provide optimal temperatures for the plants to grow in. The temperature range you are working in will always be 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once you know the temperature range you want for your plants – the easiest way to maintain that temperature range is to enclose the plants in some sort of cover to create humidity domes.
This is also true for the temperature of the nutrient solution! Warm water generally holds less oxygen than cold water – and since the concentration of oxygen is directly linked to the growth potential and nutrient uptake of plants, the temperature of the water can be extremely important.
Also, as stated before – warm water is the perfect growing conditions for bacteria and fungi. Meanwhile too cold water would cause the plants to shut down – so just be aware of the temperatures of the nutrient solutions to have lots of success!
6. Proper watering
It’s really simple to forget about the water levels in your hydroponics setup.
That would be a big mistake; you will want to regularly top off the water levels in your systems.
As the basil matures, it will uptake more water for photosynthesis and mineral uptake.
This will affect the water levels and may even increase the TDS value. You should be adding water (after checking out the TDS and pH) minimum once a week (5-7 days) if the basil is growing.
After the basil is growing, you can start to transition them to watering as you would normally.
7. Use the correct nutrient solution
If you achieve the right combination of nutrients, your basil plant will produce glossy green leaves.
The leaves will also be rich in nutrients, and highly aromatic.
In order to achieve this, you will need a specific nutrient solvent that delivers all of the nutrients you will need to successfully grow your plants.
The nutrient solvent you achieve should deliver a mixture of potassium and calcium.
A 1:1 mixture will create basil that is oily and full of flavor in both the leaves and the branches.
Nitrogen is another nutrient and is necessary to create deeper colored leaves with increased leaf yield.
Magnesium is necessary to create oil composition, flavor, and aromatic.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does hydroponics basil take to grow?
Basil is a quick crop to reach maturity. The seeds will form roots in about a week that you can transfer from your planter to the hydroponics with your favorite growing medium. In about 8 weeks, you will be able to harvest basil!
Even better, the basil grows more leaves after harvest! So, you will keep harvesting leaves until the plant generates seeds!
Is hydroponic basil healthy?
Basil is well-regarded for having numerous health advantages. Basil can even assist in lowering your blood pressure and triglycerides. Hydroponic basil is no exception.
You may have a basil with more nutrients depending on the nutrients that are used. Because you did not use pesticides, you can anticipate fewer toxins as well.
Does hydroponic basil need sunlight?
Lots of sun is one of the things basil needs to do well.
It doesn’t matter that you are planting your basil in hydroponics, the fact remains that the plants will benefit from sunlight in order to do well.
Your basil will need to be exposed to sunlight at least 14 hours a day in order to grow quickly. If you are growing them indoors then LED grow lights can be used.
Can you transplant hydroponic basil into soil?
You can shift your basil plant from the hydroponics to soil if you follow the right steps.
The hydroponics uses nutrient solutions that you cannot find in the soil. So, when the transferring plant, you’ll need to do so gradually to avoid shocking the plant.
Final Thoughts
As climate change, soil erosion and dwindling biodiversity impacts agriculture, new methods of farming, like hydroponics, is the answer.
Hydroponics is a soilless method of farming that allows you to grow your favorite vegetables, herbs, and leafy greens in very small spaces.
Basil is the ideal crop to grow on hydroponics because it uses all the wonderful advantages from hydroponics since it likes warm humid conditions to grow.
In fact, it is one of the most common herbs grown hydroponically and once the plants are mature, you can trim them and continue to harvest them weekly!
This method is quite care intensive but the produce is healthy, toxin-free, and a plentiful supply with a little care.