The Grass Doctor

Fertilizer to use for Sweet Basil plants?

I am growing sweet basil plants for the first time and wanted to know what type of fertilizer is needed?Also I use epsom salts for my pepper plants fertilizer and get great results,would this work on the basil plants and how about tomatoes?

Public Comments

1. I've had success with basil by using an organic compost with cow manure added. Don't know the epsom salts trick. You could experiment with a small quantity.
2. I work in a lab where we are developing new cultivars of basil. Basil plants need nitrogen, potassium and phospate. Fish emulsion is an excellent organic fertilizer that works very well with basil. You could go with a high nitrogen fertilizer, which will give bigger leaves, but the flavor may be compromised. I haven't grown my own tomatos for a while (my friend owns a very large organic farm and grows more than 20 varieties, so I just buy locally from him) but the last time I did I used a 5-10-10 or a 10-10-10 and either should work just fine. (That's Nitrogen/Phosphorous/Potassium ratio.)