Growing basil indoors

I've been given a lovely basil plant. According to the RHS website it is a short lived perennial so theoretically I should be able to keep it overwinter if I keep it in a warm place. It was a supermarket plant intended for an early death that someone potted on in a nice terracotta pot, so I think it has a chance!

not my basil plant

source

How should I look after it? Where is the best place for it to live? What about feeding and watering?

Thanks!

I wasn't aware that basil was a perennial.

I always bring my rosemary in during the winter, gonna start doing more herbs indoors.

I believe it is a tender perennial - so won't take a frost. I don't know how cool it will tolerate.... My house is pretty cold in winter; especially on the windowsills as we don't yet have full double glazing.

Nancy Reading wrote:I believe it is a tender perennial - so won't take a frost. I don't know how cool it will tolerate.... My house is pretty cold in winter; especially on the windowsills as we don't yet have full double glazing.

Interesting, I wouldn't know cause mine always die outside during the winter here in Colorado. I'm gonna bring some indoors this winter.

Anyways, my best advice for growing indoors with my limited experience is to always have a fan to avoid mold/mildew.

Nancy Reading wrote:I believe it is a tender perennial - so won't take a frost. I don't know how cool it will tolerate.... My house is pretty cold in winter; especially on the windowsills as we don't yet have full double glazing.

At your latitude, with your cool wet winter climate, basil will struggle, and suffer from fungal disease. It greatly prefers warm+dry+sunny. Best case, you keep it alive through the winter, and get a head start on a vigorous plant in late spring when it will finally gets the longer daylight it needs.

Grow lights will help, warm and dry helps with the fungus, maybe near the woodstove? And pick off any suspect leaves to keep the fungus at bay.

I grew basil for market in a greenhouse for a couple of winters.  It wants as much light as you can give it....several hours of a south facing window at least, and temps. above 55F/13C at minimum and preferably above 65F/18C.  The warmer it is the faster it will grow.

After dividing a supermarket basil plant, as well as growing from seed, I have around 40 of these. They like lots of water. I have most of mine on South-facing windows and they seem to need watering every other day. Not wet soil, mind you, but decently damp I would say. In comparison to my Mentha spicata, which I hardly ever need to water, I have found them to be thirsty plants.

They seem to be fairly resilient, too. I've had a few at the point of death and have managed to revive them under a grow light with water and they've come back beautifully. Pics, for example.

Basil Not Happy
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A Couple of Days Later
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I believe they are pretty much annuals, but I plan on propagating the best ones for use in the herb garden next spring.

Wow James, I'm surprised that came back from a stick like that! Maybe I should consider getting some grow lights. hmm.

I think that basil is less likely to overwinter, but I have managed that with chilli plants at least once, so it seems worth having a try. Apparently there is a variety of basil that does take colder temperatures chitern seeds still describe it as an annual (it wouldn't overwinter outside) but the RHS describe it as a half hardy perennial grown as an annual.

My impression was that basil dies after it makes seeds, so you can keep it for years by just snipping off the inflorescences. It'll get thick and woody at the base. But I keep it under very strong grow lights -- I wouldn't expect more than maybe keeping it alive to put out next spring with just grey winter window lighting.