Worth knowing:
Cinnamon basil, also known as Mexican spice basil, grows rather bushy and productive about 30 cm tall and has a spicy, cinnamon-fragrant aroma. It contains methyl cinnamate, the same chemical that gives cinnamon its flavour. Cinnamon basil is somewhat narrower than the common variety, and has slightly serrated, dark green, shiny leaves with reddish-purple veins. From July to September it produces decorative, dark-purple inflorescences.
Natural Location:
The Cinnamon Basil comes originally from Mexico.
Cultivation:
Place:
The Cinnamon Basil likes to be kept in a sunny or at least half-shaded place. Since the plant is rather sensitive to frost, it should only be moved to a wind-protected spot outdoors from mid May.
Care:
Don’t keep the Thai Basil too moist, and check regularly for slugs during summer, when the pot is kept outdoors. Cut the shoot tips regularly to get a nice bushy and branched plant. Drying the leaves is by the way not a good idea since the aroma will fade off quickly, and with storing them in the freezer you will only get sludgy leaves after defrosting.
During the winter:
Basil is usually cultivated as an annual plant. However, you may try to hibernate the plant in a bright and draught-free place with a temperature between 15° and 20° Celsius.
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- © © Magdalena Jonak - About © : Contact SAFLAX - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
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- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © bobistraveling - CC-BY-2.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
- © Cliff Beckwith - CC-BY-2.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
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