Sowing months
Jun–Aug
Sunlight
Full sun
Water
Weekly once established
Mature size
1–2 m
First harvest
Leaves from month four
Family
Lamiaceae
Where it grows
balcony, ground
Good for
biodiversity, healing
Sow in
monsoon
Care
Cut it back hard each spring or it goes leggy.
The wild tulsi — taller, camphor-scented and perennial where winters are mild.
Growing it
Cut it back hard each spring or it goes leggy.
What it is for
Steam inhalation by tradition; strongly attractive to bees.