Easily Grow Basil Year-Round In Your Kitchen — Just Follow This Important Step

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There are plenty of ways you can grow basil in your kitchen: straight from jars, in a pot with soil, or in a self-contained herb garden specifically designed for indoor use. All can work for you — depending on the space, light, and time you have — but there's still one necessary factor to ensure your basil thrives year-round: humidity. 

Basil thrives in humidity levels of 40% to 60%. And a normal household should have a humidity level of about 30% to 60%, depending on factors like insulation, AC/heating, and airflow. But you should pick up a humidity sensor to be sure, especially in the winter, when maintaining proper humidity is harder. It doesn't have to be fancy. Amazon has the highly rated Antonki humidity gauge two-pack available for around $10. If your gauge shows you have issues with your humidity, you just need to pick up a humidifier or a dehumidifier or solve the problem in other ways. 

If you want to keep your basil plant indoors full- or part-time during the summer, just keep an eye on your humidity gauge, though humidity too high for basil is noticeable — even dangerous — to humans. If it does get too humid, you can use a dehumidifier. Those can be expensive, but you can find one for under $50 on Amazon, like the Tabyik small room dehumidifier

You need to be especially careful in the winter, though, when cold, dry outdoor air infiltrates your home via ducts, leaks, and overventilation. That's good if you want to deter mold growth or you're a bloody nose enthusiast, but if you notice your basil plant is growing slowly, wilting, or has drying leaves, you need to make sure it has moisture. One way to do that is with an inexpensive humidifier, like the SwiftCool cool mist humidifier from Amazon. Before you try that, you can move your plant away from any cold, drafty areas so you can use a spray bottle to moisturize it without chilling it. If you put it in the bathroom, the shower can even provide occasional steam. But make sure it gets enough light. If you have to move your basil plant away from windows, set it up with a simple plant grow light, such as the Aokrean full-spectrum LED halo grow light from Amazon. 

No matter the weather outside, make sure your indoor basil plant is warm and well-watered and that your humidity gauge is sitting next to it so you can properly take care of its delicate-but-delicious leaves.