Growing Thai Basil from Seed to Bloom — A Humble Journey with Explosive Growth

Growing Thai Basil from Seed to Bloom — A Humble Journey with Explosive Growth

🌱 From Excitement to Exhaustion — The Start

At first, I was fully invested in growing my herbs.
But as real life got busy, I ended up watching the flowers bloom briefly…
and then said goodbye to most of my plants.

Many of the seeds I planned to sow are still untouched in storage.

I’ve posted about sweet basil before,
but now I’m uploading the journey of Thai basil — in proper order this time.

🌱 Thai Basil Germination — The Slowest Part

These Thai basil seeds were store-bought and sown indoors.

It took about 2 to 3 weeks for the seedlings to go from cotyledons (baby leaves) to recognizable true leaves.
That waiting period felt like the longest stage in the entire journey.

But once the true leaves appeared,
everything changed.

The plant shot upward like a middle schooler during a growth spurt.
And before it got too tall and lanky, I gave it a pruning—this was in early March.

🌿 March to April — The Growth Explosion

By the end of March, it was growing rapidly.

By mid-April, it had suddenly shot up again.
I didn’t do anything special, but it had already started forming flower spikes.

Thai basil flowers have a purple hue.
But with basil, once it flowers, the flavor and leaf production decline.
So I trimmed both the flowers and the surrounding leaves.

That harvest?
Perfect for cooking. Thai basil has that distinctive aroma used in pho and Southeast Asian dishes.

🌿 The Wild Phase — When Basil Grows Like Mad

After flowering, the basil entered explosive growth mode.

Daily life got hectic and My interest started to fade, 

But the basil?
It kept growing—fast.

That’s the critical point.
If you want to keep harvesting edible leaves, you need to trim flower spikes regularly.

🐛 Pests, Damage, and a Humble Ending

Basil is edible, which makes it vulnerable to pests.
Without pest control, trouble comes fast.

My Thai basil was attacked by thrips, those tiny insects that ruin leaves.

Even so, I managed to grow it for four months.

By early July, I had to clean out my “VIP basil zone”—the ones most damaged by thrips.

I cleared the shelf completely.
And somehow… it brought a strange sense of peace.

🏷️ Keywords

• how to grow thai basil
• thai basil plant timeline
• pruning basil before flowering
• edible herbs pest control
• indoor thai basil growing tips
• basil thrips damage recovery

🍃 Curious about other herbs I’ve grown? 

Check out my indoor arugula journey here: 👉 Growing Arugula Indoors in a Mini Pot