When to plant · 1 city · zone 6a
When to plant basil in Maine
Start Genovese Basil seeds indoors around Apr 8 and transplant around May 20 — the Maine statewide median, counted from a last spring frost of May 6 across 415 ZIP codes and 74 NOAA stations.
The rule: Basil is damaged below about 50 °F, well before frost: transplant two weeks after the last frost, not on it.
Maine basil, by step
Statewide median last frost May 6, first fall frost Oct 5, 2027 season. Each cultivar's own indoor lead time and days to maturity, same engine as the Plan Builder.
| Cultivar | Start indoors | Plant out | First harvest | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genovese BasilGenovese | Apr 8 | May 20 | Jul 19 | 60 from transplant |
Tight means first harvest lands within two weeks of the median first fall frost. Statewide dates are the ZIP-weighted median of every NOAA 1991–2020 station Maine's ZIP codes resolve to.
Basil in Maine, city by city
Genovese Basil, scheduled from each city's nearest NOAA station — the same dates as its frost page.
| City | Last frost | Start indoors | Plant out | First harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portlandzone 6a | Apr 26 | Mar 29 | May 10 | Jul 9 |
What these basil become
What Maine basil need
Genovese Sweet Basil Seed
The large-leaf, low-anise Italian basil that pesto is defined by. Thai and lemon basils are good plants and wrong ingredients.
Organic Seed Starter Potting MixMust have
Seed-starting mix is not potting soil with a nicer label — it is finer, lighter, and low in nutrients on purpose, because a seedling's first roots want air and moisture, not fertiliser.
T8 Full-Spectrum Grow Lights, 1 ft 4-packMust have
A south window in March delivers a fraction of the light a pepper seedling needs, and the plant tells you by stretching. Two inches of LED above the canopy for 16 hours a day fixes it permanently.
5-Gallon Fabric Grow Bags, 5-Pack
Fabric pots air-prune roots and drain faster than a plastic pot can, which is the entire reason container tomatoes fail. Five gallons is the honest minimum for a pepper; a tomato wants ten.
Ocean Forest Potting SoilMust have
Pre-charged with enough nutrition to carry a transplant for its first month without feeding, which is exactly the window when most container plants stall.
6" Micro-Tip Pruning SnipsMust have
Ninety percent of sauce-garden cutting is snipping a pepper stem or a basil node, and a fine-tipped snip does it better than any pruner. Pulling peppers by hand tears the branch.
Mesh Strainers, Stainless, 3-Count
The last pass before bottling. A fine mesh catches the skin fragments and seed shards that make a hot sauce gritty and clog a woozy bottle's dripper insert.
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Basil in Maine: questions
When should I plant basil in Maine?
Transplant around May 20 at the statewide median; across the state that date runs from May 11 in the warmest tenth of Maine's ZIP codes to May 30 in the coldest. To cut the freeze risk to one year in ten, count from May 18 instead of the median last frost. Use the city table for your own town.
When do I start basil seeds indoors in Maine?
Around Apr 8 for Genovese Basil: 4 weeks before the statewide median last frost, on soil held at 70–80 °F.
When is the last frost in Maine?
The ZIP-weighted median of NOAA 1991–2020 station medians is May 6. In the warmest tenth of Maine's ZIP codes the median last frost falls on or before Apr 27; in the coldest tenth, on or after May 16.
When will Maine basil be ready to harvest?
Genovese Basil planted on the statewide date is ready around Jul 19: 60 days from transplant.
More for Maine
- When to plant tomatoes
- When to plant peppers
- When to plant tomatillos
- When to plant onions
- When to plant cilantro
- When to plant carrots
- When to plant mustard greens
Basil in every state → · Maine frost dates → · How frost-date math works →