Can basil leaves be dried in the microwave?

Believe it or not, basil leaves can be dried in the microwave. It’s both quicker and more effective than using a conventional gas or electric oven.

Why dry basil leaves?

In my experience, basil leaves can only be kept for about 7 days after harvesting (in a refrigerator) before they turn bad. Drying the leaves and storing them in an air tight container will mean you can keep the leaves for a much longer time.

	Step 1: Harvest the leaves Harvest the leaves around midday. I had quite a lot of leaves here to dry! After they shrivel up and dry, you’ll be glad of having so many!
	Step 2: Prepare for the microwave Place a paper towel on top of the plate and place a single layer of basil leaves on top. Try and use leaves which are around the same size so they dry at the same speed. Place another paper towel on top of the layer of leaves. Put the plate into the microwave and put on high for a minute. Then continue with 10 second intervals until the leaves crumble easily between your fingers. Be prepared for a small flame if you leave them in the microwave for too long!
	Step 3: Remove the leaves and crumble Once the leaves have dried, remove them and crumble them into a powder using your fingers.
	Step 4: Store in an air tight container That’s it, you’re done! Store the leaves in an air tight container and use whenever you like. They’ll store for a very long time! This tiny container of dried basil is the full contents of the container shown in step 1!

Since we’ve just moved into a new year, I decided it was time to trim the garden back a bit. I’ve removed many of the smaller basil plants and re-potted them. I’ll be giving them away to anyone who wants one.

The basil plants are now individually potted in Styrofoam cups with soil and a little perlite on top. To help them through the transplanting phase, I’m using a 15W 12 LED grow bulb. This bulb uses very little power and has a mix of red and blue high powered LEDs at the correct wavelengths for photosynthesis.

Living high up in a condo unit means I don’t have any traditional gardening space. I’ve managed to maximise what little outdoors space I have. For example, this urban jungle sits on a piece of wood which lays over an outside aircon unit. Although I call it an urban jungle, it’s really more of an urban farm!

This page documents the progress of the jungle. New plants are being added regularly and the layout is changing quite frequently depending on which plants grow tall(e.g Pole Sitao) and which require a little more room to the side (e.g Squash).

Some of the plants were started from seeds under fluorescent lighting while others were just started outside.

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Time Line

19th Nov 2009 – This is the beginning of the urban jungle. Right now the pots are just placed outside on an aircon unit.

22nd Nov 2009 – The jungle is expanding although still not very green. Space is becoming limited!

28th Nov 2009 – The jungle is starting to look a bit greener!

30th Nov 2009 – I managed to find a piece of wood which fits into the space very well, I’ve now got more room and the jungle has expanded!

8th Dec 2009 – The jungle is coming along..

11th Dec 2009 – The squash leaves are really starting to get big. The leaves of the Pole Sitao had previously wilted a little, they appear to be okay now.

12th Dec 2009 – A night shot of the urban jungle. You can see I’ve rearranged some of the plants and the addition of another tray. The basil in the new tray was previously growing in plastic bottles, hence why those at the edge are having problems standing up.

14th Dec 2009 – The squash plants are getting a bit greedy with space. Their big leaves are trying to take over the jungle!

21st Dec 2009 – The cress has been removed. The chilli and basil have started to grow quite big after a little pruning.

12th Jan 2010 – It’s been awhile since my last update to the Urban Jungle. The squash plant has been temporarily moved inside until I can find a permanent home for it (hopefully in someones garden!) because it was getting far too big and taking over the other plants. Some of the sugar pea plants did not make it through the holiday period and the snake grass eventually died from the fertiliser that was accidentally mixed with the soil. I’ve added some perlite to the top of the pots to hopefully help with water retention. Ideally the perlite would have been mixed in with the soil from the beginning

19th Jan 2010 – Shortly after this picture, I trimmed back most of the plants. Due to space issues, I dramatically trim back the pole sitaeo every few days.

28th Jan 2010 – One of the basil plants is starting to bud so I hope to see flowers soon.

29th Jan 2010 – Close up of the small white flowers growing on the basil plant.

I've added an 18W CFL above the jungle. The light is hooked on to a basic 3M 'stick on' hook and I just plug it in when I want to use it. Simple! The urban jungle lit by the CFL. It highlights the jungle at night (if plugged in!) and makes it easier to water the plants.

25th Feb 2010 – Despite being so high up(don’t see many bees and such like up here), the chilli plant managed to get pollinated and has started to bear fruit.

28th Feb 2010 – A night shot of the jungle. Some of the older basil plants were removed and replaced with clones. The chilli and Tomato plant are bearing fruit. Everything else is doing pretty good also.

Why?

The Philippines has an abundance of sun light so why start seeds under fluorescent lighting? During testing, I had much more success starting seeds under fluorescent lighting than outside in the sun. This grow will document the growth of plants under fluorescent lighting and also compare it to those started outside under sunlight.

What equipment is being used?

For the ‘humid pods’, I’m using cheap plastic food containers with holes in the bottom for water drainage and holes in the top for air. Styrofoam plates are used as trays for the pods. I’m using standard potting soil. The lighting is a basic fluorescent fixture with built in reflector which holds two 20W daylight tubes. When a source is found, I’d like to replace these tubes with grow tubes made specifically for plants.

Below you can see the 8 pods, seeded and watered.

Echinacea Pole Sitao Squash Chamomile Feverfew Bell Pepper Lettuce Egg Plant

Seeds planted in their humid pods.

Placement – 29th Nov

The pods have been put under the fluorescent lighting and the comparison pod placed outside in the sunlight.

Seeds started under fluorescent lighting. The fixture holds two 20W tubes which are running for 12 hours a day.

Seeds started outside under sunlight. This pod will be used as a comparison between those under sunlight and those under fluorescent lighting.

First sprouts – 1st Dec

The first sprouts have appeared from the Pole Sitao pod. The pods have managed to keep their humidity high, causing droplets of water inside which has kept the soil damp.

More sprouts – 2nd Dec

It’s 4 days since the seeds were planted. There is significant growth of the Pole Sitao since yesterday. You can also see the squash next to it has grown about an inch. There are also a few green dots to be seen from the Chamomile and Lettuce.

Transplanting the Pole Sitao – 3rd Dec

The Pole Sitao had another growth spurt overnight and is now being transplanted into its own larger pot. The Squash plant is also doing quite well.

The Pole Sitao has been transplanted into it's own larger pot and placed outside. There's a DIY trellis for them to wind into.

Transplanting the Squash – 5th Dec

The squash made it's appearance a little later than the pole sitao but quickly grew large leaves. It's now ready to be transplanted outside.

The squash has been transplanted into a larger pot outside, hopefully large enough for it's aggressive roots!

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Conclusion – 15th Dec

The sugar peas which were placed outside as a test against the fluorescent lighting didn’t grow. All the plants under the fluorescent lighting did well although the Squash and Pole Sitao were definitely the fastest growing.

As another test, I started some seeds using the same pods but inside on a window sill. These did grow but much slower than those under the fluorescent lighting. I’ll definitely continue starting seeds under the lighting and getting them to a good size before moving outside.

Below is an updated picture of the Squash and Pole Sitao moved outside. For a better look at the life line of these plants and a few others, check out the urban jungle page.

The squash plant now has reasonably large leaves and nice thick strong stems.

The leaves of the Pole Sitao have become quite long and the stems are becoming taller day by day.

Grow 1

This grow is hydroponics. I’m using a 2 litre bottle with the top cut off and filled with a SNAP mix (a liquid fertiliser). For the grow medium I’m using a fibre like material and I’ve added an air stone to increase oxygen to the roots.

Grow 2

This is a standard soil set up. The pot is a mix of old and new soil.

Time line

During the first week or two, a small halogen light was used, switching from one grow to the other each night.

8th Nov (4 days into the grow)

Hydroponics on the left. Soil on the right. Small halogen light above. This is 4 days after planting the seeds.

11th Nov (7 days into the grow)

Here we can see that the grow is about equal between the soil and hydroponics. The plants in the soil are stretched towards the light (sun)

16th Nov (12 days into the grow)

Since I’ve removed the halogen lighting, I built a reflector using some reflective paper (PHP17) and a cardboard box. While it’s not reflecting as well as other materials would, it appears to be doing a reasonable job. You can see that the plants have become some what of a mess now. They’re inter-winding and having difficulties standing up because they’ve stretched so much towards the light but still have weak thin stalks. Hopefully the reflector will help balance the direction of the light.

A DIY reflector has now been added behind the plants, meaning sunlight is reflected back towards the plants.

21 Nov (17 days into the grow)

Since the plants are still having trouble standing up on their own (weak stalks), I’ve added an oscillating fan to the grow room. It does not run all the time. It’s on a timer to come on and off throughout the day for brief periods of time. This should help strengthen the plants.

A fan has been added to the grow room. It runs on and off through the day on a timer. It should help strengthen the plants.

25th Nov – Gave over

I decided to try an organic plant food (liquid) to promote growth in the plants. A small amount was sprayed on the plants growing in soil and those growing hydroponically. Unfortunately the hydroponic plants all died within 12 hours of being sprayed, the soil plants remain okay. I knew that plants grown hydroponically were sensitive (constant checking of water PH level etc) but didn’t really just how sensitive they were! Lesson learnt, only use solutions made specifically for hydroponics!

I decided to also try some grows in standard soil rather than purely hydroponics. These plants will be outside while my Hydroponic plants will remain inside.This grow started Nov 19th 2009.

What / Why?

I bought potting soil from White Plains (Libis) for P80, a long soil container for P120 and a few pots for P40 each. I already have the seeds.

19th Nov – Sowing the seeds

Whilst growing in soil is simpler to set-up than Hydroponics, there are also disadvantages. For example, they'll be growing outside and will be more susceptible to pests.

19th Nov – Placement

Since I'm living in a condo unit, I don't have a garden. The plants will be growing on an aircon unit outside. This unfortunately means sunlight exposure will be limited.

22nd Nov – Some growth

3 days after sowing the seeds we can see some growth. As expected, the cress has grown extremely quickly. The basil is also starting to pop up quite well. There's not much life seen from the other seeds yet other than a few green specs from the spinach plants.

23rd Nov – Basil coming up

Perhaps a bit soon for another update but there is some progress. The basil is definitely starting to make itself known. There's not much activity elsewhere. It's possible the spinach is showing itself but it could just be stray cress/basil seeds.

28th Nov  – Chilli is showing life

The chilli appeared quite suddenly. The cress has continued its rapid growth and the basil is slowly coming along. There's also a few green pin pricks starting to appear in the Tarragon area. So far the Spinach hasn't appear. I've turned the pot around but also moved the labels so it's still clear to see what is what.

8th Dec – Bushy cress

Although the cress hasn't grown much taller, it's growing outwards and become very bushy. The tarragon is still quite small but definitely more noticeable since the last update. The chilli is really starting to show itself with relatively rapid growth recently.

20th Dec – Consolidation

I decided to consolidate my grows into an urban jungle. All updates will now be on that page instead.

The cactus shown below is the mother plant from which a cutting has been taken for this grow. As far as I can tell (thanks to the guys at CactiGuide.com), the cactus is a Opuntia monacantha.

The mother plant is being grown in the UK from a cutting taken in Spain 2005.

Mother Cactus Nov 09, UK

What / Why?

My intention with this cutting was to leave it purely in an hydroponics environment to see how it would grow with lots of water and no soil. Yes, the opposite of its natural environment! After leaving it in a hydroponics environment for around 15 days, I decided to instead move it to soil and run the experiment later from a cutting of the soil based cactus.

Time line

3rd Nov – Cutting, started in Hydroponics

The cutting started out in a hydroponic environment on the 3rd Nov 2009. I used SNAP (Simple Nutrient Addition Program) as my liquid fertiliser and added an air stone to promote growth.

10th Nov- Water roots grown in hydroponic solution

The Cactus grew its water roots about 7 days after being in the SNAP solution.

20th Nov- Cactus cutting moved from Hydroponics to soil

After having the cutting in a hydroponics environment for about 15 days, I've moved it into soil(20th Nov).Since the water roots are different to those used for soil, it may not survive. Time will tell! If the Cactus does continue to grow, a cutting will be taken from it in future to continue the purely hydroponics grow test.

23rd Nov – New cactus shoot

3 days after transplanting from hydroponics to soil, a new growth has started. Seems like the transplant went well.

26th Nov – The shoot is growing fast!

The cactus shoot on top is really growing quickly. I'm wondering if there's anyway to promote growth of other shoots below this one.

29th Nov – Shoot growth update

Not much to update other than the size of the shoot.

8th December – Shoot growth update

Still the same shoot. The growth has continued at its rapid pace and has become taller than the original cutting but still quite slim. It's being given water every 3-4 days, partly for the basil growing next to it.

30th January 2010

The 'new shoot' has now become quite long and the Cactus has been re-potted to something a little bigger. It bends back and forth through the days, depending on the closest light source. It's hard to tell but it looks like another shoot has started at the top.

What is hydroponics?

Hydroponics is the growing of plants without any soil. Plants require three things to survive – Light, Oxygen and Nutrients. Since soil is the normal source of nutrients for plants, when removed we need to replace it with something else. This is usually done by adding nutrients to the plants water source.

What do I need for hydroponics?

There are many different systems you can buy or build for hydroponics. Unfortunately,  as with most things in the Philippines, your choices will be limited.. so be prepared to go the DIY route.

The systems generally all work along the same principles. You have your seed or plant which is held in place by an inert growth medium (e.g Rock Wool). The usual methods of supplying the plant with nutrients when growing hydroponically are:

1) Have the roots sitting in a mix of water/nutrients
2) Spray the roots with a water/nutrient mix
3) Drip feed a mix of water/nutrients

Some people take this a step further and use a cheap air pump and air stone to aerate the water which provides more oxygen to the roots and further helps the plants growth.

What exactly is an Inert growth medium?

Since we’re growing without soil, we still need something to hold the seed or plant while its growing. The medium is inert because it adds no nutritional value to the plant, it’s used only to support/hold the plant in place.

What growth medium you use will depend on the system you use and your own personal preferences. The most popular options are:

* Perlite – Volacnic rocks that are transformed into light pebbles through a heating process. Has the benefit of holding a lot of air which can be useful if you’re not using a air pump for additional aeration.

* Rock Wool – A fibrous material created from molten mineral substances. Drains well

* Clay pellets – Baked until they become porous and are able to hold/pass water. Roots can grow into these pellets.

What kind of systems are available or can be built?

Hydroponic Bottle Bubbler System

Although this is one of the simplest designs ever, it’s actually one of my favourites and most successful.

Parts list:

1 x 1.5 litre bottle (size doesn’t matter too much. Minimum of 1 litre)

1 x air pump+ 1 x small airstone + air tube

1 x plastic poly pot (or if you really want to go DIY then use a mold a plastic bag into the same kind of shape and poke holes into the bottom of it)

A handful of your favourite growth medium.

Some duct tape

Steps:

1) Cut the top (lid end) off your bottle. You should cut until the width of the bottle is about the same as your poly pot.

2) Run air tube from the air pump to an air stone. Place the air stone at the bottom of the bottle and use tape on the outside to hold the tubing to the bottle so the air stone wont move.

3) Insert your poly pot into the top of the bottle and hold it in place with tape.

4) Fill your poly pot with your favourite growth medium

5) Secure your seedling within the growth medium and pour your nutrient/water mix through the top of the bottle until its just up to the level of the holes in your poly pot.

6) Turn on your air pump and enjoy.

Finished Example:

Here you can see a cactus cutting in the hydroponic bubbler along with some small herbs beginning to grow.

Here you can see that I moved the cactus to its own hydroponic bubbler with the herbs beginning to grow to a reasonable size after about 6-7 days.

A bigger example of a bubbler system can be seen on my DIY hydroponics dwc setup page.

Hydroponic float system

This can be one of the simplest systems to build.

Steps:

1) Buy a hydroponics nutrient mix, a deep tray, a sheet of 1 inch thick polystyrene board, a pack of polystyrene cups and your preferred growth medium

2) Cut the polystyrene board into a square or rectangle shape which fits inside the dish with a 1cm space at each edge.

3) Cut circle holes in the polystyrene board for the cups to slide into. You want the cups to stick 1/2 – 1 inch out of the bottom

4) Make a 1x1cm hole at the bottom of each cup on either side. Fill your cups with the growth medium

5) Fill the tray with your mix of water/nutrients and place the polystyrene board inside the tray. It should float and the growth medium should start to absorb the mix.
6) Insert one seedling securely between the growth medium in each cup

Finished Example:

In this picture you can see that I'm using SNAP nutrients and polystyrene plates. My growth media is basic Rock Wool cubes.

In this picture you can see the plates are floating in the nutrient mix and the Rock Wool cubes are soaking it up. If you find that your cups are holding too much water then raise them up so they're not sitting so far down into the water and add more grow material. You do not want to drown your plants.

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Hydroponic DWC System

For the full build instructions, see the DWC hydroponic page.

Squash and basil growing in DWC hydroponics box

Roots of Squash in DWC/bubbler box.

If you’re looking for something smaller, or want more info about what hydroponics is and how it works then check out my hydroponics in the Philippines page.

	I bought a semi-transparent box from Shopwise for about 450PHP. Sprayed it blue to keep light out (light kills plant roots!).
	Then I drilled three holes. One for the temperature sensor and two for air tubes. After drilling the area was sanded and ready for a respray.
	Using a hot glue gun, I fixed two air stones in place.
	I ran the air tubes from the air pump to the air stones. I also used hot glue to stick the temperature sensor inside the box. Although the tube is a tight fit with the holes and the water should never go that high, I used hot glue around the holes to create a water tight seal.
	The next step was to cut holes into the lid for our plant pots. Unfortunately I didn’t have any tools at hand to do this (the plastic was too thick for a Stanley knife). I ended up heating a knife over and over and using that to melt/cut the plastic.
	The next step was to fit the plant pots into the holes. I’m using thin plastic poly pots. Fitted to the lid using duct tape. Eventually I’ll replace with strong plastic square pots.
	In this picture you can see the air pump running, making bubbles and the temperature reader attached to the outside.
	This is the final setup with lid connected. I’ve made temporary lids for 3 of the holes since I only want to grow three plants right now.
	Basil and squash growing in the hydroponic DWC construction. Using SNAP hydroponic nutrients.