Rutgers plant scientists spent a decade evaluating and breeding tasty, downy mildew resistant basils
Four new sweet basil varieties resistant to downy mildew disease – which destroys leaves and has been the bane of basil growers for a decade – are now being sold to home gardeners and commercial farmers across the U.S. thanks to years of painstaking breeding and selection at Rutgers University.
Two of
the four varieties also show high resistance to Fusarium wilt, another
important soil-borne disease. The four new downy mildew resistant (DMR)
sweet basils are Rutgers Devotion DMR, Rutgers Obsession DMR, Rutgers
Passion DMR and Rutgers Thunderstruck DMR. These varieties of sweet
basil – one of America’s most popular garden herbs and the most
important annual culinary herb commercial crop – became available to
commercial growers last spring and are now available to home gardeners.
James E. Simon, a Distinguished Professor of plant biology in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers–New Brunswick, Robert Pyne, a former doctoral student, and Andy Wyenandt, an extension specialist in vegetable pathology at the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center
near Bridgeton, led the plant breeding team that developed the new
basils. The team included collaborators in Florida and on Long Island.
Simon, who has spent decades collecting and breeding basils from around
the world, discussed the four new Rutgers varieties and provided tips
for home gardeners.
What are the advantages of growing the new Rutgers varieties of sweet basil?
After a decade of intense breeding work, these new Rutgers varieties
are highly resistant to downy mildew. You might still find some disease
spores on the bottom sides of leaves and yellow leaf discoloration on
the upper side, but home gardeners won’t have to throw out their basil
due to the lack of leaves as many gardeners and growers have discovered
since 2009. Rutgers DMR sweet basils smell and taste great, and have all
the quality characteristics gardeners and cooks will appreciate.
Hundreds of consumers have told us these plants are beautiful, fun to
grow and enjoyable to use. Home gardeners can buy seeds from several
companies online, including Johnny’s Select Seeds and VDF Specialty
Seeds – the seed company that is commercializing these varieties. You
can grow basil all summer and into the fall.
Where can the new Rutgers varieties be grown?
These plants were originally developed for commercial field and
greenhouse growers, yet we found that each grows nicely and easily in
plastic or ceramic pots on porches and in home gardens. Basil can also
be grown indoors, but keep in mind the plant thrives in light, heat and a
lot of water. Put it in an open window on a kitchen counter where the
sun comes in.
When should basil be planted and how should it be cared for?
Homeowners can plant these basils after the last date of frost-inducing
temperatures in the spring. These basils grow like all other sweet
basils, and in our area the plants will continue to grow through
September or into October, depending on the weather and if the plants
are kept pruned and sheltered from the cold. The key with basil is to
keep it pruned and keep the plant from flowering, which can make the
leaves taste bitter. By removing the flowers, the plant sends out side
branches that result in more leaves and keeps it vegetative for longer
periods. If possible, water in the morning and allow for good aeration
and drainage in the growing media. Personally, I always water my basils
underneath the foliage to keep the leaves dry.
What else should people know about the new Rutgers basil varieties?
These plants are vigorous. You can cut and harvest the leaves many
times over many months. They were developed and bred using traditional
breeding, including the crossbreeding of thousands of plants. These
varieties are not GMO. There’s no genetic engineering at all – just-good
old-fashioned creative plant breeding. For more information on the
Rutgers basil breeding program and sources for purchasing the new
Rutgers DMR sweet basil seed, please visit the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station’s ALL-STAR VARIETIES website.
