Performance of Sweet Basil in Aquaponics and Conventional Growing Systems

Sweet basil ( Ocimum basillicum ) is an important herbal and medicinal plant. Considering its importance, sweet basil was evaluated in aquaponic and conventional growing systems on different sowing dates (1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th April, and 6th May). The data of various growth and yield attributes were recorded during the experiment. The results showed that the maximum values for plant height (81.30 cm), number of leaves plant ^− 1 (546.63), number of branches plant ^− 1 (26.32), leaf fresh weight (68.72 g), chlorophyll content (26.50 SPAD), leaf dry weight (13.72 g), leaf area (2637.3 cm ² ), and seed yield (319.96 kg ha ^− 1 ) were recorded on the sowing date of 1st April, while the minimum days to flowering (90.67) and lowest production were recorded for plants sown on the 6th May. Among the growing systems, the conventional growing system performed better than the aquaponic system in terms of all the studied attributes. It was concluded that the conventional system and sowing date 1st -15th April performed better for all the studied attributes.