Cultivation and Care of Tulasī Devī

Keeping Tulasī Healthy

1. The place where Tulasī stays should always be very clean.
2. Collect all of her fallen leaves regularly.
3. Use a proportion of 3:1 bleach:water solution to sterilize any pots, trowels, scissors, and other implements you may be using to maintain her.
4. Even though you may take all precautions, your Tulasī plant may be attacked by pests.
5. Such pests should be counter-attacked immediately to prevent terrible damage to Tulasī. Some pests carry fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases that can be fatal to her.
6. Pruning Tulasī is forbidden except in the following emergencies: when her roots have been attacked by a pest(s), her life is at stake, and she can be saved by this. (Reducing her size may allow a reduced root system to adequately nourish the rest of the plant.)
7. Tulasī should be examined daily for pests.
8. If Tulasī is kept clean, she will remain healthy. She can be kept clean by bathing her as follows:
   • a. Spray her gently with a hose to remove dust and insects from her leaves.
   • b. Give her a bath with vegetable-based (castile) soap made with potassium salts. These salts are deadly to insects.
   • c. Small Tulasī plants are bathed as follows:
     • (1) Cover the pot and soil with plastic.
     • (2) Place your hand on her soil and her stem between your index and middle finger for her support.
     • (3) Tip her upside down, lower her into the soapy water, and swish her gently for five to ten seconds only.
     • (4) Slowly withdraw her from the soap.
     • (5) Rinse her in a bucket of clean water or under a fine garden-hose spray.
     • (6) Shake off the excess water and slowly turn her over; else, that water may make her heavy and cause her to droop or maybe break.
   • d. Large Tulasī plants (that do not fit in a bucket) are bathed as follows:
     • (1) Cover her soil with plastic, wrap it tightly around her stem, and spray her with soap.
     • (2) Make certain you spray on the underside of the leaves, where most insects hide.
     • (3) When Tulasī is indoors and spraying is difficult, spray each leaf with a squirt bottle, or wipe each leaf with a soft cloth.
     • (4) Or remove her to an outer balcony or just outside your front door and spray her.
     • (5) One-gallon pump sprayers are available from most garden stores.
9. Especially in the summer, bathe Tulasī Devī daily.
10. As a preventive measure, it is useful to bathe her with soap weekly or bi-weekly. But if you prefer, you may soap her only when she has been attacked by insects.
11. When you soap-spray her, be certain to wash off the soap or it might burn the margins of her leaves.
12. If, in spite of bathing her, Tulasī is still attacked, you can use certain natural sprays derived from plants that repel or destroy insects. They are non-toxic and environmentally safe. Here are some of them:
    • a. Pyrethrum: Derived from chrysanthemum flowers, it fights aphids, whiteflies, and caterpillers. Apply in late afternoon or evening-never in the sun-and don’t use it with soap.
    • b. Rotenone: Derived from the derris plant root, it acts as a stomach poison on aphids, spider mites, ants, and true bugs.
    • c. Diatomaceous earth: Silica fragments derived from the skeletal re-mains of small sea animals called diatoms. These lacerate the insect, causing it death from dehydration.
    • d. Hot chile peppers mixed with water: These discourage chewing in-sects.
    • e. Neem oil: Derived from the Neem tree, it suppresses appetite and inhibits growth in aphids, mites, mealybugs, and whiteflies. (Marketed in US as Bio-Neem by Safer, Inc.)
    • f. SunSpray Oil: A parafin based oil, it may be sprayed on Tulasī’s leaves without harming them. It acts against mealybugs, scales, spidermites, and aphids. Only this type of spray oil may be used on Tulasī. (Never use petroleum-based sprays.)
13. There are certain insects that do not eat plants but thrive only on plant-eating insects. These assist in keeping Tulasī free of harmful ones. Here are a few:
    • a. The ladybug: Both the adults and larvae eat aphids, mealybugs, and scales. They can roam directly on Tulasī or in her area.
    • b. The green or brown lacewings: These eat aphids, spider mites and mealybugs.
    • c. The assassin bug, ambush bug, praying mantis, and various spiders are helpful.
14. These insect-eating insects may be obtained at a local nursery or an insectary.
15. If you need more assistance in solving a pest problem, you can obtain it from your local nursery or agricultural extension agent. These persons identify local crop pests and diseases.
16. Further information is provided in the book The Art of Caring for Tulasī Devī.