The leaves of my basil plants have yellowish areas, though not bad - kind of looks like very faint streaks, and a few leaves have a couple of tiny yellow spots. About 3 weeks ago I lightly dressed the soil with blood meal because I was hoping they just needed more nitrogen. It seemed to have a positive effect, but now I can see yellow again. I've had a low nitrogen problem a few times in the past with other types of plants, but the leaves of those plants got yellowish overall. Other than that, the plants look very healthy. Could my plants have a virus or fungal disease? Should I treat the soil again? Can I still use the leaves, since whatever it is seems to be very mild?
Also, is it okay to pick the leaves of basil for drying throughout the growing season? In the past, we've just harvested the plant at the end of the season, but these plants are huge, and I wouldn't
mind getting an early start.
Yellowish basil leaves
Oh, gosh, with basil (and most herbs), you want to just pinch, pinch, pinch! Harvest early & often!! The more you pinch, the bushier your plant will get. Look at the base of an older leaf pair, and you'll see small leaves nestled against the stalk.... they are just waiting to grow into a new pair of branches when you pinch the stalk off just above them! I generally leave only 1 or 2 pairs of leaves per branch, then pinch again. This also helps keep the basil from flowering, which can make it a little tough or bitter.
It's fine to dry the basil, but also try making it into pesto (or just mincing in the food processor with a little olive oil), and it will freeze very nicely in an ice cube tray.
If my basil got any thicker, I could use it for a mini-hedge! But I'm going to start picking for drying now, in addition to what I pick for pesto (I discovered that two years ago, and I absolutely love it with
walnuts added. Plain is good too). So, not picking regularly can
make the leaves faintly yellow in areas?
About the freezing - do you mean to make it up and freeze it with the
oil in it? Can I freeze it in something other than an ice cube tray? Why an ice cube tray?
I did know to pick off the buds, and I've been doing that. The bees
are not happy with me..........
You can freeze it in anything you want. I like an ice cube tray because it divides it into small portions. I think the oil helps to stabilize the aromatics in the basil. The only thing I don't add to pesto that's going into the freezer is salt.
I also mince other herbs and combinations of herbs in the food processor, add enough olive oil to make a rough paste, and freeze in ice cube trays (mini cubes for rosemary & stronger herbs)... pop out the cubes and store in zip top freezer bags. The herbs taste very fresh and keep all winter!
I don't just pick off the buds, I cut the stem back to the first or second pair of leaves. Give that hedge a good haircut! :-)