Hi!
How long after sowing the leaves are ready to be picked? Do I need to pinch the top for the basil to branch out?
thank you
help with basil
Spider that can vary widely depending on the variety. These 3 were all planted on June 17th (left to right--lemon, cinnamon, genovese compact). The lemon and cinnamon definitely need potting up and I would not hesitate to pinch them at this point. The genovese compact I would not pinch at this point. I don't know if this helps any but I just happened to have these on the porch this morning while taking other pictures.
I start pinching mine as soon as they start forming a cluster center. Sometimes they are 6" tall (as I believe is recommended) sometimes they are smaller. I have one I started pinching when he was only about 3" tall...he was the first and I just couldn't stand the wait!!! It doesn't seem to have effected him adversely.
Good luck!
I have some sweet basil that I have started indoors and I think they are big enough to move outdoors now, but I am not sure where to put them. Do they like sun or shade?????
My basil likes full sun, but with the extra heat in Alabama they may get too dry without some afternoon shade protection. Unlike many other herbs, basil prefers moist soil & regular watering.
Don't just pick the leaves to harvest basil, pinch back the stems. :-) I pinch the tops off my basil seedlings as soon as they get 3 sets of true leaves. Wherever you pinch, they will branch, so harvest early & often! I pinch each stem or branch just above the second pair of leaves. You can often see a little pair of leaves forming at the base of an older leaf on the stem -- these are just waiting to turn into a new branch when the stem above them is pinched!
Thanks critter! In that case I will probably put them in an area with morning sun and afternoon shade. I am good about keeping things watered so basil is for me.
Critter, how many basil seedlings you put in one pot?
Depends on the pot, and on the basil, LOL. For one of the bigger basils (Italian Genovese or Thai, for example), I'd say a they'd like at least a 6 inch pot to themselves. I've put a Thai Basil and a Thai chile together in a 12 or 14 inch pot quite successfully. They'll grow with less root room, but may be a little stunted. The dwarf basils are different, and can be tucked into containers here & there. Oh, realizing that what I am talking about is transplanting basil from a 2 inch pot into a larger container... and the singular basil plant in the 2 inch pot is actually a clump of 3 to 5 seedlings transplanted from a seed starting tray.
It's late... hope I'm making sense... will check back with this thread!
If you harvest your basil before it sets blossoms, it will remain sweet and keep producing. We cut off our genovese stems when they achieve six leaves, or as critter put it "3 sets of true leaves". This is the stage that will trigger blooming.
My six plants have provided three pounds of fresh basil for pesto in the last three weeks. I'm attaching a picture of the last harvest.
Here is a picture of the plants (foreground) just before I harvested them by cutting the stems down to the first set of leaves.
They grow back to this size in about a week.
This message was edited Jul 27, 2006 11:31 PM
garden_mermaid (I LOVE the name) -- I agree. I've read that harvesting just before they blossom is perfect. You're harvest is fantastic! Pesto party!
thank you garden mermaid, hwat beautiful border you have!