Caveat: I utilise my father's basil rather than growing my own, because he waters more than I do, so his grows bigger, and his is grown in a (waist-high) clump in the ground.
Having said that, I harvest basil by slashing it back. In six weeks or so, I can harvest the same plant again as it resprouts. If I'm being careful, I cut just above a bud to encourage the plants, but when I'm making pesto, I rarely take less than a third of the plant and usually more. I always take off all of the flowers, pinching them out if I don't want to take the stems they're on.
Cutting this way encourages the plant(s) to produce more soft stems full of leaves, which is what you want. A basil plant that is getting leggy needs slashing.
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