Basil is one of the most popular culinary herbs in summer and should not be missing from any herb garden. Would you like to have a healthy, bushy plant that consistently provides delicious large leaves for your home-cooked dishes, pestos and salads? Then it is important to know how and when you should cut and harvest the basil. With the right pruning at the right time, your plant will continue to grow back and produce tasty leaves.
The basil has grown – when do I have to cut it?
Many of us ask ourselves the question of when to cut basil plants. The answer is simple - when the young plant has reached a height of 15 to 20 cm, it should be cut back. Because these herbaceous plants grow quickly, you should prune them at least once every two weeks during the summer growing season. The time just before flowering is best for the large harvest cut. Annual basil should also be cut back completely before the first frost in winter. Perennial varieties can overwinter indoors and be cultivated as kitchen plants.
Tipp: In this articleYou will find great ideas and tips on how you can preserve the harvested basil.
How to cut basil correctly
If you do it several timesBasil from the supermarketIf you have purchased or grown from seed only to wilt and die or grow unhealthy and sparse, then you are probably making a pruning mistake. It is an important task in basil care, so you need to familiarize yourself with it.
Dos and Don’ts
You shouldnotCut off the largest leaves at the bottom of the plant, as these absorb the most sunlight and promote the plant's growth.
The leaves that grow at the top of the plant shouldbutremove – even if they are not that big. By doing this, you allow the plant to produce new shoots that grow outwards, making it grow dense and bushy rather than tall.
Prune basil to encourage new growth
Harvesting basil regularly ensures that the plant continually regrows and produces new, tasty leaves. To obtain large, bushy plants, cut off the top 2 cm of immature plants just above a leaf branch when they are about 15 cm high. This encourages them to branch out and become bushier rather than growing tall and thin. You can do this again and again as the plant produces new shoots. You can of course pick the leaves from the cut shoots and use them to refine various recipes.
A notice:You can cut basil with secateurs or pinch it off with your fingernails.
Tips for a bushy plant
To ensure that your basil plant becomes bushy, you should regularly remove the shoot tips. This will encourage the continuous production of tender new leaves and preventthe plant flowers and produces seeds. Here are some tips:
- Cut the leaves at the tips of the shoots to encourage the plant to branch and produce more leaves.
- During the summer, cut back the basil lightly once a week or every two weeks, depending on how quickly it is growing.
- Find the spot on the shoot where new small leaves are forming and cut about 5 millimeters above it.
- Repeat this with all young shoots on which small leaves have formed.
- Pruning doubles the number of leaves that grow on this basil shoot.
- Do not cut the basil back by more than a third.
- Never cut off the woody part of the plant near the base or the basil will not grow back.
Can basil grow forever?
Unfortunately, you can't cut basil so that it grows forever - it will eventually die. But by regularly harvesting and pruning the plant, you extend its life and improve vigor so that the basil stays in the leaf stage for as long as possible. For lush growth, you should cut off the tips of the shoots, even if you don't use the leaves.
As soon as flower buds appear, you should remove them to preserve the flavor of the leaves. But don't worry when the basil blooms - the flowers are also edible and work well in salads and other recipes. But: When the plant begins to flower and produce seeds, it slows its growth and stops producing leaves.
Harvesting basil: which is better – cutting or picking?
When you harvest the basil to make adelicious pestoTo make or prepare the tomato and mozzarella salad, you may find yourself picking or breaking off the leaves in a hurry. However, this is a mistake that can lead to bald shoots and a weak plant. Instead, you should first cut off the tips of the shoots and only then pick off the leaves attached to them.
Did you know that the stems can also be eaten? Their spicy taste makes the basil pesto even more aromatic.
Idea:You can use the shoots cut off when pruning to propagate basil. To do this, put them in a glass of water and even after a few weeks the first roots will appear.
