Bulbs
Flower Basics
Flower Beds & Specialty Gardens
Flower Garden
Garden Furniture
Garden Gnomes
Garden Seeds
Garden Sheds
Garden Statues
Garden Tools & Supplies
Gardening Basics
Green & Organic
Groundcovers & Vines
Growing Annuals
Growing Basil
Growing Beans
Growing Berries
Growing Blueberries
Growing Cactus
Growing Corn
Growing Cotton
Growing Edibles
Growing Flowers
Growing Garlic
Growing Grapes
Growing Grass
Growing Herbs
Growing Jasmine
Growing Mint
Growing Mushrooms
Orchids
Growing Peanuts
Growing Perennials
Growing Plants
Growing Rosemary
Growing Roses
Growing Strawberries
Growing Sunflowers
Growing Thyme
Growing Tomatoes
Growing Tulips
Growing Vegetables
Herb Basics
Herb Garden
Indoor Growing
Landscaping Basics
Landscaping Patios
Landscaping Plants
Landscaping Shrubs
Landscaping Trees
Landscaping Walks & Pathways
Lawn Basics
Lawn Maintenance
Lawn Mowers
Lawn Ornaments
Lawn Planting
Lawn Tools
Outdoor Growing
Overall Landscape Planning
Pests, Weeds & Problems
Plant Basics
Rock Garden
Rose Garden
Shrubs
Soil
Specialty Gardens
Trees
Vegetable Garden
Yard Maintenance
How Do I Pinch a Basil Plant?
How Do I Pinch a Basil Plant?. A basil plant can produce up to 24 cups of leaves, according to the August 2007 edition of "Organic Gardening" magazine. To get the most yield from your plants, you need to prune them to encourage basil to branch out. Genovese basil is a common herb in Italian cooking, but there are varieties that complement Greek,...
A basil plant can produce up to 24 cups of leaves, according to the August 2007 edition of "Organic Gardening" magazine. To get the most yield from your plants, you need to prune them to encourage basil to branch out. Genovese basil is a common herb in Italian cooking, but there are varieties that complement Greek, Thai, Indian and Chinese cooking (among other cuisines), according to "Vegetable Gardening for Dummies" by Charlie Nardozzi. Basil even comes in flavors from lemon to licorice.
Pinch off the center stem after the plant has grown for 6 weeks from seed, to encourage it to branch out.
Prune the plant every 2 to 3 weeks by pinching off some of the upper leaf pairs, even if you don't need the leaves for cooking, to encourage the plant to grow bushy and produce new fresh leaves.
Harvest the upper leaves when you want to use them by pinching off the stem just above where a pair of lower leaves branches off. This will encourage the plant to branch out and grow more leaves at that point. Harvest as often as once a week.
Pinch off any stalks with flower buds when you see them developing, unless you want to save seed for planting next year. Preventing the plant from blooming encourages it to put more energy into producing leaves.
