Learn to cut your basil throughout the season for bushy, full growth.
Course: gardening
Keyword: basil, fresh herbs
Author: Getty Stewart
Ingredients
1bunch or plantBasil
Instructions
Cut your basil early and routinely throughout the season.
Regular cutting forces the plant to grow extra stems – every 1 cut stem is replaced by 2 new stems! By forcing the plant to focus on producing new stems and leaves, it won’t produce flowers or seeds as quickly.
To make a cut, use scissors. Find where 2 sets of tiny leaves are emerging at the stem. Cut on the stem between the tiny sets of leaves to encourage full, bushy growth.
Later in the season, when you have more branches, repeat this process on each branch. Always cutting the top crown.
Video
Notes
Be sure to leave some large leaves toward the bottom of the plant, at least two sets of leaves. These are the plant’s solar panels and are necessary for the plant to convert the sun’s rays into the energy it needs to continue to grow.