How to Prune Basil for Maximum Growth
Basil is one of the most popular herbs used in cooking, and with good reason! Not only is it packed with vitamins and delicious flavor, but it’s also incredibly easy to grow.
To get the most out of your basil plant, you’ll want to prune it regularly so that it grows bushier and bigger. Yes, you heard right, trimming your basil will actually help it grow even more! By following these simple steps down below, you can ensure that your basil will grow tall and bushy, maximizing its yield.
This guide will show you how to trim basil for hydroponics or traditional gardening methods.
3 main reasons you want to prune your basil
Besides pruning your basil, when you want to harvest it for cooking, there are other important reasons why it’s beneficial to trim your basil regularly. It can:
1. Help promote bushier and bigger growth. Pruning the plant encourages it to produce lateral branches rather than just a single stem. This helps provide a fuller, more compact appearance than if you were to let it grow freely.
2. overall health of the plant. Removing dying or damaged leaves and stems helps prevent disease, pests, and other problems if the plant is not properly cared for.
3. Prevent it from flowering too early. If your basil plants are left to flower without pruning, they will produce fewer leaves and their flavor may become bitter
When to Prune Basil
Before we talk about how to prune basil, let’s talk about when.
Generally, it’s best to prune your basil plants every two weeks or so – as long as they are producing plenty of leaves and look healthy. This will help encourage bushier growth and prevent flowering.
time of day is also important! You should avoid pruning your basil during the middle of the day when it is hottest, as this can cause stress to the plant. The best time is in the morning or evening when temperatures are cooler.
The wrong way to prune your basil
before we can learn how to prune your basil in the right way, it’s important to understand how not to do it.
DON’T just cut off the top of the plant and leave it like that! This will encourage growth only at the top and stunt the rest of your plant.
Most people are tempted to pick off the big leaves at the bottom of their basil plant, but the leaves at the bottom is the main producer of energy, and by picking off these leaves the plant will not be able to produce enough energy to keep growing.
The correct way to prune your Basil
Now that we’ve talked about how not to prune your basil, let’s talk about how you should. The goal is to encourage lateral growth (side branches) by cutting off the top part of the stem (just above a set of leaves) which then will encourage two new stems to grow.
those will eventually produce two new leaves at the top and when you prune those again, it will produce two new sets of leaves and you will now have four stems and so on, until the plant grows bushier and outwards instead of only leggy and upwards
Remove any dead or diseased leaves
the first step is to remove any dead or diseased leaves and stems. This will help prevent the disease from spreading and ensure that the basil is healthy overall.
Identify a spot where you have a node
Next, you want to identify a spot where you have a node (the place where the leaves are connected to the stem). you should see two small new leaves growing from the node. Prune just above this spot so that you can encourage the two new leaves to grow into new branches.
Use a clean sharp scissors
it is important to use clean, sharp scissors or pruning shears to make the cut. This will help ensure a clean cut and prevent the disease from spreading.
Repeat all over plant
repeat this all over the plant, making sure to evenly prune the stems which have two nodes.
Dont prune more than 1/3 of the stem
When pruning, make sure that the top of the stem is not too long (about 2”) or it will again stunt growth, so don’t take off more than 1/3 of the total length of the stem
If you prefer watching step-by-step instructions over reading, I’ve got you covered with this video below.
Conclusion
Pruning your basil can seem intimidating at first – but if you follow these steps, you should be able to keep your basil healthy and get the most out of it. Pruning will encourage growth and help produce bigger, bushier plants with more flavor.
Just make sure to use clean tools, prune in the morning or evening when temperatures are cooler, and never take off more than 1/3 of the total length of each stem. With a bit of practice, you’ll be an expert in no time and you will be able to enjoy fresh basil all season long!
Happy gardening! 🙂
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