One of the most frequent questions we've noticed during Garden Month is a general one about cutting herbs. Since herbs are one of the easiest things to grow indoors or in a container, we expect that many of you have small pots of basil, rosemary, or other herbs.
But several of you have wondered something like this:
A lot of my recipes require fresh herbs. But I hesitate to cut too much off my herbs for fear of killing them. How can you harvest enough herbs to cook with without harming your plant?
Also, there was this similar question: How soon after my herbs begin to grow can I begin to use them. I'm afraid to cut them too soon, but I'm anxious to use them.
We're going to just choose basil as a common example, but each herb differs. Google "harvesting [herb here]" to find some answers on other herbs.
Basil is one that we find actually benefits from frequent cuttings. When we leave it alone it gets tall and leggy and stretched out. Cutting helps it spread out sideways and develop healthy green leaves.
There are lots of answers on when you can actually start cutting your young plants; we looked to the Herb Society of America to help straighten us out and they had lots of conflicting advice too: Basil Harvesting at the Herb Society. Some sources say wait until the plant is 12" tall; others say wait until it has developed a few sets of leaves.
We start our basil from small seedlings; we rarely start it from seed. The small, young plants you usually get at the nursery are usually ready almost immediately for some plucking. Using scissors or your fingers, pinch off the top couple inches of stalk and leaves. Don't level the plant down to the ground, but feel free to raze off much of the top of the plant. Leave it for a week between cuttings when it's young, but you should find it growing back quickly.
As it gets strong and robust, spreading out with many shoots and stalks, you can cut off several cups of leaves at once, always snipping the whole stalk - not just the leaves.
Also, make sure you snip off any flowers that you see as the summer progresses; if you leave these the plant will go to seed and get woody and tough.
Here's a photo of our plants from last week, before any pruning or cutting:
Now, after we took enough basil for a couple pizzas this weekend:
You can see we were in a hurry! The stalks aren't well trimmed. Also, we could have taken substantially more - down another level of shoots at least.
Any more tips for harvesting basil?
Related: How To: Make a One-Pot Indoor Herb Garden
(Images: Faith Hopler)
i'm growing mint, basil, and sage and they all seem to be reaching for the sky --- tall and thin. I've started chopping off the tops as needed just to keep their height in check and i've notced that the mint in particular is responding well, growing new "branches" quickly. The basil hasn't "branched out" as much, but is quickly replacing the lost leaves, as is the sage.
view mh330's profile
I try to look for a spot where there's a couple new buds on either side of the stem, so that when I take the main stalk, the buds can sprout and branch out.
That's....a good thing, yes?
view empresscallipygos's profile
Thank you so much for this post! I had trouble with my basil last year, and now I know why. Good timing too, since I just planted little basil seedlings over the weekend.
view pennythoughts's profile
In addition to the above tips, store bought/started basil is usually very *root bound*. The roots eventually suffocate one another and you will know this is happening when the stems start turning brown from the bottom up. Before you pot your store started basil, feel free to take a scissor and just snip away at them vertically (like when a hair dresser is styling bangs).
view PinkThumb's profile
Basil is the only thing I've been really good at for starting from seed. I can attest to it being idiot proof from seed.
view kaanswfm's profile
pink thumb! I want to say thank you for the tip! Or the diagnosis at least, kind of sadly. some of my basil was dying turning brown from the bottom of the stem up, and I was like 'what am I doing wrong????' Now I know. My gardener mother would be disappointed in me for not potting my herbs correctly.
view FromTheFuture's profile
I've had a basil plant in my kitchen window for the last couple of years and have been able to harvest it nearly year round. My tips would be to take your leaves from the top of the plant rather from the bottom, even if the leaves towards the bottom of the plant seem like they're a little wilty and need to be used sooner. That will help keep your plant from getting too tall and spindly (also if your basil plant is getting too tall and skinny it might not be getting enough sunshine, and you might not be pruning it enough). When you pinch or cut off part of the plant, pinch it off close to the main stem, and take the part that branches off to the side. This way new branches can continue to grow off of the main stem. When your basil plant is flowering also make sure to pinch off the flower blossoms. You can also grow new basil plants by putting a cutting in a glass of water and waiting for it to root.
view sarahbest's profile