Pruning basil AeroGarden: Adding some fresh basil to your home-cooked meals is one of the easiest ways to make them taste better. Even more so if you are making Italian food. How would you make a tasty pesto sauce for spaghetti without basil?
AeroGarden Basil Seed Pods can be found HERE.
How to Grow Basil in an AeroGarden?
The most important thing to remember is that you have to cut or trim your basil early. That is how you can keep getting new, fresh basil all season long. If you cut or trim your basil plant, it will grow more stems. If you cut one stem, two more should grow in its place.
By doing this, you force the plant to put most of its energy into making new stems with leaves.
Now that you know why you should do it, let’s talk about when you should do it.
When it comes to cutting basil, the number 6 is the key. Why 6? Because before you cut your basil plant, it should have at least six leaves or be at least six inches tall. But you should do it at the start of the season.
After the first cut, you can cut basil every two to three weeks until the season is over.
How to cut or Pruning Basil Aerogarden?
When your basil plant is big enough to cut, you should always cut it at the top. Start at the top of your plant and work your way down until you see small new leaves coming out. Just above those new leaves, cut them off. Basil is one of the plants that is easy to cut with either gardening shears or scissors.
If your plant has any flower blooms, cut them off. This will be a big boost to growth.
You should always leave a few sets of larger leaves on the bottom of your basil plant because they help the plant grow. They turn the sun’s energy that the plant gets into energy that is full of vitamin D.
CAUTION!
When you cut basil, be careful not to touch the leaves with your hands, or even better, don’t touch them at all. If you push a little harder than you need to, your basil will get bruised.
Now, if your basil seed pods grew well in your aerogarden, they are ready to be picked. Here’s more about AeroGarden Basil Pruning.
How do you pick basil?
The best thing about a basil plant is this. You can pick it whenever you need it, but make sure the leaves you pick are big enough. As I’ve said before, it’s important to leave some big leaves on the bottom of the plant so that it can get the light it needs to grow well.
Basil is also great because when you pick a leaf, it will be replaced by not just one, but two new leaves! That means you should pick your basil often if you want to get the most out of it. Basil is a key part of many Italian dishes.
Now, there are a few more things you should know to always do better. Depending on how much basil you will be picking, these tips will be different.
Advice for a small crop:
Don’t take too many of the leaves. Do not cut a whole stem off unless it is big enough to cut. Also, make sure to cut off the ends of the branches. This will help the plant grow and get bigger.
Tip to get a bigger crop:
When cutting, trimming, or harvesting a basil plant, you should always start at the top and work your way down. When you have enough basil, cut the stem right above the first pair of small leaves you left on. This will make sure that the plant grows back as soon as possible.
Advice for the last harvest:
The final cut is done when you decide to replace your basil with something else or when the season is over for the plant. Cut off all the plant’s stems and pull off the leaves.
And that’s pretty much it! Oh, I almost forgot. Make sure to take off any leaves that are dead or have spots. At the end, only fresh, green leaves should be left.
How long do seed pods of basil last?
The maker says that your herbs should last about 4 months, but I have seen them last much longer than that. I’ve picked basil leaves from a plant for up to 6 months at a time. When you add the month it took for the plant to be ready to harvest, you get 7. This is almost twice as long as the manufacturer says it takes. You have to realize that they are trying to make less promises and keep more of them.
