Basil is a spicy herbaceous plant with a pleasant aroma. You can find them in many recipes of Italian and Slavic cuisine.
The smell of this plant is called “royal aroma”. Gives dishes a special flavor.
In addition to its pungent properties, it belongs to natural antibiotics and antioxidants. The plant is grown in garden plots and on balconies.
In order for the basil bush to grow better, you need to pinch it well.
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What is compression and why is it done?
Pinching is the removal of the shoot tip of a plant. In another way, the pruning of young shoots on the toes is called pinching.
If you are familiar with the size, you will quickly understand. This is weed pruning.
It’s quite easy and you don’t need any experience. You should do this to limit the vertical growth of the plant. So that it increases the branching of the side parts.
Pinching promotes abundant branching and thickening of the bush. The stronger the branching, the more aromatic the leaves.
Therefore, you need to repeat pinching from time to time to maintain the lush shape of the bush. The good thing is that you can use the torn ends of the shoots for cooking and cold drinks.
So you can understand that this compression procedure is very useful. If you don’t, the basil will grow on one or two thin sprigs.
The goal of growing basil is to get as many leaves as possible. This technique helps to stimulate the process of appearance of new shoots. This leads to an increase in the number of leaves and an increase in the yield of basil.
In addition to pinching the toes, it is necessary to get rid of the peduncles. The appearance of the plant ceases to form young shoots. Removing the stems allows the basil to grow abundantly.
The importance of pinching basil
Some gardeners believe that removing the tips weakens a stunted plant. But I want you to know that is a false belief.
The pinch helps awaken dormant buds. It is an important part of basil care. Instead of a single scion, 2-3 new scions grow.
When new shoots grow, you can also pinch them. A thin twig gradually turns into an aromatic bush with numerous prickly leaves. However, most people who grow basil practice pinching.
Pinching also delays the flowering of the bush, as it loses its flavor during this time. Therefore, you should closely monitor the growth of basil.
So as not to miss the formation of unwanted inflorescences and remove them in time.
When to Pinch Basil
Because of my job, I have to work with experienced farmers and gardeners. Experienced gardeners say that they start pinching basil after the first three pairs of leaves appear.
The natural desire of any gardener is to get a good harvest. Therefore, you should prune from the start of vegetative development.
Usually this period begins within 30-45 days. This is when the first leaves appear on the seedling after germination.
There is no specific time to pinch basil. This procedure depends on the stage of development of the plant. Tightening is necessary if the following conditions are met:
- When 6 leaves have formed, the first pinch must be made by removing the 2 young upper leaves.
- Then, when the bush is covered with another 3 pairs of leaves, immediately pinch the top. Cut the stem with pruning shears slightly higher than the leaves that are just beginning to emerge from the stem axils.
- Repeat pinching every 2-3 weeks. This is the only way to get a nice bush and a bigger yield of basil.
How to Pinch Basil
By cutting the top of the stem in the right place, the formation of new twigs is stimulated. You need to determine exactly where the young leaves form on the stem.
Cut off the tops with pruning shears or pinch by hand a little higher than the new young leaves. So as not to damage its growth point.
After that, feed the plant with nitrogen fertilizers for better growth and green mass density.
The basil plant needs nitrogen fertilizer to grow after you pinch it.
After 7-10 days, you will see 2 new tips appear at the cutoff point. Let them grow. Once each of them has 2 pairs of leaves, limit the growth of the next one by pruning it.
For example, the number of leaves doubles with each cut. This process leads to the constant rejuvenation of the aromatic bush and the active growth of green mass.
Advice
If there are few leaves to pick, it is better to choose more mature side leaves and leaves close to the main stem.
Be sure to remove basil flowers in time. Because the plant expends its energy on overflowering and seed formation and becomes less bushy.
If you need to collect seeds for sowing next season, leave the flowers until late summer and wait for the seeds to form.
Here is a short video on how to pinch basil.
When tightening, keep the following in mind:
- You can eat the cut leaves.
- If you only need one or two leaves, but you have already pinched them, you better carefully cut off one of the side leaves. Cut it where the petiole branches off from the main stem. This way you ensure that the plant stays healthy and continues to grow well.
- Ideally, after pinching the sprout, your basil will have two spikes instead of one. If you repeat the process, the number of germs will increase. In addition, the bush becomes compact and beautiful.
When removing inflorescences, cut off two leaves located below with shoots.
Basil Pests and How to Avoid Them
Basil is a very easy herb to grow indoors. If you are a beginner gardener, you can also grow basil without any problem.
But still, gardeners make mistakes when pinching and harvesting basil. Please let us know so that we can avoid them in the future.
- Collect the leaves from the stem. Sometimes gardeners pluck the aromatic leaves from the stem as needed to prepare culinary dishes. As a result, the plant is gradually exposed and dries out. Because you’re not giving it the chance to accumulate green mass.
- Pinching too soon. It is necessary to form at least 6 leaves to pinch. If you cut off the top when only 4 true leaves have formed, the basil will slow its development. This is due to the lack of photosynthetic parts of the plant.
- Push too late. When the basil has finished flowering, the leaves become rough and less aromatic.
- Excessive compression. You need to cut off the young shoots, leaving 1-2 cm of the stem above the lower pair of leaves. Then new shoots will grow on this part.
- Long intervals between presses. The basil should not grow too much. It then begins to stretch upwards instead of spreading out, and the quality and quantity of leaves decrease.
- Prune the old leaves at the bottom of the stem. Harvest the young leaves and eat them. Large leaves at the base of the stem needed for photosynthesis.
- Excessive pruning of side shoots. In this case, the basil will also begin to grow, and the leaves will be too small.
When you first cut, do not cut the basil too low. In this case, cut the lower shoots. This will encourage the plant to grow upright at an early stage.
Here is a helpful video on how to pinch your young basilisk.
Can stem cutting replace pinching?
You can pinch to enlarge the basil to get a nice shape. It is not mandatory to do so. But you have to pinch the basil to increase the yield.
If you let the basil flower, its value as a spice will be much less. However, removing a few flower buds does not solve all problems and cannot replace an entire crop.
If you don’t pinch the basil, it will grow into a long stem. It does not branch, and also forms very few leaves on the side shoots.
As a result, the total green mass for which you grow basil will be less.
Important
The purpose of pinching is to increase basil growth. The first 2 new shoots are formed, in the second pinch 4, then 8 and so on until the end of the growing season.
conclusion
So now you know the procedure and the importance of squeezing. Although it is not mandatory, it is very useful. This will allow you to get many more leaves from a bush to harvest.
This dramatically increases throughput and you get a lot of sheets from a smaller area. But if you’re growing basil for seeds, you can’t use the pinching procedure. Otherwise, it’s great to do.
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