It's kinda like trying to hold back the tide -- they gotta go eventually. Mine started blooming a week or so ago.

To be honest, I've never really noticed that much difference in the taste of the leaves once the plant begins blooming. The folklore is that the leaves get bitter, and it seems to be true with other herbs, but I keep harvesting the basil until frost.

I do find that if I cut back a lot at this time of year, say to make several batches of pesto, the plant has a lot of trouble coming back. I have one little plant that I've been pinching a lot all season, and it will keep going all fall. But the big plants will fall, one by one, to pesto madness.....

I have had to cut our basil plants back hard several times this year to keep them from blooming. I usually cut back by 1/2 the plant height.

Also, I think in Oklahoma you should still have time to grow more basil from seed and then you will have tender basil leaves if that is what you prefer. Alison I agree, to me flavor doesn't seem to change after the plant starts blooming, the leaves are just a little tougher.

Honestly, I don't bother until my plants get top-heavy enough that the branches begin to break off! I use a hedge-trimmer for the purpose. You can't beat the plant, you know. The more you worry about it, the more you're putting strain on your heart! So - be happy, don't worry. Mind you, the chopped off bits make good mulch, once you've harvested what you want of the leaves!

This isn't entirely related to tops from hell but any advice would be greatly appreciated!
I live in southern China and recently found a basil plant growing at a local agricultural center. They let me dig up a plant and take it home. (A very excting thing as basil is hard to find in China.) So the plant recovered well from the move and started growing quite well. Then a couple of weeks later it started flowering and I cut the stems just below the top leaf node after the flower bud. It continued to grow well and fill out but then recently something has changed. There are small bumps developing on the stalks all the way from the bottom up. At the base of the main stalk the bumps have grown into lots of little mini-root like things. As well the new leaves are turning yellow. Is this normal? I took some clippings a couple of days ago - as I got scared I would lose my one source of fresh basil - and stuck them in water. The bumps are all shooting off into what looks like roots.
It's very hot here and extremely humid. I make sure the pot has good ventilation and I water it regularly. Any advice? Should I bring it inside?
Thanks!

It's simply trying to root out from the stem. Nothing to worry about there.

If it's so difficult to find in your area I would let it flower and collect the seeds for future summertime enjoyment.

Best Wishes
Amino-X

Plant the rooted sections as well as they can provide leaves before the seeds grow enough.

I ave a question that goes with a statement from the original poster. Since nirtrogen promotes leaf growth is it best to give basil more nitrogren than anything else. I have poor luck with basil. It seems to grow for me every four years or so and rarely will the seeds sprout.

Oh sure, Basil plants are relitivly heavy feeders anyway so giving them a higher N fertilizer shouldn't be a problem as long as you are growing them in pots and are careful about runoff.

How are you germinating the seeds? What kind of medium are you using? and Are they store-bought seeds or seed that you've collected yourself?

I've never had problems getting Basil to sprout personally, but anytime I have a seed that is dificult to sprout I use a Bio-Dome from Parks. I don't mean to sound like a commercial but I'm convinced that if I ever planted pebbles in that thing I could sprout rocks. As a matter of fact I have one full of Broccoli sprouts right now waiting for the weather to cool down (about 1st of September) to go outside. :)

Best Wishes
Amino-X

This always is getting posted bout this time of year. I always do all my Pesto making right now. I really cut the Basil back really hard. Apply a good top mulching of compost, water and use a good water soluble fertilizer and they respond with a wonderful second flush for fresh leaves and a second round of Pesto making in September.
BTW here is my easy freezer Pesto recipe.
Take fresh cleaned Basil leaves (no stems or flower buds) and fresh Italian Parsley, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Sea Salt and fresh cracked Pepper. I pack the food processor with the Basil leaves,Italian Parsley, Salt and Pepper and start to process. I add just enough Olive Oil to just make a nice good paste. I then put the Pesto into ice cube trays freeze and then pop into freezer bags and store. When I need it I can just use as many cubes as I need. To make real true Pesto I add the toasted Pine Nuts, Garlic and Parmesiagn (sp?) Cheese right before serving. I just love to be able to pop a few cubes of this in the winter onto any pasta dish I am making. Also great to drizzle or spread onto Pizzas or garlic bread. YUM!
Hope this helps!

I agree with Alison...I've never noticed a difference in taste. I also am liking the taste of African Blue Basil (I guess it would be an aquired taste!), but this basil can bloom on and on and on, get deadheaded and repeat like crazy....they cannot set seed because they are a serile hybrid. The plants are beautiful and very tolerant of dry soil...what a bonus :D

I have African Blue basil and agree that the plant just keeps going and going and going.... You just have to get used to the taste. Another option is Greek Columnar basil sold by Companion Plants. Gets three feet tall and only 10 inches across. Doesn't flower, does great in a pot, will overwinter indoors with bright light and tastes great. Or is it less filling? I cut mine back hard before bringing indoors, becasue the outdoor leaves don't do so well in the lower light indoors. It's an excuse to make up a batch of pesto. Besides these two standards, this year I'm also trying New Guinea basil. Looks like a more delicate version of African Blue and doesn't have the camphor overtones. Don't know how well it will do indoors, but that's the fun of experimenting.

narcnh

Here is a link that might be useful: Companion Plants Oregano Varieties

Love Greek Columnar basil! I have several plants growing outdoors and one inside. Makes good pesto. The plants, as mentioned, do get tall. I let them get around 8-10", then top them off, forcing the side shoots out and they get bushy. Wonderful lemony aroma. Tastes wonderful! I like this plant. I also have lettuce leaf basil growing and sweet basil, all of which I've used in cooking and pesto. The flowering of the basil doesn't seem to change the taste as I've noticed, I just cut them back, they branch back out and bush out. They just keep growing and growing. I've had success with lettuce leaf basil inside also. But I have great light in the dining room all day (8'x8' sliding glass doors), mostly direct morning sunlight, but when not, the room is still flooded with light all day. They seem to love it there. Rosemary doing well in there also.

I'm here to testify that my Genovese basil did indeed become more intense and bitter after setting flower buds. I kept putting off harvesting and kept pinching the tips, and I must have let it go too long. I finally was ready to make another batch of pesto and tasted some leaves. Bitter and harsh, but I was in denial and made the pesto anyway. It was strong and bitter and almost inedible (though my family were good sports and ate some anyway). Fresh leaves and pesto from earlier in the season were outstanding, so this was disappointing, especially since I hadn't gotten enough pesto in the freezer yet.

The Italian Large Leaf, which was setting buds at the same time, also changed but not as much. It wasn't quite as good as earlier, but at least most of the leaves were edible. Some were getting pretty bitter, some just a hint, and I was able to weed out the bad ones and make some decent pesto, thank goodness. After all the leaf-tasting my tongue sure was fried!

I cut back all the plants hard so it'll be interesting to see if what grows back will be any better.

MA