You need to pinch or cut lower. Usually cutting the entire stem at the second node from the ground will allow the plant to regrow within 2 weeks to allow for successive cuttings all season long. That is the main reason why I prefer to sell cut bunches of basil rather than just the tender tips (by the pound). Buds are good tip weight producers for sales as long as they don’t open as flowers. But in hot weather that transition occurs as you are experiencing.

I also figured out that I needed to cut more than just the flower bud, but I don't cut as low as Barrie. :)

Yeah, that's what it's looking like. If you just pull off the bud, it will reappear very quickly. But if you actually cut the stem an inch or so below the bud, the bud won't return for a while. Thanks. The "second node from the ground" rule is a convenient one.

So you sell the buds as well? Are they as flavorful as the regular foliage?

That’s what the restaurant people want. The tips can be anywhere from 2-5” long depending on weather,etc. ; basically anything that you can throw in a blender and not come out stringy.

I had one restaurant buy over 400 lbs of tips in one order but the owner would constantly complain if the tips were the slightest bit stringy. To put in perspective a bu . basket lightly packed with tips weighs about 5 lb. Basil that blooms is bad b/c the whole tip is then stringy.

With cut bunches I just cut as long as I want and put a band on the bunch. For Market sales that works out best for different reasons.

Let me understand. A "tip" is an unbloomed flower stalk? Why do restaurants want these? You can throw whole leaves in a blender and not have it come out stringy, so what's the advantage of flower stalks to them?

Of course, you can't google "basil tips", because you just end up with suggestions for growing basil!

I Don’t know about googling basil but you want the buds and tender stems when making pesto. Leaves alone have very little weight. If I had to pick 400 lbs of leaves I would need an acre of basil plants. I should emphasize that closed buds are great. They are packed with flavor, are tender and add lots of weight. And except in dry conditions a portion of the stem below the buds is also tender. Maybe try googling “Basil tender shoots”.

That doesn't make a lot of sense, and doesn't correspond to anything I can find in writing. I can get one bud on top of a large stem full of leaves. The weight of the leaves on that stem is quite a bit larger than the weight of that one bud. ALL recipes for pesto call for "basil leaves". That's interesting that you say that the buds are especially flavorful, but I'd have a lot of trouble getting enough for any substantial amount of pesto. In fact, what I read is that the buds, if anything, have a milder flavor then the leaves. I want stronger, not milder.

I did try Googling "basil 'tender shoots' " and didn't see anything like you're describing. Those tender shoots are just young leaves, not flower buds.

Reference please?

Like I mentioned before I don’t know about googling basil. My only reference I’ll provide is 40 years of growing basil for dozens of restaurants and hundreds of non-business customers. Suit yourself if you want to use just the leaves.