Pretty! Where are you that your basil is so nice in Dec? You may count me as officially jealous, especially as I was out looking at Christmas lights in 3 degree F weather tonight.

To pinch off basil, look for where a leaf pair is growing on both sides of the central stem. Pinch or cut the central stem just above that node--leaving the two (or sometimes two pair) side leaves. That will encourage both sides to grow as central stems and give you a bushier plant--though yours is doing well!

To harvest basil, the general rule is about 1/3 of the plant at a time. Basil does best if you take the top third of each stem, rather than harvesting a third of the full stems. I think you could safely take the top two or three nodes off the top of each of your stems and start enjoying! Right now, with the flowers barely starting to form is the best time to harvest.

Hi Ballonflower,

I'm actually based in Medellín, Colombia, so we have fairly standard weather all year-round (75ish). I also have some hot peppers in a small garden around the corner.

Thanks for your advice, I understood about the pinching, but not completely the harvesting. For harvesting, should I just repeat the pinching process all around the plant, as opposed to just the pinching from the top (without taking more than 1/3rd of the plant)? And is it ok to pinch/harvest the non-main stems that have branched out?

Since you are in such a warm climate I would suggest you repot it into a 1 gallon pot. It will grow alot bigger. Have you seen it in anyone's garden? it got huge in my garden. I only harvest what I need it for cooking. I never heard of cutting a third of it off at one time. What is the point of doing this? I just harvest around the plant to keep it the same height. You should keep the flowers cut or pinched all the time unless you want seeds to harvest. I let my Thai basil and some of my regular basil go to flower this year. It attracted bees and tons of butterflies.

The 'third' rule is general for the max to take off a plant at a time--if your basil is very happy, you could probably do more and still have a healthy plant, but as a general rule it's a third. I do both--harvest occasional leaves for small amounts in cooking in season, but when the plant needs a trim, then I cut the third and either dry or make pesto. It's not something to do every week, but on an as needed basis. Thank you for helping me clarify.

Salevene--Yes on the pinching/harvesting. As I've clarified--if you only need a couple of leaves (for me it's grilled cheese & basil sandwiches), then just pull a couple leaves. But, when you need to do a full trim, then you can pinch or third off even the side stems once they've started growing. Weather sounds wonderful right now, but I do like my seasons and even the snow and cold.

Thanks all for the advice, super helpful!

zackay - nope, we are out on the farm.. so not too many neighbors around. We are talking about making a new herb garden, so if we end up doing it, i'll just plant it garden style and let it really grow.

I understand the third of the plant cutting now. I just let my grow. Too much else going on last summer to trim anything. Plus the butterflies loved the flowers I let bloom here and there on my basil plants. I could see it out of the window by my computer. It was a real treat. I grew Holy Basil for the first time this year. It really attracted the honeybees. I let the whole thing go to flower because of them. We have very few bees around. Just saw my neighbor out back has a box of bees now. I will definitely be trying to lure them to my garden next year.