On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 17:16:27 GMT, Mister Gardener
wrote:

On 15 Apr 2004 11:54:07 -0700, (hjl) wrote:

to promote new growth of herbs, i heard that you're supposed to
harvest herbs by pinching, as opposed to cutting. anyone know if
that's true?

I've seen some gardening references specify that "pinching" causes the
end of the stem to be somewhat collapsed from the squeezing together
action, while "cutting" leaves a clean, noncompressed end. And one
method or the other is specific to the desired outcome. It's similar
to the difference of the cut made by a bypass pruner as opposed to a
anvil pruner.

What "desired outcome"? I can 'pinch' the emerging flower buds of
basil with my fingers, and I can 'pinch' off a few leaves for
seasoning, but if I want to harvest a large branch, I 'cut'. The
difference is the tools I happen to have with me at the time. I don't
think many herb plants are going to notice if they were 'pinched' or
'cut.'