What exactly does pinching basil mean? I know what a pinch
is, meaning to compress painfully, or a small amount.

Someone told me to pinch basil. And the only thing that comes
to mind is to pinch and twist but what exactly is pinch ? Online
references mention to pinch basil, but I can't find a detailed
definition on what it exactly means.

Thanks in advance.

--
Jim Carlock
Post replies to the newsgroup.

On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 21:30:49 GMT, "Jim Carlock"
wrote:

What exactly does pinching basil mean? I know what a pinch
is, meaning to compress painfully, or a small amount.

Someone told me to pinch basil. And the only thing that comes
to mind is to pinch and twist but what exactly is pinch ? Online
references mention to pinch basil, but I can't find a detailed
definition on what it exactly means.

Thanks in advance.


It means to prune the end of the growing tip. This will cause more
branches and more leaves. "Pinch" means to use the thumb and
forefinger to remove the pair of small leaves at the top of the plant.
BTW, I have more basil than I can supply the entire neighborhood. I
guess it was all those fish emulsion feedings I did last
spring/summer.

So snipping with scissors will work?

As far as pulling the leaves off... should they be cut off.
Cut the top leaves off ?

Thanks much.

--
Jim Carlock
Post replies to the newsgroup.


"Phisherman" replied:
On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 21:30:49 GMT, "Jim Carlock" wrote:
What exactly does pinching basil mean? I know what a pinch
is, meaning to compress painfully, or a small amount.

Someone told me to pinch basil. And the only thing that comes
to mind is to pinch and twist but what exactly is pinch ? Online
references mention to pinch basil, but I can't find a detailed
definition on what it exactly means.

Thanks in advance.

It means to prune the end of the growing tip. This will cause more
branches and more leaves. "Pinch" means to use the thumb and
forefinger to remove the pair of small leaves at the top of the plant.
BTW, I have more basil than I can supply the entire neighborhood. I
guess it was all those fish emulsion feedings I did last
spring/summer.

On Sun, 5 Sep 2004, Phisherman wrote:

On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 21:30:49 GMT, "Jim Carlock"
wrote:

What exactly does pinching basil mean? I know what a pinch
is, meaning to compress painfully, or a small amount.

Someone told me to pinch basil. And the only thing that comes
to mind is to pinch and twist but what exactly is pinch ? Online
references mention to pinch basil, but I can't find a detailed
definition on what it exactly means.

Thanks in advance.


It means to prune the end of the growing tip. This will cause more
branches and more leaves. "Pinch" means to use the thumb and
forefinger to remove the pair of small leaves at the top of the plant.
BTW, I have more basil than I can supply the entire neighborhood. I
guess it was all those fish emulsion feedings I did last
spring/summer.

I thought maybe this referred to the flowers too no? Mine keeps trying to
flower. I hear that if you allow them to bloom the leaves will become
bitter?

My basil is growing like crazy too. I have started making salads with
basil leaves and not bothering with lettuce. potent salads!

On Sun, 5 Sep 2004 18:10:42 -0400, David Kotschessa
wrote:



On Sun, 5 Sep 2004, Phisherman wrote:

On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 21:30:49 GMT, "Jim Carlock"
wrote:

What exactly does pinching basil mean? I know what a pinch
is, meaning to compress painfully, or a small amount.

Someone told me to pinch basil. And the only thing that comes
to mind is to pinch and twist but what exactly is pinch ? Online
references mention to pinch basil, but I can't find a detailed
definition on what it exactly means.

Thanks in advance.


It means to prune the end of the growing tip. This will cause more
branches and more leaves. "Pinch" means to use the thumb and
forefinger to remove the pair of small leaves at the top of the plant.
BTW, I have more basil than I can supply the entire neighborhood. I
guess it was all those fish emulsion feedings I did last
spring/summer.

I thought maybe this referred to the flowers too no? Mine keeps trying to
flower. I hear that if you allow them to bloom the leaves will become
bitter?

My basil is growing like crazy too. I have started making salads with
basil leaves and not bothering with lettuce. potent salads!



Flowers too. I could not keep up with my basil and it is flowering
like crazy. The plants have grown 4 feet tall ! It is drawing honey
bees and hummingbirds to my yard. I just picked several fresh basil
leaves, mixed them into raw vegetables with garlic oil and grilled the
mix over hot hickory coals--I could hardly detect the basil. I found
the dried basil to be stronger.

Jim Carlock wrote:

What exactly does pinching basil mean? I know what a pinch
is, meaning to compress painfully, or a small amount.

Someone told me to pinch basil. And the only thing that comes
to mind is to pinch and twist but what exactly is pinch ? Online
references mention to pinch basil, but I can't find a detailed
definition on what it exactly means.

Pinching a plant means to remove the growing tip of a shoot. I use
my thumb nail against my index finger to cut off the tip.

If you do this to young basil, it makes the plant bushy. You get
many shoots and leaves. I have enough in a 10 inch pot that I
throw a bunch of basil leaves into the water when cooking pasta.
Chopped fine with a sharp knife, basil is a good herb to add when
making a cheese omelette.

As the plant grows, pinch away the flower buds before they open.
The buds are bitter and should not be used in cooking. More
important, basil is an annual. Once it actually flowers, it starts
to die. By removing the flower buds before they open, you can keep
it going until a frost kills it.

Also, when picking basil for cooking, cut a stem with leaves.
Remove the leaves in the kitchen and discard the stem. By cutting
the stem, you encourage even more growth of the plant.

--

David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

I use Mozilla as my Web browser because I want a browser that
complies with Web standards. See http://www.mozilla.org/.

Why didn't you ask "someone" what it meant at the time they said it?

"Pinching" is removing the terminal growing point of the plant so that it
will branch. Its cutting the plant back by hand.

What did you think it meant? Stealing plants or grabbing their little
hinies?

"Jim Carlock" wrote in message
om...
What exactly does pinching basil mean? I know what a pinch
is, meaning to compress painfully, or a small amount.

Someone told me to pinch basil. And the only thing that comes
to mind is to pinch and twist but what exactly is pinch ? Online
references mention to pinch basil, but I can't find a detailed
definition on what it exactly means.

Thanks in advance.

--
Jim Carlock
Post replies to the newsgroup.

Why didn't you ask "someone" what it meant at the time they said it?

"Pinching" is removing the terminal growing point of the plant so that it
will branch. Its cutting the plant back by hand.

What did you think it meant? Stealing plants or grabbing their little
hinies?

"Jim Carlock" wrote in message
om...
What exactly does pinching basil mean? I know what a pinch
is, meaning to compress painfully, or a small amount.

Someone told me to pinch basil. And the only thing that comes
to mind is to pinch and twist but what exactly is pinch ? Online
references mention to pinch basil, but I can't find a detailed
definition on what it exactly means.

Thanks in advance.

--
Jim Carlock
Post replies to the newsgroup.

I gave the guy my best stupid look and he asked me back if I
knew what he was talking about, I indicated "I don't have a
clue"...

He showed me what the pinch was, but I didn't understand
what was going on. He indicated that pinching the plant makes
it grow more leaves. From the reply of folks, cutting leaves
makes more leaves, and pinching the tops is just to nip the
flowers and in doing so keep the basil from dying. If the basil
doesn't die, it'll obviously produce more leaves. :-) More
leaves is relative. If something else can be done to produce
more leaves, is "more leaves" "more leaves"? Which "more
leaves" is really "more leaves"?

It's always good to get more than one opinion. With that I'll
make like a tree and leave. Thanks.

--
Jim Carlock
Post replies to the newsgroup.

"Cereus-validus" wrote:
Why didn't you ask "someone" what it meant at the time they said it?

"Pinching" is removing the terminal growing point of the plant so that it
will branch. Its cutting the plant back by hand.

What did you think it meant? Stealing plants or grabbing their little
hinies?

"Jim Carlock" wrote:
What exactly does pinching basil mean? I know what a pinch
is, meaning to compress painfully, or a small amount.

Someone told me to pinch basil. And the only thing that comes
to mind is to pinch and twist but what exactly is pinch ? Online
references mention to pinch basil, but I can't find a detailed
definition on what it exactly means.

Thanks in advance.

--
Jim Carlock
Post replies to the newsgroup.

You still haven't gotten it.

You are not cutting leaves, you are removing the apical growing point on the
stem.

"Pinching" or cutting back the stems cause the plant to grow more branches.
The branches have the leaves on them.

You are also confusing opinion with fact.



"Jim Carlock" wrote in message
...
I gave the guy my best stupid look and he asked me back if I
knew what he was talking about, I indicated "I don't have a
clue"...

He showed me what the pinch was, but I didn't understand
what was going on. He indicated that pinching the plant makes
it grow more leaves. From the reply of folks, cutting leaves
makes more leaves, and pinching the tops is just to nip the
flowers and in doing so keep the basil from dying. If the basil
doesn't die, it'll obviously produce more leaves. :-) More
leaves is relative. If something else can be done to produce
more leaves, is "more leaves" "more leaves"? Which "more
leaves" is really "more leaves"?

It's always good to get more than one opinion. With that I'll
make like a tree and leave. Thanks.

--
Jim Carlock
Post replies to the newsgroup.

"Cereus-validus" wrote:
Why didn't you ask "someone" what it meant at the time they said it?

"Pinching" is removing the terminal growing point of the plant so that it
will branch. Its cutting the plant back by hand.

What did you think it meant? Stealing plants or grabbing their little
hinies?

"Jim Carlock" wrote:
What exactly does pinching basil mean? I know what a pinch
is, meaning to compress painfully, or a small amount.

Someone told me to pinch basil. And the only thing that comes
to mind is to pinch and twist but what exactly is pinch ? Online
references mention to pinch basil, but I can't find a detailed
definition on what it exactly means.

Thanks in advance.

--
Jim Carlock
Post replies to the newsgroup.

Ahh, gotcha!

I can see where that happened with an orange tree that
was chopped down. The stump has grown a bunch of new
branches. They are all growing straight up from the stump
that was left. They are bearing a few fruit this year.

Would that work corn as well? :-) I have a bunch of corn
stalks growing outside that are all turning brown. I'm sure
the squirrels or rats or possum in the neighborhood would
love to see some more corn on them. Under the brown
wrapper they are still alive. But they are getting weaker and
weaker and browner and browner. :-) One of the first I've
planted I tried to pull straight up from the ground, but it's
roots were well dug in. I ended up twisting and breaking
the stem and noticed that it appeared alive on the inside,
had a strong smell of corn in the stem.

Frances got one of the corn stalks today. But that was the
only damage. It was the very first stalk I seeded in May.
One larger tree branch broke and a few small branches
fell.

--
Jim Carlock
Post replies to the newsgroup.

"Cereus-validus" wrote:
You still haven't gotten it.

You are not cutting leaves, you are removing the apical growing
point on the stem.

"Pinching" or cutting back the stems cause the plant to grow more
branches. The branches have the leaves on them.

You are also confusing opinion with fact.



"Jim Carlock" wrote in message
...
I gave the guy my best stupid look and he asked me back if I
knew what he was talking about, I indicated "I don't have a
clue"...

He showed me what the pinch was, but I didn't understand
what was going on. He indicated that pinching the plant makes
it grow more leaves. From the reply of folks, cutting leaves
makes more leaves, and pinching the tops is just to nip the
flowers and in doing so keep the basil from dying. If the basil
doesn't die, it'll obviously produce more leaves. :-) More
leaves is relative. If something else can be done to produce
more leaves, is "more leaves" "more leaves"? Which "more
leaves" is really "more leaves"?

It's always good to get more than one opinion. With that I'll
make like a tree and leave. Thanks.

--
Jim Carlock
Post replies to the newsgroup.

"Cereus-validus" wrote:
Why didn't you ask "someone" what it meant at the time they said it?

"Pinching" is removing the terminal growing point of the plant so that it
will branch. Its cutting the plant back by hand.

What did you think it meant? Stealing plants or grabbing their little
hinies?

"Jim Carlock" wrote:
What exactly does pinching basil mean? I know what a pinch
is, meaning to compress painfully, or a small amount.

Someone told me to pinch basil. And the only thing that comes
to mind is to pinch and twist but what exactly is pinch ? Online
references mention to pinch basil, but I can't find a detailed
definition on what it exactly means.

Thanks in advance.

--
Jim Carlock
Post replies to the newsgroup.

On Sun, 5 Sep 2004 18:10:42 -0400, David Kotschessa
wrote:

On Sun, 5 Sep 2004, Phisherman wrote:

On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 21:30:49 GMT, "Jim Carlock"
wrote:

What exactly does pinching basil mean? I know what a pinch
is, meaning to compress painfully, or a small amount.

It means to prune the end of the growing tip.

I thought maybe this referred to the flowers too no? Mine keeps trying to
flower. I hear that if you allow them to bloom the leaves will become
bitter?

Once basil begins to flower, it puts most of its energy into growing
seed. "Pinching back" refers to removing the emerging flower buds
before this process becomes well advanced. I've never tried to snip
off tips of branches *without* flower buds. It *does* seem to me
that once a bud is left to become a bloom stalk, the basil really gets
the idea that seeds are its goal. If I just pinch off the little bud
cluster, often 2 more form there immediately, so I pinch/snip the stem
with a couple of pair of leaves. This is more likely to make the plant
forget about seeds and put out branches with more leaves for a while.

Speaking of Basil, will it come back every year or do you have to
replant it? Zone 8A..

On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 21:30:49 GMT, "Jim Carlock"
wrote:

What exactly does pinching basil mean? I know what a pinch
is, meaning to compress painfully, or a small amount.

Someone told me to pinch basil. And the only thing that comes
to mind is to pinch and twist but what exactly is pinch ? Online
references mention to pinch basil, but I can't find a detailed
definition on what it exactly means.

Thanks in advance.

Basil is an annual. You do the math!!!



"x-archive:no" wrote in message
...
Speaking of Basil, will it come back every year or do you have to
replant it? Zone 8A..

On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 21:30:49 GMT, "Jim Carlock"
wrote:

What exactly does pinching basil mean? I know what a pinch
is, meaning to compress painfully, or a small amount.

Someone told me to pinch basil. And the only thing that comes
to mind is to pinch and twist but what exactly is pinch ? Online
references mention to pinch basil, but I can't find a detailed
definition on what it exactly means.

Thanks in advance.

Pinch in this context means to pinch off some small parts, pinch them with
your fingernails until they break off. I don't know which part you are
supposed to pinch off. You would pinch off leaves in order to use them or
flowers to keep the plant growing.

"x-archive:no" wrote in message
...
Speaking of Basil, will it come back every year or do you have to
replant it? Zone 8A..

On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 21:30:49 GMT, "Jim Carlock"
wrote:

What exactly does pinching basil mean? I know what a pinch
is, meaning to compress painfully, or a small amount.

Someone told me to pinch basil. And the only thing that comes
to mind is to pinch and twist but what exactly is pinch ? Online
references mention to pinch basil, but I can't find a detailed
definition on what it exactly means.

Thanks in advance.