Why Does My Basil Plant Have Flowers
Welcome to this post about why your basil plant is suddenly starting to develop flowers. The biggest reason for this happening is because it’s not getting pruned on the regular. That is when you quickly pick off new small flower buds developing, or just cutting off stems. What we often recommend doing is cutting and trimming the basil plant about every other week during the summer season when it’s growing the most rapidly. This will give you more basil leaves to enjoy. Follow along and we´ll give you a few more tips.
Perhaps you are having issues with your basil because it’s producing a woody stem. We have written an article explaining a lot of the stuff behind this happening. You can find it here, Basil With A Woody Stem.
Why Does My Basil Plant Have Flowers
Just like we said in the beginning of this article, the main reason for your basil developing flowers is because it’s not getting pruned enough. That is the process of cutting of stems and small flower buds developing every other week or so. This keeps the plant in check and makes it continue growing and producing leaves. Since basil is a culinary herb that only grows for a year. We need to make the most of that year. Practicing these techniques will greatly help increases the possible harvest.
It can start developing flowers pretty early in the season actually so this is something you need to watch out for. Since it will redirect all its energy into the flowers, you will see less new growth. But even after it’s done flowering and getting pollinated it will continue using its energy to produce the seeds. Basil is a easy growing herb so if you let if go on like this you will find basil popping up everywhere and anywhere in your garden the next year.
Is Basil Still Good After It Flowers
One of the biggest downsides of basil going to flower is that it will taste less. It will be a lot milder and it might even go over to tasting bitter instead. But the biggest pro of letting it flower is that all the bees will have even a larger source of pollen to feed on. This will further benefit the ecology in your garden. Without the bees you will not have a functioning garden. It’s that simple really, they can make or break it so keeping them happy and thriving is very important. The flowers are also very delicious on their own and can be enjoyed on a summer salad or in tea.
I want to reiterate again on what we have been talking about in this article here. The biggest reason for basil starting to develop flowers is because it’s not getting cut down or pruned enough during the season. It’s a fast growing herb so if you forget about it for just a couple of weeks you might find white or purple flowers coming out. Just make sure you harvest it every now and again. 2 weeks in between is often a good schedule to keep.
If you are having problems with your basil plants being inflicted by either fungal disease or insect ones then we have an article that talks about preventing that. You can find it right here, White Spots On Basil Plant.
