Basil question

blue_elle

I was terrible with my basil the last month and let it flower like crazy. I know there's people on both sides of the camp on whether flowering makes for bitter basil, buti f I cut the plant way way back will the new growth be good or does the flowering forever affect the plant?

CollegeGrrl219

You have nothing to lose by hacking it down.

First of all, I've gotten a few flowers on mine. Not as much as you describe, but the new growth still tasted yummy. The older stems are not quite the same though. The old stems are woody and the leaves are kind of yellow. 

The nice thing about basil though, is the more you cut it, the more it grows.

kylara111

CollegeGrrl219:

You have nothing to lose by hacking it down.

First of all, I've gotten a few flowers on mine. Not as much as you describe, but the new growth still tasted yummy. The older stems are not quite the same though. The old stems are woody and the leaves are kind of yellow. 

The nice thing about basil though, is the more you cut it, the more it grows.

I agree with this.  The flowers aren't an issue for me.  I usually just pick them off when I see them.  The woody stems are more of an issue.  Until it starts cooling off outside, I just keep cutting it down and it grows back fast.