Basil and Cilantro - Best way to care?

Plants and care
1

Hi all,
What is the best standard way to grow and consume basil and cilantro?

Is there like “peak time to harvest” vs. “harvest from outer” etc – I know that with basil, I’m supposed to remove flowering from above, but it feels like the basil gets “glossy” leaves after it reaches peak height in my click and grow. My cilantro doesn’t seem to last much further than the first harvest.

2

For basil I would start pinching off tips after the first 2 pairs of true leaves. This way it gets bushier and lasts much longer.

3

What do you mean by “pinching the tips” - is that the same thing as harvesting a basil leaf off at the stem?

4

You can see a video on how to prune basil here: https://support.clickandgrow.com/hc/en-us/articles/216827328-How-to-cut-your-plants-
If you harvest single leaves then the plant may become very sparse. If you follow this pruning technique your plant should last a little longer and be fuller also. Not sure about cilantro thought. @priit do you have any advice on harvesting cilantro?

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5

I’m not a big cilantro fan myself. Maybe @mirjam can give better advice.

6

I personally would harvest the whole pod at once, at 1 or 2 months of age. After that it definitely ages and changes taste. C&G cilantro is meant to use as fresh leaves (not seeds).
OR harvest outer larger leaves as single leaves first and then let it grow more. Just be careful not to hurt/cut of the growing point- only then it will produce more leaves.

7

Yeah, harvesting basil and cilantro is totally different. Cut back your basil as it is shown on the video below. Don’t be afraid to cut it back strongly- basil likes to be cut. Just leave one or two pairs of true leaves. But, always keep in mind that all pods have “best date”. In means that Basil pod is viable about 3 mnths (info on homepage). But may last a bit longer, depending on your indoor conditions (e.g. temp).

Cilantro is different from Basil, it does not have a strong stem and it only grows leaves from the center. It is like Dill, just remove single leaves when the plant is young or harvest the whole pod before it starts to bolt (grows a flowering stem).

Do you have basil in cilantro in one garden? Do they share the light nicely?

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