Basil Seeds

NatureWalker New York & Terrell, TX(Zone 8b) Sep 07, 2004

How do I know when to harvest the seeds if the tops keep staying green?
I've seen the white flowers come and go, but the seed heads keep staying green.
This basil is really abundant, and I want to save some of the seeds.
Can any one tell me?

New to growing my own herbs,
Robin

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cinemike CREZIERES, France(Zone 8a) Sep 07, 2004

There may be a quicker way, but eventually the plant will die, as it is an annual. Then you can be sure that the seed is ripe.

Post #1037794

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salvia_lover Modi'in, Israel Sep 07, 2004

Hey, I didn't have to save ANY seeds from my 3 basil plants last year. It just spilled seeds all over the place by itself last year and this year (without my having to sow a single seed) I've had (and I am NOT exaggerating LOL), at LEAST 1000 baby basil plants sprout throughout the summer. I let some of them grow tall, but many of them I gave away, used in cooking when they were only less than 12 inches tall (and therefore all the leaves were still new and sweet rather than old and bitter), and many I just threw away to try to make room for those I kept. At the moment I have about 100 baby basils anywhere from 1-25 centimeters tall growing happily beside the 6 older ones I allowed to grow tall this year (I let far more than that grow tall, but most have since been lifted, sauced, thrown away, whatever, to make room for smaller more tasty babies. :-)

-Julie

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