OK the thai basil has been trimmed. Anyone know of good ideas to do with these? Will they last the winter?






The thai basil has lovely flowers

These are all going in our dining area window, on a steel set of shelves. We'll do our best to keep them alive.

Ohhh! Thai basil!!! So fragrant and delicious!

So many Thai dishes call for this aromatic basil--fresh. It gives certain curries, soups, and sauces a distinctively Thai flavor.

But you can use Thai basil in non-Thai dishes, too, like omelets. You can place leaves in steaming rice (oh, wait. You're low carb!) You can use a mortar and pestle to crush the leaves and add to mayo. Store whole leaves in vegetable oils to infuse with flavor. Add some minced leaves along with sliced scallions and chopped cilantro, olive oil, salt, pepper, and either fresh lime juice or balsamic vinegar for a delicious green salsa reminiscent of chimichurri sauce for meats or roasted vegetables.

The thing is you should harvest the leaves before the flowers appear. Once the plant flowers, the leaves can get a little bitter.

If you're asking what to do with the plant...just be sure to keep it out of the frost or it will not survive the winter! It is a tropical plant that loves warm weather!

Great plant! I agree...

If it were my plant, I'd pinch the flowers off and repot the rest. I'd turn the little guy over and take a look at the roots to see if they're binding (wrapping around eachother).

If there's holes in the bottom of the pot and you water it and the soil runs brown - rust like, there's a good chance it could stand some newer soil. It may have drained all of the nutrients out of the soil it's in.

When a plant is binding or I think it is, I turn it upside down and pry it out of the container and release the roots with my fingers under some water. I may or may not trim the roots but I'll put it in a larger container with some tiny rocks at the bottom of the planter too so the roots have good drainage.

Repot it in like Miracle Grow AT NIGHT so it can recover after surgery, lol and maybe get a plant light or great window sill.

If you pluck leaves before flowering, it sends a message to the plant to produce more leaves. Leaves are how they get their energy, like solar panels.

This is in a container, so we didn't have to repot or anything, we just pruned it and brought it inside. Now the three basil plants are sitting on a shelf by our dining area sliding glass door. So far they seem to be doing OK!

I have three bowls on the kitchen counter, one with each basil's leaves in it - so those leaves are what I'm trying to do something with. Now that we have power again

Here's a photo from the summer when it was outside -

I don't see why it won't keep during the winter as long as you keep your electricity and stay warm