How long to keep herbs for? Thai Basil for examplw

So how long should a Basil plant be grown for? From what I’ve read they say to grow it as annual so replant every year right? Or u can prune off flowers to keep it from going to seed

it’s just a matter of preference I guess.. either
you can either grow it and once it starts flowering just harvest the plant or keep pruning off flowers to extend its life ..

I have a Thai Basil plant tht keeps flowering within week or 2 from pruning off flowers , would you suggest just to harvest the plant and start more in the spring since it’s winter here in Los Angeles. It’s getting pretty cold too so tht should be another reason to just harvest it and start from scratch

So I’m thinking of just harvesting the entire plant since it keeps flowering fast and the winter weather or would u say just to keep pruning it and hope it makes it thru the winter?

southbayLA154 said:

..prune off flowers...

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this or plant/grow new varieties?

BarnBuster said:

this or plant/grow new varieties?

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So I was pruning the flowers right below it but this time I went even lower basically chops off the top 1/3 of the Basil plant cause I believe there was a lot of flowering hormones at top so I just gave it a haircut ..

For sage should I be topping/pruning during the winter ? Im in Los Angeles so im not sure if it’ll be to cold and affect new growth

Basil plants get woody after a while. The flavor isn’t as good once you’ve topped it enough.
It’s so easy to grow I just plant new.

I don’t cut the sage back hard until spring.
I use it sparingly so just a snip here or there in winter.

BarnBuster said:

this or plant/grow new varieties?

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These have been pruned prior to winter:

these have not been pruned , for the Basil I will prune off the flowers even if it’s winteror else it’ll seed..

For oregano and the sage do I wait till spring or last frost date to prune/top ? I’m worried new growth will be affected by the cold weather..

Ps. I will be moving the sage plants into there own pots from the grow bag which is 1 grow bag with 4squares each square is 1 square foot and I got about 3 sage plants in 1square at the moment so I will repot them soon

Oh, they’re babies.
Just let ‘em grow.
You can cut them back in Spring.
I have a wine barrel of oregano, rosemary and thyme that stands through the Oregon winter.
Usually trim in April.
Then they take off for the Summer.

drsaltzman said:

Oh, they’re babies.
Just let ‘em grow.
You can cut them back in Spring.
I have a wine barrel of oregano, rosemary and thyme that stands through the Oregon winter.
Usually trim in April.
Then they take off for the Summer.

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alright got it , so no pruning or topping the sage, oregano etc.. unless there starting toflower correct? And go ahead and take care of tht in the spring. Thanks for the input