Pruning Basil

 This will be a post-in-progress for a little bit.  I am currently sprouting two basil plants for a pruning comparison, just to show what a difference proper pruning can make.  However, in the meantime, I can show the basil trimming basics.

Before we begin, an important Don't.  Don't pick individual leaves from a basil plant! Your plant requires leaves to produce the sugars and energy it needs from photosynthesis, and since you will be taking the tips, it needs the older leaves left in place.  The exception to this, is if the older leaves are sufficiently large that they are overshading the rest of the foliage; you can remove them in that case, but make sure there is other foliage.  You should never take it down to nothing but stem or only stems and immature buds.  If you are wanting periodic small harvests, just let the tips grow larger than buds before removing them; you can take up to ⅓ of the plant at any one time without trouble, but that doesn't mean it has to be for each branch; so, once you have two branches, you can let them get to 5 or 6 nodes long and then cut down to 2 on one branch if you leave the other intact for a while longer, and so on.

Harvesting Lettuce

 Lettuce is one of the most efficient and rewarding things to grow in hydroponics.  Under good conditions, they usually sprout within about three days; it's actually not unheard of for them to literally sprout overnight.  (Don't be alarmed, though, if it takes a week or two.  There are so many things that can affect how quickly a seed germinates!)  They are ready to begin harvesting just as rapidly, usually starting about a mere 21-24 days after the seeds are started.  It feels like you can literally watch the little plants growing in real time!

But once your baby lettuce is reaching a harvestable size, then what?

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 When it comes to lettuce, there are two primary methods of harvesting: the "haircut" method, where you cut across all, or at least the majority, of leaves at a certain point; and the "leaf at a time" method, where you pick the outside leaves around the plant in a spiral.  Which of the two you use is entirely a personal choice; some swear by one, some the other.  Like most things, both have pros and cons, and so which you choose to employ comes down to your specific garden and goals.  In my personal experience, and reading the experiences of others, this is what I have picked up: