20130112 - 4 months later - Second cutting - Tulsi growing step by step

Hare Krishna,

Its now been four months and since the first cutting Tulsi has grown enough to make the second cutting.

As you can see from the point of last cutoff she has grown two stems that now have 3 fully grown pairs of leaves and another two just starting to grow.
















This is the perfect time for cutting again. With cutting the rule is as follows 1, 2, 3 cut off. You always cut above three fully grown pairs of leaves.

If you didn't have time to cut her and she grows so fast that it has done 5 fully grown sets then cut after the fourth. You have to be sensible and not give her too much pain.

So here it is, on the right you can see I'm holding the third set of leaves above which I will cut the tip and offer it to Krsna.

About to cut it now.

Here she is. The tops are cut off and she will from this point make another branch out.

If you wander why is the rule 1, 2, 3 cut off it's simple.

If you look at the way pairs of leaves grow you will notice that each pair of leaves grows vertical from the previous pair (90 degrees difference).

Making next cut after the 3rd pair will make branch to spread vertically to the previous cut making Tulsi spreading her branches in beautiful symmetrical pattern.

Please note how her stem between the leaves is not perfectly straight. It is because I'm turning her around every day because in house she has light only from the window and at the end of the day her tops are always turned towards window.

If you forget to turn her she will grow only to one side and will be hard to straighten her after some time.

You can fix this only by transplanting her to new pot with adjustment of the soil to make her grow straight again.


Happy Tulsi growing!