TITLE: Propagating basil
DATE: 2020-10-10
AUTHOR: John L. Godlee
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We have a basil plant in the kitchen, bought from a supermarket.
They always die, but we use a lot of basil in our cooking and I
dislike having to buy a new plant every few weeks. Over time these
store-bought basil plants tend to get leggy and thin out. I looked
around and found a good video on Youtube which demonstrates how to
take cuttings from basil.
[good video on Youtube]:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byoEBdVoVpM
![Original basil plant after
pruning](https://johngodlee.xyz/img_full/basil/pot.jpeg)
The key is to cut just below a stem node, to take advantage of the
lateral meristem tissue found there to promote root growth.
I suspended the cuttings plants in water for two weeks on a
windowsill, but didn't add any rooting hormone or use growth lamps
as the video suggested. After two weeks there was a good amount of
root growth on most of the cuttings, ~2-4 cm. Out of 10 cuttings,
two died, mainly because they weren't suspended properly in the
water and drowned.
![Cuttings growing in
water](https://johngodlee.xyz/img_full/basil/cutting.jpeg)
![Root growth of cutting after two weeks in
water](https://johngodlee.xyz/img_full/basil/roots.jpeg)
Each cutting was planted in its own tin can, with holes punched in
the bottom for drainage. One problem with the store-bought basil
plants is that they group multiple plants together in the same pot
to give the illusion of a lush, full plant. But this overcrowding
promotes the leggy growth and eventual death.
![New cutting in tin
can](https://johngodlee.xyz/img_full/basil/can.jpeg)