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)