Monday, September 19, 2011

A Sprig of Basil Magically Turns into a Plant!

I promised a photo of the sprig of basil we stuck in a jar of water so you could see the roots it can and does put on in a very short time.     Just before we left on the cruise (Sept. 10th) I put a tiny sprig of basil from our drought weakened basil plant in the yard into a small jar of water.  Note that I did not put anything in the water.  It was just plain tap water.  I sat the jar on the shelf over the kitchen sink.   When we returned in less than a week, the sprig had put on lots of tiny, threadlike roots along the stem.     I snapped a picture of it this morning----just a bit over one week later----and will be placing this into a flower pot in the next day or two.    Looks to me like if I am diligent about making these cuttings into new plants, I might not ever have to buy a basil plant or seeds again!    The plant I bought earlier this summer was about $3.00 or so and the packages of basil at the grocery store are $2.68 - 3.00 for one or two small sprigs...barely enough to make pesto or eat with mozzarella and tomatoes.   Doesn't take much thinking to figure out which is more economical.    Buy the plant and keep making cuttings to keep the whole basil production going??   Or buy basil at the store??   Hmmm, I think I can figure this out.   LOL
                                                              Basil Sprig with Roots

Happy Trails,
Marcia

2 comments:

  1. Well that is good to know. I'm gonna do that too. I was wondering this weekend what am I gonna do when my plant dies. I'll do this and bring it indoors.

    I didn't know you had a blog. I'm so happy to see you in blogland.

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  2. Great idea! Every summer for years I've bought a basil plant and enjoyed tons of basil for the rest of the summer. It never occurred to me to root a cutting.

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