Basil is a very simple herb to propagate from a cutting and the cloned plants will grow and thrive as much as the parent plant. Here is a Step-By-Step how to propagate Basil.
Take a small cutting from the mother plant. Cut around 3-5” from the top of the plant where there is vigorous growth. Be sure to pick a cutting that does not have flowers developing.
Remove the lower leaves from the stem of the cutting. About 50% of the cutting should be stem with out any leaves on it.
Place the cutting into a small amount of water. Using a container about the same size as a shot glass works very well.
Wait for the roots develop and become about 50% the length of the cutting. Basil roots fairly quickly using this method, usually around 5-10 days.
Plant the newly rooted cutting into a fertile well drained soil. Slowly acclimate the new basil plant to full sun and care for it as you would a mature basil plant!
Here are some photographs of basil being propagated using a cutting. These pictures are of Cinnamon Basil.
Basil Cutting in Water
Rooted Basil Cutting
Well thats it! How to propagate basil, a simple and fun process! Now get out there and grow some basil!
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Related posts:
- How-to Propagate Bell Peppers
- Basil Propagation Continued
- Allowing Basil to Bolt.
- How To Prevent Basil from Bolting to Seed
- A New Favorite – Cinnamon Basil
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June 11th, 2009 at 2:27 am
I also am a fan of Cinnamon Basil. I use a little different technique, I take the cutting, dip the bottom the stem in rooting hormone and then put it in a peat seed pod by Jiffy. The roots show up quickly!
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June 11th, 2009 at 2:28 am
@Mike
That sounds like a great idea. I will give it a try next time I need to cut my basil down to size!
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August 25th, 2009 at 4:29 am
I did try this, with out the horemone and it worked well. I also put a cutting in some moist soil and it took root there too!
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August 25th, 2009 at 4:26 am
I tried this about 3 weeks ago with 5 cuttings. I didnt expect it to work 100%, but now I have more basil than I know what to do with!
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August 25th, 2009 at 4:28 am
@Randy,
Well the good news is that dried basil is a wonderful herb to have around durring the winter! Learn how to dry it out and enjoy!
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September 10th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Where can you buy Cinnamon Basil?
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September 10th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
@Carolyn,
I bought mine at Home Depot in the spring. I started with just 2 small plants and now I have over 15 of them all producing very well!
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February 18th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
Thanks for this post! I didn’t expect the basil to shoot off roots so profusely! I have fotos on my blog, with a link back to this one, now I have cute little baby basils xox
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