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.
![Original basil plant after pruning Original basil plant after pruning](/img/basil/pot.png)
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 Cuttings growing in water](/img/basil/cutting.png)
![Root growth of cutting after two weeks in water Root growth of cutting after two weeks in water](/img/basil/roots.png)
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 New cutting in tin can](/img/basil/can.png)