The day that I clean up my vegetable garden and pull out the leggy, dead vines of the summer’s delight, is the day that I finally feel that summer has given it’s last Hurrah.  

But….I love my basil and it still looks pretty good.  It has grown all summer to get where it is today.  Bushy, leggy, but still hearty and robust enough to give me pause of what to do with this aromatic herb that still looks so vital and yummy!  I am SO very tempted to dig it out and bring it inside and nurse it along into the colder days of fall and winter. 

But, having tried this in the past, I know the plant probably will not survive long at all.  The dry heat of a winter house and the limited hours of sunshine not to mention the little microbes lying below the surface of the old garden soil will slowly emerge and infest the plant. Oh yick!!!! So the joy of fresh basil throughout the winter has always been a dream that has fallen short for me.  

But….Eureka!! “I have found it” to quote Archimedes.  A friend from out of state recently visited me and offered this solution to my problem.  Just grow more basil from your “mother” plant. 

Here’s what she suggested.   Using your original basil plant, which can be brought inside for a while, take several cuttings maybe 5-6 inches in length and strip off some of the lower leaves to expose a long clean stem.  Insert one or two stems into a glass of water, place in a sunny location and in about 2 weeks hair-like rootlets will appear. 

When the new rootlets are about an inch or more in length, re-pot them in clean potting soil and establish new plants from which you can harvest fresh basil.  Repeat this process over and over again throughout the winter months and you should have a ready supply of fresh basil plants.

I have two cuttings sitting in a glass of water right now.  I am watching and waiting for my 2nd generation plant to be ready to re-pot and grow more Basil.  I’ll let you know if this idea works.  See picture below - Pesto anyone!

Cheers,
Deb (October 2018 Horticultural Newsletter)