It’s a great day when you get to work with people you like and admire and today is one of those days! Steve Asbell from The Rainforest Garden is an amazingly talented illustrator so when he asked if I’d be interested in collaborating on an DIY post I jumped at the chance. To see more of Steve’s work check out his illustrations board on Pinterest.
In early summer I find myself opening a package of fresh basil and thinking that I wish my garden basil was ready. It seems so pricey to spent $2-$3 on a few sprigs of what grows into shrubs in August. Never one to waste leftovers, I always snip cuttings from the store bought stuff to propagate my home crop. In the end it makes the dollars spent well worth it as those sprigs turn into bushes of basil destined for winter pesto and, dare I say, basil ice cream (it’s delicious!).
I took a few photos of the process while Steve illustrated the header and created this easy three-step tutorial.
How to Grow Your Own Basil from Cuttings: 1. Snip the top of a basil stem with 4 sets of leaves growing then remove the 2 bottom sets of leaves from the stem. 2. Place the stem into a mason jar or shot glass of water and set in a sunny location. 3. When roots are visible transfer into a pot of soil and keep well watered while the cutting is establishing.
Check out this tutorial and more over at The Rainforest Garden. Steve has lots of cool projects like how to make a DIY Beach Terrarium and how to Make a Rainforest Drop.
Thanks for visiting!
A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.
Get out of here!! You can grow basil from cuttings? How did I live so long without knowing this? I am always champing at the bit to have basil every spring, and stand, tapping my foot next to my basil plants, encouraging them to grow faster. I am going to try this this afternoon. I’m already at the point where I’m pinching off blossoms, so I’ll just pinch off a bit more. Great tip, and fun illustrations.
Ha ha! Pattie, so glad that you found something useful. :)
This is a great idea and I would copy it except I plant all my basil from seed and in our short I mean non existent summer (especially this year) it never grows into a bush only a basil spike and I have to harvest it by mid August before the frost kills it. …. Oh to live in a place where basil grows into a bush. :)
I just discovered your site on Pinterest. Thank you for the great ideas! I was wondering if this can be done with cilantro as well? My basil is doing ok, but I’m getting very impatient with my cilantro and would love to get a headstart on growing more this year. Thank you!
Hi Shari, I haven’t tried it but it certainly seems possible. If you try it, please let us know how it turns out. I may just start this experiment myself.