starting herbs from cuttings
Someone gave me some thai basil cuttings. Usually, I grow basil from seed and not from cuttings. Should I water root them first and then plant them or just cut them again and root them in perlite. I know water roots are different than soil roots but I have not had luck rooting cuttings that are not minutes old. Day old usually does not work for me.
- rainbowgardener
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- Super Green Thumb
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I root basil when I start up my hydrponics system for the fall/winter, and again for putting them outside, in the spring. I root them in a cloner, so they are water rootings, and I have never had a problem putting them into soil in the spring. And it cuts easily a month off of the time when started from seeds.
I would cut a half inch or so off the end of the stems, since they aren't new. Then, with a very sharp knife, score the stems horizontally about 1/8" apart - I do this on opposite sides, on about an inch of the stem, and these score lines are where the roots show up! I dip them in a cloning gel, and In the cloner I start seeing them in a couple days, and many are ready to transplant in less than a week.
I would cut a half inch or so off the end of the stems, since they aren't new. Then, with a very sharp knife, score the stems horizontally about 1/8" apart - I do this on opposite sides, on about an inch of the stem, and these score lines are where the roots show up! I dip them in a cloning gel, and In the cloner I start seeing them in a couple days, and many are ready to transplant in less than a week.
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- Super Green Thumb
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- Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b