Basil

[Frank Woolf]

I found a growing Basil plant in the SM supermarket and planted it in the garden to keep the mosquitos away. I haven't seen any mosquitoes since I planted it so I assume it works.

It grew very big and produced hundreds of seeds so I harvested the seeds and made a 2 feet by 3 feet seed tray to plant them. I heard that basil is very difficult grow form seed but after a couple of weeks there were at least 200 tiny seedlings. I had kept them away from direct sunlight because the seeds were only just under the surface and would get dried out. I also covered the seed tray with an old wire window screen to stop the birds eating the seeds.

The seedlings were getting too tall and skinny so I moved them out into the open and left the wire screen off. The next day it rained hard and most seedlings were wiped out. I now have maybe 30 or so that are healthy.

I also heard that cutting stems and putting them in water makes them grow roots and the original plant was getting too tall and falling over so I chopped of the top 12 inches or so and put them in water. They look good so far with roots appearing.

[Frank Woolf]

The seedlings are getting strong but the cuttings in water are interesting. Of all the cuttings I put in water those with woody stems and a joint in the water grew masses of roots while the green softwood cuttings died.

I just planted those that had lots of roots and took a lot more cuttings from the original plant. This time I cut from only hard wood stems about an inch below a branch joint. It looks like it will be possible to produce a large number of plants quite quickly using this method as established plants do grow and branch out very fast.