If the recipe book is full of Mediterranean dishes, a single basil plant will no longer cover the need for these aromatic herbal plants. You can find out here how you can easily grow additional specimens through propagation.
How can you successfully propagate basil?
Basil can be easily propagated by collecting and sowing seeds yourself, taking cuttings from existing plants or dividing purchased basil plants. This is an easy way to create additional specimens of the popular culinary herb.
Gathering seeds yourself and sowing them skillfully – this is how it works
If you want to get the seeds yourself, let the basil blossom. After the stems have faded, pick them off. Use your fingers to wipe off the flower-seed mixture over a bowl. It is then sieved until the black seeds remain. Keep the seeds dry and dark until the sowing date. In March/April you do this:
- Fill a seed tray with potting soil or peat sand
- moisten the substrate with a fine spray
- sow the seeds and simply press them on as light germinators, cover the growing container with foil or in
- create a heated mini greenhouse
- Expect germination in a partially shaded window seat at 20-25 degrees Celsius
The cotyledons emerge from the seeds within 1-2 weeks. The foil can now be removed. While the seedlings are kept slightly moist, they quickly reach a height of 5 centimeters. Pricked into a potting soil and sand mixture, the plants are strong enough to be planted out in a bed or pot by mid-May.
Instructions for propagation by cuttings
Every vital basil has what it takes to become a mother plant for 10, 20 or more new plants. Cut off the desired number of shoot tips at a length of 10 to 15 centimeters. If you make the cut just above the axil of a leaf, the royal herb will sprout again diligently. Follow these steps:
- Remove the leaves from the lower half of the cuttings and place them in a glass of water
- let it root in a partially shaded, warm place
- The process is complete when the root strands are 4-5 centimeters long
- fill a large pot with potting soil and sand, perlite or coconut fiber for permeability
Plant one basil at a time up to the bottom pair of leaves and water generously.
Propagate purchased basil by division
Ready-grown basil plants from the supermarket are packed so tightly together in their pots that they die within a week. Smart hobby gardeners make a virtue out of necessity and multiply the royal herb by dividing it. This is how it works:
- Unpot the basil you bought and cut it into four parts with a sharp knife
- plant each segment in its own pot with a mixture of potting soil, compost and sand
Drainage at the bottom of the pot prevents harmful waterlogging. Alternatively, plant the sections directly in the garden bed.
Tips & Tricks
Does the basil from home-grown seeds taste completely different than the mother plant? Then it was one of the numerous varieties. In contrast to wild basil, with seeds of a variety it is always a guessing game as to which properties of the parent plants will prevail. Hobby gardeners who like to experiment can create their own personal variety of basil.
