Can you plant basil that you bought @ Whole Foods?
I bought a bunch of basil and put the left over in a vase with water.
I cut the stalks, put it in my kitchen window and change water daily.
I now have a lot of roots. Does anyone have a green thumb?
(I do not!) Could it be potted? If so, what should I do.
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8 Comments:
I say take up to half of your newly-rooted plantettes, and gently plant them in a very loose soil or vermiculite mix. (In my area - upstate NY - you can get 25-lb bags of a soil mix specifically designed for transplanting veggies.) Then use a very weak solution made from a good liquid fertilizer that's made specifically for vegetables (e.g., food-grade-certified). You may find that all of the leaves except those at the crown, wither and die as the plant adapts to soil. If those take the transfer well, do the same thing with the other pieces. If not, try some variations. Just don't attempt to use a "rooting" powder - I've never seen any that were certified for food-producing plants.
Good luck!
Robbo at 10:47PM on 09/11/08
Yes, you can pot it. Might grow, might not. I've had mixed sucess with rooting plants in water and the planting them. Problem is that the roots have adapted to being submerged in water, and growing in dirt is a different thing. However, if you plant them and keep the dirt soaking wet, it'll just rot.
Best bet, after you plant it, is to keep the soil moist, but not soaking wet. If the plant gets wilted, cover it loosely with a plastic bag. It should recover. Keep the plastic on it, but keep tearing at the bag a little at a time, every day, until it's pretty much uncovered and the plant isn't wilted. If you uncover too much and it wilts, just close up the holes a bit. It shouldn't take long before the plant either takes root in the soil and starts growing, or it dies off.
dbcurrie at 10:55PM on 09/11/08
I have had basil from Vietmanese Pho places grow in water till they root and flower but never made it to the transplant process. Thanks for the question and answers, now I can try moving it to the right soil and se what happens.
pjracz10 at 11:09PM on 09/11/08
Plant it in my pot outside, where my now shriveled basil and oregano plants lie.
School came up and I got busy....I'm no vicious plant murderer. Just a careless one. The decorative plant inside still survives.
feriorrenna at 11:16PM on 09/11/08
You can plant anything you can get to root. My BF gave his mother flowers with those spindly decorative wooden stalks - and his dad got them to root! But this is a guy who plants a toothpick and gets an oak tree.
The loose-soil logic is very sound so go ahead and plant away! It's nice to have a basil plant off which to pluck leaves at a moment's notice.
chiff0nade at 4:51AM on 09/12/08
I've had great success planting all herbs, etc. that I buy at the local Stop n Shop. Also, I've started several basil plants buy soaking clippings until they sprout roots and then transplanting into fresh soil. It's very easy.
Boscompb at 3:01PM on 09/12/08
Great news, and wondrful tips thanks everyone. Stacey
stacemace at 3:32PM on 09/12/08
how about just buying some seeds?
rooney at 4:17PM on 09/12/08