Well I could have waited a little longer...but I just do not want to spend days on the garden if we would get bad weather during the time all the kids and grandkids are home. That does not happen very often, that they are all home at the same time. So this year...it was fine with me :-) Besides....I have a Santa Rosa bloom on a cutting going at it in the green room. lol Lucy

Nice idea about the Ball Basil. I may just get some seeds for that one. Meanwhile, I planted my 3 "rooted in water" basil plants directly in damp soil. Didn't add a thing, and they are all growing fine! Then, I immediately went and started 4 new cuttings in water so I can have plenty of basil. I did find that just putting basil stems in water works great for keeping the basil fresh, so it can be used in recipes. Just pluck off leaves as you need, and pick more to root in water! Once you pick the leaves and put them in the fridge, they go black on you. Water keeps them fresh as if they are on the plant still. Evidently things that root easily in water infuse a natural rooting hormone throughout the water, so in the future, I'll dump the "hormone laden water" on some rose and grapevine cuttings I'm rooting outside because I change the water daily anyway. Can't hurt! Suzi

What taxonomist is saying is "he recommends hormodin". I have tried willow water, and it was a flop. I've had mixed success with powdered rooting horomone. My rosemary woody cuttings loved it. I have sped up rooting by putting another cutting in the same water as a plant that had rooted recently in the same water - it did seem to speed up the root formation of the cutting. So I can't say what happens scientifically, but I have had real world results with what you are interested in trying and I can say that it worked for me - I would say go for it! Danny

I'd use a bigger pot than a 4x4, more like a 6x6. If it was a straight rooted cutting, or rooted in soil cutting, I would say 4x4.. but you are using rock wool. If you haven't done cuttings in rock wool to potting before... you want more soil room for the roots and need to kind of count the space taken up by the cube as not-soil. Rock wool does not always transition well into pots either- it's openers for oxygen can cause wicking unless you are careful about covering the top. And also, rock wool can shift PH as it's used, so having the additional soil can help mitigate it a bit. Remember to NOT throw that into your compost bin once the plant is spent. It has to go into the garbage. Rock wool will not break down and will sit in the landfill forever.