Ahh, I am having horrible success with the basil in tap water technique. It's been about two weeks and so far three cuttings have totally died, and I had to repeatedly snip off the ends of some that were rotting and eventually throw a couple away since they were getting too short. One of them did bust out with loads of roots, but then all of a sudden the root cluster just turned brown and mushy and I had to cut off the end again. I'm taking two more different approaches now, one cutting with straight perlite, another cutting in the normal water, and another two of those in plastic clear bags. I'm gonna see what happens, but I'm honestly surprised at how difficult this is

I discovered what turned out to be a single potted Greek Columnar basil plant in a big tray of Genovese basil at a nursery 3 or 4 years ago. I never had heard of that cultivar at the time, and anyway, it was labeled as Genovese. I bought it just because the leaves did not look like Genovese - a bit more kinky, sort-of - so I assumed it was a sport and I like to give underdogs a chance and see what happens. LOL As it grew and had a markedly different growth habit than Genovese, I did some research on basil cultivars. As fall came on and this plant had become almost a shrub about 3’ tall and yet never had produced even a flower stalk even though I had not been pinching it back, I realized GCBasil was what I had. Since that basil is a perennial that rarely flowers (though I have had some flower for me as the last couple of summers have been long & hot), when it does, those are sterile so it never sets seed. (I am in central OH.) I took a half-dozen or so cuttings from that first plant, and they rooted in a glass of water even easier than holy basil. As an experiment, a couple of winters ago I left one young potted plant (that I'd started from a cutting in late summer) in my SE facing bay window. I wouldn’t say it was the happiest of plants, but it lived and did grow enough for me to use a few leaves now & then. Come warm weather, I put it back outdoors & it adjusted just fine. I have lost count of how many plants since then I have started and shared (and also sold to help fund our Senior Center garden!). Right now, under lights in my basement I have 6 bushy potted plants started from cuttings taken last fall, and recently I struck another 8 from cuttings made from those that were getting so big & bushy! The larger 6 have kept me in fresh basil all winter. :-) CK

This isn't entirely related to tops from hell but any advice would be greatly appreciated! I live in southern China and recently found a basil plant growing at a local agricultural center. They let me dig up a plant and take it home. (A very excting thing as basil is hard to find in China.) So the plant recovered well from the move and started growing quite well. Then a couple of weeks later it started flowering and I cut the stems just below the top leaf node after the flower bud. It continued to grow well and fill out but then recently something has changed. There are small bumps developing on the stalks all the way from the bottom up. At the base of the main stalk the bumps have grown into lots of little mini-root like things. As well the new leaves are turning yellow. Is this normal? I took some clippings a couple of days ago - as I got scared I would lose my one source of fresh basil - and stuck them in water. The bumps are all shooting off into what looks like roots. It's very hot here and extremely humid. I make sure the pot has good ventilation and I water it regularly. Any advice? Should I bring it inside? Thanks!

Hi Robin, Cindee...... I took a few cuttings and gave them a kick start this evening, I better get more going now too. BTW, NO TEASING here, I WILL come through and not leave ya with that empty porn feeling! Who would have thought this basil would be such a HOT HOT item? Just like them bromiliads I guess. Glad my plant is big enough to give up the cuttings.