Remember the
Cinnamon Basil I welcomed to my garden just over a week ago? Although it was brand new to my garden family, it looked tall enough and I was aching to propagate something. So I cut about a 6-inch stem, removed the leaves at the bottom and placed it in a glass of water. I submerged about 2/5 of the stem. After about 3-4 days, it looked like picture 1: it already had small roots! Isn't that cool? The following day, I moved it to one of those plastic seedling containers. Check it out in picture 2. Today, it looks just fine. I was so happy with the result that I took another look at the mother plant. It was still tall! I made another cutting and it's now in a glass of water. By this Sunday, I can probably plant it again. So for those interested in propagation, it's not that hard. I just make sure the mother plant gets enough sun, water and soap solution spray. I also threw in some diluted "
organic fertilizer". I also pick a leaf every now and then just to smell the nice cinnamon scent.
Cinnamon Basil Care
- Moist, but not waterlogged soil
- 6.5 PH soil
- Lots of sun!
- Leave 4 leaves after harvest (you know, like when you decide to make pesto). Harvest anytime. If you don't harvest often and flowers grow, the plant will stop producing
- Keep away from slugs and snails
- Pinch back often. Personally, instead of pinching just to encourage growth, I'd combine the pinching and the propagation cutting.
- Fertilize every 2-3 weeks
Cinnamon Basil Use & Benefits
- Potpourri
- Companion plant of tomatoes
- Repels insects if placed over bowls of food
- Add to food! (towards end of cooking)
- Fights against bacteria
- Basil oil is used as preservative
- Protects cells from environmental pollutants, free radicals and radiation
- Massage oil!
Donner: Inggit ako, I have a feeling my basil is the next one to die. I have an idea... maybe I should send my herbs over and you can give them back to me when they're nice and big for harvesting.
ReplyDeleteHahaha...it's like a plant daycare center
ReplyDeleteDonner: Can't find your blog about propagating basil from a leaf. I tried your method (of taking a leaf and sticking it into soil, is that right?) but it did not thrive, so I placed one into a bottle of water... it has one small root now! Yay! It's amazing to see a root growing out of a small leaf! So I took another one today and put it in the same bottle. Hydroponics rocks! I hope to grow more basil soon! Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDelete