Basil belongs to the mint family. Even though we tend to associate Italy with basil, its origin is presumably a bit further east in India. The fact that basil ended up in warmer areas of the world when it spread, such as the Middle East, Egypt, and the Mediterranean region, tells us that this herb enjoys warmth. The same applies to regrowing.
The essential oil in basil, which is also responsible for its intense flavour, has an anti-inflammatory effect on the body.
Save your money and look after the environment by regrowing basil at home without much effort.
Steps to regrow basil
Find a good location for your basil plant
Basil likes it bright and warm. But please, not too warm, room temperature is good enough. A bright windowsill is the perfect place.
Increased humidity also helps basil plants grow their roots. As an option, you can place plastic wrap or a plastic bag with holes in it over the glass jar to increase humidity and speed up the process.
Prepare your basil cuttings
The first thing you need is fresh basil, whether you get it from the supermarket, or a friend’s garden, it doesn’t matter.
Herbs are your best bet for rooting cuttings in water. Stem cuttings include a 6-8 cm piece of stem with the growing tip still intact at the top, a few sets of leaves, and a few centimetres of stem at the bottom of the cutting. If you are taking cuttings from your garden, spring and early summer are ideal, as there will be lots of fresh, young growth.
Prepare the cuttings by removing any of the leaves from the bottom of the stem, because they will be underwater in the glass jar. Just pinch off the leaves.
Fill a glass jar with room-temperature water. Make sure the jar and scissors are clean, we don’t want to introduce bacteria or fungi that could cause the cuttings to rot.
Hold the cuttings under running water and snip off the bottoms so they have a fresh cut. Place them in the jar. Change the water every few days to keep it fresh and free from bacteria.
Plant your basil
After two to three weeks, the roots of your basil cuttings should have grown significantly. Now you can plant them in a small container filled with soil. The roots should be completely covered by soil.
Make sure to water it regularly. Dry air causes the basil leaves to hang and stress the plant. Slowly it will begin to grow more and more leaves.
Harvesting and use
Harvesting your regrown basil is very simple: carefully pluck off the individual leaves. If the plant is a bit bigger, you might want to harvest a whole stem. However, a few leaves should always remain at the bottom of the plant. This will give the basil the strength to continue to grow more leaves.
Basil has a strong, aromatic fragrance and flavour. Eaten both raw and cooked, its leaves are great in salads, pasta and other dishes.
Enjoy your regrown basil with your loved ones, you can now prepare lots of different recipes. Nothing beats the flavour of home-grown food.
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