Perpetual Pesto: Grow a Never-Ending Supply of Basil

You can never have enough fresh basil, right?! Bung some leaves into a blender, add some pine nuts, a little hard cheese, and a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil and whizz it all up to make a pesto that’s perfect with pasta or as a coating for baked fish. Divine!

So how amazing would it be if you could buy basil once, and from that plant grow yourself an endless supply? Well, you can!

How to Take Basil Cuttings

Basil cuttings are simplicity itself to take – you don’t even need any potting compost, just a cup, some water, and of course some basil. You can take cuttings from basil plants you bought in the garden centre or supermarket, or even from store-bought packets of basil.

When taking cuttings from plants, look for nice, healthy stems, and avoid any that are in flower or about to flower because these won’t root well and they will grow very slowly. The ideal cutting is 3-6 in (8-15cm) tall. Cut below a node (where the leaves emerge from the stem), using sharp scissors, pruners or a knife to give a neat cut. It’s important to slice cleanly through the stem rather than crushing it with a blunt tool.

Our next job is to snip off some of these leaves. Because new cuttings don’t have any roots to take up water yet, it’s important to reduce how much moisture is lost through evaporation from the leaves, which means removing some of them. Leave a few at the top so the plant can still absorb energy from sunlight.

Your cuttings can now go into a cup filled with water so that just the remaining leaves are above the waterline. Put them onto a bright, sunny windowsill, where they should produce their very first roots in a matter of days. Keep the water topped up, and change it out if it gets cloudy to keep it nice and clean.

It might be reasonable to assume that taking cuttings from a plant could weaken it, but in fact the opposite is true. When we cut a main stem back to take our cutting, we encourage the plant to bounce back stronger by bushing out, creating a stockier, healthier plant that will, in fact, last even longer and yield even more tasty leaves. Nice!

Caring For Your Basil Cuttings

I like to grow my rooted cuttings on in small pots or plugs before transplanting them into the ground or bigger containers. They’re still fragile at this stage, so it’s worth mollycoddling them for a few weeks.

I use a mult-purpose potting compost with a little perlite added to keep the mix nice and light. You could skip the perlite, but I reckon it’s worth including if you have it as it will aid drainage, which these warmth-loving, Mediterranean herbs love.

Part-fill the pot with your potting mix, then hold the cutting in one hand – carefully, by the leaves to avoid accidentally crushing the delicate stem – as you fill to the top with the other hand. Lightly firm the cutting in, and give it a good drink. Keep your young basil plants in a warm, sunny place and don’t let them dry out, especially early on, to help keep those roots growing strongly. They’ll quickly put on fresh growth.

Within another month or so you can begin harvesting, cutting off sections to enjoy in your cooking, while at the same time encouraging your plants to bush out and produce even more shoots for harvesting later. And, of course, you’ll also be able to take more cuttings to keep this glorious cycle going on, and on… and on!

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