"Plant propagation is the process of creating new plants from a variety of sources: seeds, cuttings, bulbs and other plant parts."

Wikipedia

Plant propagation always interested me. If people are saying I can eat my veg and grow more from the same veg I'm down for figuring it out. As with most things sometimes we just have to take the plunge and see how we go, so I did and experimented with my new Basil plant.

Basil

Is one of my key plants in the garden not only for its pest control contribution but it's also an important part of my pasta sauce.

Good bye dried store bought basil.

Prior to this I thought there was only one type of basil and that's the one I see at the shop, until we bought the first basil plant which was Greek Basil.

I kept waiting for the leaves to grow into the shape I'm used to but it never did. Instead it seemed to always be under attack. Out of the six I started with I'm left with one plant hanging on for dear life.

As soon as I saw them slowly dying I knew I had to get another plant and from that plant I'll try to grow more.

March 14 2018

~ Start of basil propagation

I cut two stems from the Basil plant and left the ends in water.

March 19 2018

~ Roots!

5 days later roots have emerged. I changed the water 3 times in the 5 day period.

My propagating confidence bolstered by the appearance of roots on my basil cuttings I decided to do more.

Carrots

Because I wanted to experiment with re-growing veggies, I made sure to buy organic carrots as that's what everyone recommends when re-growing from store bought produce.

On Monday night when I made a stir fry I saved the ends of the carrots instead of throwing them away like I usually do and placed them in water.

March 19 2018

~ Start of carrot propagation

You can see the tops look very dry and I seriously had my doubts but people said to just wait so ok....

Mint, Rosemary and more Basil

Did I tell you guys we found a random mint plant growing by the garden tap?

We found it a while ago and I extracted a section of it and planted it next to Bob but it died.

This time around I opted to take cuttings from this main plant.

I also cut a stem from the Rosemary as well as another from the Basil.

March 20 2018

~ Start of mint, rosemary and basil propagation.

The gang after I cut them. You can see the mint isn't doing too well.

These are all destined to be pest control companions for the veggies. I'll probably place them in front as a shield to try and deter the birds from walking in and eating the leaves.

If this experiment works, that is.

Propagation gang photo shoot

Basil

It's amazing how many more roots came out in just a day and although you can't see it in the photo, there's a tiny little basil leaf growing on top.

The new cutting didn't make it in this photo but it will be in the group shot coming up.

Mint

From looking dead and wilted, it's made a bit of a recovery after being in water for a while. Unlike the basil I did very little research on propagating mint. I just went ahead and cut my samples the same way I did the basil.

Rosemary

Without a doubt this plant will grow to wild proportions if I don't keep an eye on it. You'll see a huge overgrown version of it in my clearing the veggie patch post months ago.

In hindsight I should have kept cuttings from that plant. It was just so huge and grew over so many plants I wanted it gone. But as soon as it was, we missed it so we're starting over again.

Here's everyone

I figured why not chuck some crystals in there just to add to the good vibes and growth.

March 21 2018

Was all about the birds..

If you zoom in you'll see two cockatoos trying to eat the lemons Hubby chucked in the lasagna 😁

Today, March 22 2018

~ Updates.

As you can see I changed things around a bit.

The mint kept falling in the water so I decided to move them next to the carrots and squish the carrots up together.

If I thought 5 days root growth on the basil was quick it was only because I didn't know how fast carrots grow. Check this out.

How cool is that?! 2 days in and I'm already seeing the tops growing back.

The rosemary also made progress.

See the little green nodes on the stem?

The mint also looks like it's got things trying to grow on the stem but it's very hard to tell.

As for the basil..

Still nothing on the new cutting, but if it's like the other two I have 2 to 3 more days of waiting but it looks like the roots on the others have developed nicely over the last few days.

Notes

These are placed by the kitchen window NOT on the windowsill as most people recommend. I just don't have a wide enough space for them.

Yes, I did change the water on all of them today and sometimes I open the window to give them more air (plants need air). I know it may sound silly, but I just think being inside isn't as good as being outside with the fresh air and rain and sun... and the least I can do is open up a window for them.

I also have a Nashi Pear seed in the cupboard I'm scared to look at since it looked hairy last time I put eyes on it.... I might ask Hubby to look later when he gets home.

Overall

So far so good! Everything seems to be going alright and aside from the scary Nashi Pear seed I think all my experiments might work out in the end even though I have a long long way to go.

I saw someone's re-grown basil on YouTube and his plant had an insane root system before he planted it. I've got ages before I get to that stage, but with 3 cuttings I have considered planting the one with the most roots now just to see if it will work.

I just think it'll get more nutrients outside than inside sitting in water. I'll see how I go.

Happy Thursday Everyone!!

🌻 Arly

🍀 All pictures taken on my Samsung Note 8 🍀

Previously in the Black Thumb Chronicles..

Reclaiming our views | Companion and Lasagna Gardening | Hello Lasagna Bag Garden | Permaculture, Food Forests & Tree Guilds | Weekend Gardening Part 1 | Weekend Gardening Part 2 | Weekend Gardening Part 3 | Day 5 | Day 12 | Stage 2 of the lasagna and bursting bag gardens | Perennials vs Annuals | 41 days towards garden glory | Good Bye Bag Garden, Helloooo Veggie Patch! | Rainy Day Photography | Gnome Crazy | Oh, how my garden grows