Propagating basil and mint from stems

[belugaleuca]

I recently harvested all my herbs as they got too big for the tank, but instead of starting all from seed again I thought I'd try propagating some of the stems for another round of growth.

I cut a healthy stem from thai and genovese basil and the mint, and put them in a glass of water. After about a week they formed roots and then I put them into the cleaned pods with no sponge.

Theres juts a little collar with a hole (piece of silicone hole-punched in the middle), to block light and help them stay in place.

Surprisingly now the roots have grown and are keeping the plants rather stable-ish even without a sponge!

[belugaleuca]

As a side note, the water is blue because I switched to Miracle Grow fertilizer powder. My original AG nutrient bottle ran out, and it turns out the powder is a looot cheaper (2.99$ at the grocery store for 8 oz bag, which by my estimation can make about 300L of diluted nutrient solution similar enough to the AG recommendation). Only difference is the MG powder has other micronutrients but no Ca or Mg, so I have to keep an eye if I need to add some of that later.

[Sher]

Wonderful! Free plants with a healthy head start on growing already!

[Shawn]

Looks great.  I will be interested in hearing how the MG powder does. Also how much powder to water you use and how many ml (or caps) is equivalent to the AG nutes.

[kanewai]

I've only done a few plants from cuttings, but have had good luck.  For mint and rosemary I didn't even root them first in water, I just stuck the cutting in the sponge.    I also tried a cutting from rau ram, a SE Asian herb, and that also grew well.

I'm keeping an eye out for a French tarragon plant, since that can only be grown from cuttings. 

[bigshot]

This is exciting. I have a Thai market near me with all kinds of interesting herbs. Could I buy something there and root it like this?

[Sher]

bigshot, some herbs root readily. Some are finicky. Try a few and see what happens.

Just be sure to read up on it. Usually most of the leaves are removed, and the longer stems generally root the best.