On Mon, 10 Mar 2003 14:55:09 +0000, Mark wrote:

I'd like to try purchasing a supermarket Basil plant and growing more from
some cuttings. Being a complete beginner to gardening, I'm not really sure

Hi Mark,

I grew basil for the first time last year and it was great - with certain
constraints.

First off - supermarket basil - this is OK but very cramped in its pot.
Secondly - you don't grow more basil from cuttings - its not one of those
plants.

So if you want to go the supermarket basil route, get a the freshest
healthiest pot you can find, take it home, knock the plant out of the pot
gently, break up the root ball into say, 4 sections very gently, and
re-pot into four pots, and place on a warm sunny windowsill. Eat! If you
keep picching out the tops, rather than cropping it to the soil, it will
re-grow giving you more basil for your money.

An easy alternative is to fill some pots with compost (normal stuff,
doesn't need to be 'potting'), buy a packet of basil seeds from the
supermarket, and following the directions, sow them in you pots, water,
and hey presto (in a month or so) you have basil. Repeat sowings every
month or so will ensure lots of basil right through to autumn.

A more difficult alternative is basil outside in the gound - I
experimented with this and reverted to the warm windowsill! OUtside for
me, the basil got slugged and too cold.

Other herbs are also easy, and some of them you can propogate by cuttings
- e.g. sage and rosemary.

HTH,

Sarah