In article ,
Dan Musicant ) wrote:

June to December I have all the basil I could want, planted in pots in
the back yard. When that dies from the cold, I buy bunches for a buck or
$1.20 for organic and wash and trim the stems a 1/2 inch and put in a
glass with water. If reasonably fresh when bought the basil keeps in the
kitchen for weeks, maybe over a month if I don't use a whole lot of it.
However, the basil starts to look not so hardy after a couple of weeks.
The leaves shrink. Is there something I can do to keep it happier? Maybe
add something to the water? Obviously, I don't want anything drawn up
into the leaves that I don't want to ingest.

Dan

PS When it's warm enough in the kitchen, the store bought basil sends
out roots and I have more than once successfully planted these in my
backyard pots. More often, I start the outside plants from seeds.

Keep the tip of the bases of the stems trimmed every few days. Seems to
help with fresh flowers...
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Peace! Om

"Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once." -- Anonymous