In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Paul M. Cook wrote:
Planted 3 bunches of basil 22 days ago.

Do you mean cuttings or seedlings?

In the last 48 hours I have
lost one bunch and another has started to die. What appears to
happen is that the roots die and I see about an inch of the plant
stem at the base turn brown and woody. It happens very quickly. What
could be the cause of this?

Where did you plant them, in what conditions, what have done other than
water?

David

If they're in the ground (not pots), I'd suspect Fusarium oxysporum f.
sp. basilicum.

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-125.html

A devastating basil wilt disease caused by a soilborne pathogenic
fungus, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. basilicum, was first discovered in the
U.S. in 1991 and identified in N.C. in 1992. Plants infected with this
disease usually grow normally until they are six to twelve inches tall,
then they become stunted and suddenly wilt.

Initial symptoms usually include brown streaks on the stems,
discoloration of the internal stem tissue, and sudden leaf drop.

Interestingly, only sweet basil is affected. Some of the specialty
basils, such as lemon basil and purple basil, show some resistance to
the disease.
The disease is introduced into fields, hydroponic systems, and
greenhouse culture primarily through contaminated seed. Growers should
only buy basil seed that has been tested for the fusarium wilt fungus.
Currently, these tests involve growing out a large number of seed and
looking for disease symptoms. This does not guarantee that the seed will
be free of infection, but it greatly reduces the risk. If it is not
possible to obtain tested seed, the seed should be soaked in cold water
for four hours followed by a heat treatment of 20 minutes in 133-136
degree F water. Seed germination rates will probably be reduced by the
hot water treatment, so a germination test should be conducted on a
small lot of the treated seed to determine how much seeding rates need
to be adjusted. Also, the hot water treatment causes a sticky layer to
develop on the outer surface of seed making it difficult to handle.
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