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In the summer, when I cut my own basil, I keep it in a vase of water on my kitchen counter. It will keep there indefinitely, sending out roots eventually. This time of year, if all I can find is the cut basil in the supermarket, I have the worst luck keeping it fresh for more than 24 hrs. I've tried cutting the stems and putting it in water and that doesn't seem to work. just keeping it in a plastic bag in the refridgerator isn't very good either. Anyone have any luck at this?
I do what you do...throw the cuttings in water. I do find if the basil has been refrigerated, it doesn't do well outside of the refrigerator afterwards.
that may be it. I'm actually having ok luck with a bunch right now. It was really wilted, and now it has perked up a little. So maybe in the past they were refridgerated by the grocery store. I got this bunch at Whole Foods
thanks, actually, the bunch I bought the day I posted the first entry is still looking fine 11 days later, just sitting in a glass of water on my kitchen counter. But they looked very wilted for over 24 hours. Maybe I just never gave them enough time to come back to life before.
They sell living basil at the stores here. Comes in a bag with it's on root system. I also recently read that basil is suppose to be easy to grow from seed inside during the winter. Haven't tried it yet but have been thing about it.
Basil is extremely sensitive to low temperatures, so keeping it in the referigerator will certainly shorten its life.
It is VERY easy to grow. Just sprinkle a few seeds across the top of a pot of MG-potting mix, cover lightly with more soil, and keep well watered. It does like warm temperatures, so wait until your outside temps are above 70F before sowing.
