Free Herb Plants from Kitchen Cuttings
A few weeks ago my daughter grabbed a bunch of fresh basil from QFC so we could make pizza. We used maybe a third of it. The rest sat in a glass of water on the counter, the way you do, and I walked past it on day three and noticed little white roots poking out of the stems. Just stood there staring at it for a second. Then went and grabbed more glasses.
Turns out you can root a surprising number of grocery store herbs just by sticking them in water. Basil, mint, oregano. The ones most likely to cost you $3.99 for a sad little plastic clamshell every single week. Those exact ones.
Which Herbs Actually Work
Basil is the easiest. It roots so fast it’s almost embarrassing. Cut a stem just below a leaf node, strip the bottom leaves so they’re not sitting in water, and set it in a glass on a bright windowsill. You’ll see roots in five to seven days, sometimes faster. My basil cuttings were ready to pot up in under two weeks.
Mint is almost too easy. Mint roots if you look at it wrong. Drop a stem in water and it will root. The harder thing with mint is keeping it contained once you plant it, but that’s a future problem. For now, free mint. Take it.
Oregano takes a little longer than basil but it works. Same method. What I got wrong the first time was using stems that had already started to flower. Younger, greener stems root better. If the stem snaps like a twig, it’s too woody. If it bends a little, you’re good.
What to Look for at the Store
Not every bunch of herbs is going to root. You want fresh stems, not the ones that have been sitting in the cooler long enough to get slimy at the base. The regular grocery store bunches usually work fine. But those little living herb pots they sell near the produce section work even better because the plants are still actively growing.
Either way, you’re spending money on something you were probably going to buy anyway. The cuttings are just a bonus. Which, if you think about it, is pretty much the best kind of free.
The Actual Process (It’s Not Complicated)
Cut a stem about four to six inches long. Snip it just below a node, which is just wherever a leaf attaches to the stem. Pull off any leaves that would end up underwater. Put it in a glass with an inch or two of water. Set it somewhere bright but not in direct afternoon sun, at least while it’s rooting.
Change the water every couple of days. This matters more than it sounds. Stagnant water goes bad and you’ll end up with a rotting stem instead of a rooted one. I skipped this step once. Once was enough.
When the roots are an inch or so long, pot it up into some seed starting mix or whatever you’ve got. Give it a few days to adjust before you start harvesting from it. It’s been through a lot.
April Is the Right Time for This
Here in the Pacific Northwest, April is still kind of a tease. Looks like spring outside but it’s not quite warm enough to put basil in the ground yet. Basil really wants it to be consistently above 50 degrees at night before you even think about it, and we’re not there. So starting cuttings now on a windowsill makes sense. By the time they’re rooted and settled into pots, the weather should actually cooperate.
Mint and oregano are hardier and can handle cooler temps once established, but starting them inside now means they’ll be ahead of the game when you transplant them out in May.
Where to Put Them
A south-facing window is ideal. If you don’t have great light, a cheap LED grow light over a shelf works fine. Herbs don’t need as much light as tomatoes or peppers. They’ll get leggy if it’s too dark, but they’re forgiving.
I keep mine on a little rolling cart near the window in the kitchen. My youngest has already knocked one glass over twice. We have a system now involving a tray and some careful placement of other objects around the glasses. Not elegant. Works though.
The Part That Always Gets Me
A four-pack of herb starts at Swansons or Sky runs something like $4.50 a pot this time of year. A bunch of basil at the grocery store is a couple bucks and gives you dinner plus three or four cuttings. I have a hard time paying nursery prices for something I can basically grow for free from my kitchen scraps.
I’m not going to say it’s a no-brainer. But I’m also not not going to say it.
Anyway. Grab some herbs this week. Use them for cooking. Stick the stems in a glass. Come back to this post in two weeks when you’ve got roots and you’re ready to pot them up. We’ll call it a thyme well spent.
Photo by Marija Zaric on Unsplash
