If you want fresh basil year-round, you should definitely learn how to propagate basil at home. It’s much easier than you think and takes up little space.

What We Love About Propagating Your Own Basil

Beginner-friendly: This guide covers every step of the process from start to finish (complete with beautiful visuals) to make it easy for you to follow.
Maximizes yields: Once you learn how to propagate basil yourself, you’ll quickly realize how much basil you can actually harvest from just a few pots.

What You’ll Need

Basil Seeds – Propagating basil from seeds is one way to attain higher yields, especially if you don’t have a mature plant to work with yet.
Basil Stems – Aside from basil seeds, you can also propagate basil using its stems, although this requires a grown plant already.
Quality Soil – It goes without saying that quality soil helps in propagating any plant, so try to find plant soil or rich soil.
Pots – To propagate basil, you’ll need extra pots to transfer the seedlings to.
Jar or Glass – You’ll need a jar or glass to propagate basil from stems.

How to Propagate Basil from Basil Seeds

Take your soil and fill up the pot until it’s ¾ of the way full. Keep it loose; don’t pack it down.
Scatter the basil seeds over the top of the soil. Mist with water.
Add a thin layer of soil over the top of the seeds. Gently press down.
Mist water over the top layer of soil until it’s completely moist. Make sure it’s not too drenched or waterlogged.
Transfer the pot beside a warm window. Otherwise, you can transfer your pot outside where it can get 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight.
Once the seedlings are about 2 inches tall, thin them out. Make sure they are at least 4 inches apart.
The surface of the soil should not feel dry, so water it regularly. Add compost or organic fertilizer every month.

How to Propagate Basil from Basil Stems

Look for a leaf node. Cut the stem ¼ of an inch below it.
Remove any leaves that are about 2 inches from the bottom. You can leave the top leaves.
Transfer the trimmed basil stems to a jar of fresh water. Use clean water.
Let the bottom 2 to 3 inches of the stems soak in the water. Roots should grow in as little as 2 weeks.
Transfer the basil stems to a pot filled with enriched soil. Saturate the soil with water.
The surface of the soil should not feel dry, so water it regularly. Add compost or organic fertilizer every month.

Storing and Freezing Instructions:

To store: Place the basil stems in a jar with water. Cover the basil leaves loosely with a plastic bag and secure it with a rubber band to create a humid environment.
To freeze: Combine the harvested basil leaves and olive oil in ice cube trays. Place the ice cube trays in the freezer until the basil and oil mixture is frozen solid.

How To Propagate Basil

If you want fresh basil year-round, you should definitely learn how to propagate basil at home. It’s much easier than you think and takes up little space.

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Ingredients

From seed:

▢ basil seed
▢ quality soil
▢ pot

From cuttings:

▢ 3-4 inch long basil steams
▢ jar or glass
▢ quality soil
▢ pot

Instructions

From seed:

Fill your pot with good quality soil.
Sprinkle the basil seeds over the soil.
Spray the seeds with water.
Cover the seeds lightly with soil, and gently press it down.
Spritz the pot with enough water to completely moisten the soil.
Place in a warm window with a southern exposure or outside.
Keep in mind that basil requires at least 6-8 hours direct sunlight per day.
Once your seedlings have grown 2 inch tall, thin them out to 4 to 5 inches apart.
Water basil regularly, every other day or as soon as the surface of the soil feels dry.
Fertilize basil in a pot with a little compost or organic fertilizer every month or so.

From cuttings:

Cut the steam ¼ inch below a leaf node.
Remove the leaves off the basil cutting about 2 inches from the end. Place the basil stems in jars of fresh water.
Roots will grow out of the stems in about two weeks.
Plant the basil seedlings in a pot filled with quality soil.
Water well.
Place the pot in a warm window with a southern exposure or outside.
Keep in mind that basil requires at least 6-8 hours direct sunlight per day.  Water basil regularly, every other day or as soon as the surface of the soil feels dry.
Fertilize basil in a pot with a little compost or organic fertilizer every month or so.

Notes

Choose stem cuttings that are healthy with several leaves.
Before transplanting basil seedlings outdoors, gradually expose them to outdoor conditions.
Gently tug on the basil stems to check for resistance, indicating the development of roots.
Removing excess leaves from the lower part of the stem is meant to help with root development.
Maintaining a consistently moist environment is essential for the basil seeds to start sprouting. If it’s not humid enough in your environment, simply cover the top of the pot with a plastic bag.