basil developing roots in a glass of water

Hello Everyone

I am growing basil for the first time. I picked a few sprigs several weeks ago and put them in a glass of water. They sent out roots and held up wonderfully for weeks. When I ate them weeks later, they were as fresh as the day I picked them. I was delighted with this! However, the next batch I picked wilted the by the end of the following day even though their stem ends were well submerged in water. And they never sent out roots. What would account for this difference?

Thank you

I've had mixed results, too.

With cut flowers, I've always made sure to make fresh cuts on the ends of the stems if they've been sitting out for any length of time. I read something about the stem callusing over and being unable to 'drink' water as effectively. Maybe with our basil, the time between cutting and sticking in a vase is to blame. I imagine temperature, humidity, and age of the plant could affect the stem, too.

Following in case someone has good advice! :)

(Edit: typo)

This might have had something to do with where you made the cut.

did you cut about 1/4 inch below a leaf nodule for the second cutting?

Anne Miller wrote:did you cut about 1/4 inch below a leaf nodule for the second cutting?

I do not recall and I no longer have the sprigs to verify. However, I did not know that where the cut is made in relationship to the leaf nodes was linked to root growth. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I did a quick search online and it seems that cutting right around the leaf node is a good place for encouraging root growth. Is that accurate?

Aaron Pate wrote:Maybe with our basil, the time between cutting and sticking in a vase is to blame. I imagine temperature, humidity, and age of the plant could affect the stem, too.

The last set of cuttings were in water within less than half an hour. However, it may require an even shorter time interval. The plant is definitely older and some of the leaves are starting to develop black spots, so it's not as healthy as it was. But I will try making cuttings as Anne is suggesting and see if they will grow roots.