Market Farming

[suzyr AT netos.com (Suzy Roth)]

> > I was talking to an aquaponic grower today who, in a former life grew basil
> > from clones which he selected to provide the shortest internodal length,
> > therefore the best yield.
>
> It's also been suggested to me that even in a raised bed organic 
> garden it makes the most sense to make succession plantings from 
> cuttings, rather than from seeds.

Allan, anything in the mint family like basil will be large and 
marketable faster from cuttings than from seed. I've not produced a 
lot of basil cuttings at one time to plant on a commercial scale. 
It's wonderful to drop a bunch of cuttings into a large vase and 10 
days later you have roots. In my experience potting up the fragile 
water roots can be time consuming so you would have to weigh that 
against putting a seed in the ground or pot and not having to 
carefully transplant cuttings.

Suzy Roth
Thistle Ridge Farm & Gardens
Issaquah, WA