Transplant to Hydroponic? My garden is a disaster but I would like

[Paper Roses]

to try and pull 2 Basil plants that are growing in another part of my yard.I use this herb a lot and would like to try and keep these in a glass jar.
Do I pull them with dirt, shake off dirt, cut off at roots? Any ideas how I cam save these two plants? The ones in the garden are already kaput. In fact, the whole garden is.
These two basil plants were tucked in with some flowers in another area and look great.
Advice is appreciated!

[Denninmi]

1. I've rooted basil cuttings in water before.

Just take cuttings about 6-8 inches long, pull off any leaves below the water line, put them in a container and set it where they get bright light. Change the water often enough to keep it fresh. They root in about 10 days - 2 weeks.

As far as doing the whole plant, I don't know if it would work or not, but you could dig it, wash the roots very clean, cut back the top to compensate, and see what happens.

[beac]

2. Lose the roots and put cuttings in water (removing all leaves below water line as

Den said above.) Change water at least every three days-- it gets 'slimy' fast. At some point you will probably need to cut off the bottoms abd water roots and start the process over (at least, that's been my experience w/basil growing in water.

Also, my water-growing basil grows MUCH slower than the stuff in soil outside, so I wouldn't expect to be making pesto unless you have many jars going at once. But you should get enough for garnishing/cooking/etc.