Rosemary care
Rosemary officinalis is a member of the mint family and a native of the Mediterranean whose history trails back to 2500 years. The needle like, gray green foliage with antifungal and antibacterial properties has a pungent, resinous smell that was considered a cure for many ailments. A brush against the plant releases fragrant, aromatic oils that invigorate the senses.
A tender perennial shrub, rosemary will not tolerate temperatures lower than 10F. It can winter over on the West coast growing up to 6ft. tall but in Northern climates it can only be grown in a container.
Care
Outdoors: Rosemary tolerates poor soil with good drainage and full sun to light shade.
Indoors: Place it in bright sunny window and keep the soil evenly moist but not waterlogged. Allow the water to drain freely and let it dry between watering. Brown needles indicate over-watering. In the spring around May 1 repot in fresh soil and set it outside. Slowly acclimate it to the outdoors by keeping it in protected semi shade for 1-2 weeks and then set it on a sunny porch or sink the pot into the ground for the summer. To maintain a compact shape, trim up to 1/2 of any leggy winter growth in the spring. Rosemary needs very little fertilizer during the growing season.
Propagation
Seed germination is very slow; therefore propagation from cuttings in the spring is the preferred method. :
To make new plants, take 4-6 cuttings, strip off lower leaves, dip in rooting hormone and insert in soilless mix. Cover the cuttings with a plastic bag (away from direct sun) to increase humidity. Rooting should take 4-6 weeks. Water rooting is another quick way to propagate rosemary. I have found that cuttings placed in colored blue or green glass root faster than clear glass. Rooting started after 2 weeks.
Wintering Rosemary
The dry indoor air is difficult for Rosemary to endure therefore allow the plant to remain outdoors for as long as possible and bring it inside around end of October. Keep it in a cool (45 degrees is ideal) well ventilated room with a south or west sunny location. Water less in the winter keeping it on the dry side. Try not to get the leaves wet and provide good air circulation to avoid powdery mildew. With a little luck it should make it through the winter, if not you can always purchase a new one in the spring.
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Good Evening, I have a question about our Rosemary. It has over wintered outside for the last 2 years. This year it’s all brown and the neddles are falling off, yet the plant itself is not dried up or brittle. Do I need to cut it back ? What do you think I need to do. It’s planted on the south side of our home, so it’s gotten sun all winter. Thanks Becky Wurm
I recently purchased a potted rosemary plant and I was hoping to keep it hanging indoors in my mudroom for two reasons its nice to look at when you first come in and it smells fabulous. Everything that I am reading is telling me that they don’t do well indoors. Do you have to bring them outside in the summer time or is it possible to keep it an indoor plant?
We planted a rosemary when we moved to Alamogordo, NM, 3 years ago. It’s been doing great and is about 30 inches wide and 15 inches tall but we just noticed some white,milky, sticky secretions on some of the stalks. Is this a common occurrence or the sign of a problem? We didn’t notice any kind of insects in these secretions.
Mealy bug
I live in Arizona and have a 2 foot Rosemary plant that is doing very well until recently. It also has the same white spongy spots between the leaves that you describe. I don’t know what mealy bugs are but I do have some beetle like bugs in the yard. Did you find out what this is?
You can email me at dpuppi7@hotmail.com
Thank you.
I bought a potted rosemary and have to keep it indoor (i rent an apartment with no balcony). i notice the tips are turning brown. I only water the plant when the soil feels dry, what do you think might have gone wrong?
thank you!
Hello, I am from Malaysia, I bought a rosemary plant about a foot tall and it’s grown in a clay pot. After 2 weeks I noticed a lot of the leaves turnng black and drop off. I am abit worry. Rosemary plant don’t come easy in Malaysia here. Is it too much or too little water. Please help. Thanks
Hi I’m from Malaysia too and was just thinking about planting rosemary. I would like to know where Jean bought her rosemary plant or perhaps you could tell me where?
Thank you!
Kelly.
I planted a small rosemary in Yuma, AZ a year ago. It went from April to late October, 2008 without water. After watering it has grown rapidly. Can I expect it to continue to grow during the hot summer here without water? Thanks.
I’m come from Malaysia too…
and I’m learning culinary arts
I’ll use a lot of herbs especially Rosemary on my cooking like steak, lamb rack etc.
I found that if i bought herbs everytime when i need it, the cost was high~
so i intend to plant some rosemary at my house…
where can i buy rosemary seeds in Malaysia?
Rosemary turning brown
Hi. I’m in Seattle. 7 out of 9 of our rosemary bushes turned brown over the winter. They were probably planted 5 years ago. Any tips on how to save them or should I did them up and plant something else?
Hi,
I live in North Texas. We have had an unusually wet spring season. We moved into this house in January and a rosemary plant is in the front flower bed. It is very large and looked very healthy. Today, however, we noticed some of the branches look to be dead. We have not noticed them being brown and dry at all. It is a beautiful, fragrant, plant and we don’t want ot loose it. We did just add pine mulch to the flower bed last weekend. Is it too wet or something else? Thanks for any help or suggestions.
Not sure which part of M’sia you guys are in, but, you can buy your rosemary plants in several places. I found mine more often than not in Sungai Buloh. Last week, I found 4 small pots of rosemary in Jaya Jusco 1 Utama, and bought em all.
Best bet is to try Sungai Buloh and Jaya Jusco Midvalley and 1 Utama.
PS. I’m still having problems with my rosemary. Bought so many of em now, and have to keep sending them upwards. Seems that in M’sia, you have to give it lots more tlc.
should rosemary leaves be sprayed with water during the winter while in the house? I don’t water the soil often but I spray the leaves daily
Hi -
I live in Seattle and have three beautiful rosemary plants that I put in my rock garden last Spring. They were doing wonderfully – growing, flowering, etc until about March of this year. Now they have all turned white. I really can’t tell if they are dead or not. Two have a few shoots of green, but only a tiny amount. We did have a very unseasonably cold winter. I’m assuming they are pretty much dead, but I LOVE these plants and don’t want to pull them up if there is any way to save them.
Thanks!
Yellow leaves
My rosemary tree has been doing great up until about a week ago. It sits on the deck outside and I water it regularly. It has been nice and thick, very fragant. I noticed yellow leaves a few days ago, too much water or not enough?
The plant was transplanted into a nice new pot with fresh soil this spring. There are no insects on the leaves, so it must be a fertilizer issue. What type of fertilizer should I use on my rosemary and how often?
Very needy plants these rosemary trees, but they are a beautiful addition to my deck/garden. I bring them in during the winter and so far have successfully kept them through a northern Maine cold snap.
Thank you for your prompt replies. The rosemary plant has actually perked up since my first question was posted. My rosemary plants have about two months left to soak in the glorious outside and then they will be brought into the house to winter over. I feel pretty good that here in northern Maine I have successfully wintered over several rosemary plants on my first attempt and that I have all of them to try again this upcoming season. Wish me luck….
Hi,
I’ve had a Rosemary plant for the past year and a half and have kept it indoors the entire time with zero problems. I kept the plant inside out of necessity since I live in an apartment. However, recently my plant somehow got exposed to some small, flying insects and now those insects can constantly be seen hovering around the plant. Additionally, I think they might be harming it since certain needles have started to turn brown, a problem that I had never had previously. My question is, how can I kill these bugs without using any harmful chemicals (since I like to use rosemary in my cooking and don’t want to ingest any of the chemicals)?
Thank You
Hi,
I’m looking for some photos of rosemary diseases. Any of the following will do:
Alternaria
Armarillia tubescens
Botrytis
Powdery Mildew
Pseudomonas
Rhizoctonia sp.
Sphaerotheca fuliginea
I grew a Rosemary brush from a seedling. It started of well but now the tips of the leaves are turning brown and the stems are also losing leaves. I’m not sure whether it’s from overwatering (it’s potted) or whether it’s a pathogen, but I’d like to compare the color and texture of my ill leaves to some photos of known problems. Is there a site were I can submit photos of the plant for diagnosis?
I live in Memphis and my Rosemary is in a very large plastic pot on my East facing patio. Do I move the pot indoors or will it survive the winter on the patio. The temps can drop below freezing. Should I move it to a Southern location protected from the wind or move it indoors to the garage or florida room?
Rosemary in hot humid weather
Hi i am from malaysia, i love rosemary and use normally in my cookings. Last few months, I bought one potted from a hypermarket (Jaya Jusco), eventually it died, it went all brown on the leaves and then dried up. Being ignorant, i thought it was insufficient water, as most of the time, when u see a plant turning brown, it means drying up and needs water. So i water it too much eventually I killed it.
I found another pot again, this time at another hypermarket (Cold Storage – Ikano), and this time i dont water it much except for spraying like mist water to it. Eventually it turning brown now, especially the bottom leaves.
I have the plant indoor, in my kitchen to be specific, and it was not under direct sun or rain. Is this a problem?
Malaysia is a tropical country, very high humidity, but does this affect the rosemary? I only know that rosemary can withstand the most dry season ever… Malaysia is hot for your information.
Soluble salts
I have a small potted rosemary plant that’s indoors for the winter. The clay pot continues to have a yellow and white residue all over it? When you try to clean it off, it just comes right back.
Any ideas as to whether this is the plant, soil, pot, or water source? And is it harmful to the rosemary? What can I do?
Browning needles
I have a rosemary Christmas tree that was doing fine in my west-facing office window, but I forgot to ask my assistant to water it over the holiday vacation, and it’s fairly brown. I know they are slow-growing, so I’ve been hesitant to cut it back entirely. I’m not sure how to tell if it’s totally dead.
Powdery mildew
My rosemary plant was bought at Christmastime and has done very well. I am following the directions that came with it which said to give it one cup of water daily. In the last week it has developed a white powdery dusting on all the leaves. Could you please tell me what this is and how do I get rid of it? Is it harmful to the plant?
I live in AZ and have tons of rosemary in my yard. All my plants in the back yard have milky white drops of goo on the stems. There are hundreds of them. I used the hose to spray them off which worked fine, but they were immediately back a day or 2 later. I am not sure what this is. last year this happened and a nursery told me it was mealy bugs…I sure don’t see any bugs. I don’t want to put a harmful pesticide all over them…first of all, I have huge plants and it would harm the birds and bees, etc. What can I do about them? Thank you.
Hi Carl
Mealy bugs have a cottony looking fuzz on the outside and the insect is inside. They are very difficult to get rid of
Here in the Denton, TX area, we have a rosemary that has grown almost rank, some branches growing up, some along the ground, but does not bloom much at all. Seems healthy otherwise. Recently we have pruned it rather heavily. Did not know it could be pruned, but just had to corral it. Any suggestion about keeping the branches off the ground? It is on the east side of our house, about three feet from the brick wall.
hi
can i ask about the possibilty to find rosemary in tropical places e.g malaysia