Rosemary cuttings

I feel that this is an opportune rime for taking rosemary cuttings, but I'm never confident as to what type of growth to take them from. Any advice wouldbe appreciated.

From: about.com


1.Snip about a 2 inch cutting from the soft, new growth of an established plant.

2.Remove the leaves from the bottom inch and dip that tip into a rooting hormone. Rooting hormones can be found in any garden center.

3.Carefully place the dipped end into a container of dampened, sterile seed starting mix. Choose a mix that says it is well draining, like something containing peat moss with vermiculite or perlite.

4.Place the container in a warm spot with indirect sunlight.

5.Mist the cuttings daily and make sure the soil does not dry out.

6.In about 2-3 weeks, test for root growth by very gently tugging on the cuttings.

7.Once your cuttings have roots, transplant into individual pots about 3-4 inches in diameter.

8.Pinch off the very top of the cutting to encourage it to develop branches.

9.Begin caring for your cutting as a rosemary plant.

Thanks a lot, Kay for your prompt response. I'll be taking those cuttings later today. Paul

This message was edited Mar 4, 2011 10:30 AM

Let us know how they do for you!

I have tried the about.com method a couple times but got no cuttings to live thru the winter. Last Sept. I tried this method from gardeningknowhow.com on 10 cuttings and all made it now going on 5+ months.
1 Take a 2 – 3 inch cutting from a mature rosemary plant with a clean, sharp pair of shears. Rosemary cuttings shoold be taken from the soft or new wood on the plant. The soft wood is most easily harvested in the spring when the plant is in its most active growth phase.
2 Remove the leaves from the bottom 2/3’s of the cutting leaving at least 5-6 leaves.
3 Take the rosemary cuttings and place it in a well draining potting medium.
4 Cover the pot with a plastic bag or plastic wrap to help the cuttings retain moisture.
5 Place in indirect light.
6 When you see new growth, remove plastic.
7 Transplant to a new location.
After starting them I went away for over 2 months and left my house at 58 degrees. Upon return ALL 10 cuttings were alive and had doubled in size They were put in 3" pots and since have given 6 of them away to make space and that impressed friends.
Also I have gotten new plants by layering by just bending branches of big plants that were wintered in the house in pots down in a little trench and weighted with a brick. Did this in June and in Sept. was able to cut them off and pot nice sized plants for the next season. I don't doubt that the about.com method works just so far not for me.

Many years ago, I accidentally started a rosemary cutting. I cut some from the one established plant that I had and put it in water, after I used the "leaves" for kitchen use. Now and then I would change the water, and then I noticed it had some roots starting to grow, so I put it in some potting soil. It was planted in my garden and has been growing ever since.

Don't give up, they are easy.

(I took this picture in 2000!)

I root these in water too. As long as you put them in a sunny window, they will root within a week or two. It's almost 100% success! After the roots are about 1/4" long, just plant them and watch them grow!

Cool! I never knew you could root them in water.
Yesterday, I remembered a friend's mother had asked me for a start of my Salvia 'Hot Lips'
Much to my surprise it had rooted an offshoot (like layering), so I cut off about 6" off the end with a NICE root mass beneath--yea!

Then right next to that Salvia is my Rosemary. Hmmm I wonder... she'd wanted one of those too.
OMG!! SO excited!! SEVERAL rooted offshoots (I know there's a more technical name, but I'm too pumped to check it out!)
So it had done it's own 'layering' for me!

How easy is THAT?!!
My ex-MIL once told me to propagate by layering she just put a rock on a lower stem and they took root.
LOL Amazing woman in the garden. Crazy as a betsy bug (whatever that is), but dang she had the greenest thumb!!!

OK you guys. Your enthusiasm has won me over. Plus you have given me great, detailed instructions. My daughter's aunt-in-law has given her 2 resealable plastic garden bags of cuttings. She is giving me about half. Send your good thoughts this way because I'll cry if they rot.

I am only able to do container gardening, so my plants need to be strong and blooming when I plant them. I use echinacea and Lantana as my bright lights. The echinacea do come back about half the time. So, I am looking for ways to propagate Lantana, echinacea and coreopsis. Can I plant seeds and develop nice plants to pot up in June. (I have a plant neonatal unit in one room of my house and a Junior ward in another with southern windows and plant lights in both. What are your recommendations. (I bought the little things that Lowes' sells as echinacea bulbs by the other bulbs and nothing happened with the little tiny dead looking twiggy thing. Suggestions? Thank you!

Echinacea will grow easily from seeds, mine reseed all over. Coreopsis reseed, but if they're fancy varieties, they may not come true from seed, only from divisions. Lantana should do just fine from softwood cuttings dipped in rootone and rooted in moist perlite.

As directed above--put your cutting in fresh soil mix. Water in. Then:

Instead of plastic--put a clear, plastic drinking glass on the inside of the pot.
Make sure it fits snugly. On the outside does not work so well. Air gets in.

A 3" pot will be perfect for an 8oz-10oz drinking glass.
I do this with AV leaves and they all root.

See?

Subbing ! I did not see this thread and actually tried taking 3 cuttings of rosemary last weekend !

I did pretty much everything as noted above except do not have plastic protecting the cuttings. THey are outside with my other cuttings and temps are HIGH so dont think I will cover with plastic.

Also I may have left TOO Many leaves... however we shall see... :o)

Mary

Gosh, these are so easy to root (for me)! I just take 6" tip cuttings, stick them in the ground where I want them to grow, keep them watered every day and they root and grow.

As far as I have gotten with trying to propogate Rosemary is a couple of weeks ago I had my husband bend a branch over to the ground and sit a good sized rock on it. I will need to make a note to check and see if it is taking off yet.

Gosh Kay, I might try your route, and hope to be as successful as you are with yours. If I am able to get some growing, I will probably send them to a Farmer Market with my husband who has been doing selling of plants that way this summer.

I have been able to make a bit of pocket change this summer from sending along houseplants with him. I usually sell two or three of them each trip, sometimes none and very rarely more than three a day, but I am having lots of fun doing it, so nothing lost.

Thanks for the info everyone.

Ruby

Ruby--My neighbor--who is NOT a gardener--or chooses not to be--just cuts off a chunk from her BIG Rosemary
bush ans shoves it in the ground--somewhere.
If I did not water all her beds that face my house--all these kind if things would just die.

BUT--She has done this before--and it grew....

Mine is getting old and woody. Early next spring--I will cut mine back severely and let it re-grow....

It grows in my YUK bed--AMEN! At least it grows.....Gita

I am hoping this turns out to be something that will be easy for me to grow because I want to begin making it available to consumers at the Farmers Markets. A lot of folks seem to really like herbs and I believe they will sell well next year.

Ruby

Ruby---

NOW! I have NEVER rooted this plant! But--I do grow a rather large Rosemary plant.
And--as I said--my neighbor just takes a chunk of it, sticks it in the ground--and, in a year or so--
it is fully rooted and growing. But then--she seldom waters anything in her yard. I do--the beds facing my house.
I am getting tired of it--feel used....It is too hot just for me to take care of my own plants....

Just from a "gut feeling"--because it is a rather woody plant--I would use very well draining, sandy soil
and keep it barely moist. Keep it outside--in part sun--as it is a perennial. Protect it a bit during the winter....

You may want to ask in the propagation Forum for more hands-on advice.....

Gita

I live min as Vegas where Rosemary is planted everywherebecause it will live through anything you can throwmat mit. On my walks, I just look for little plants that have started next to the mother plant I only picked one because that is all I needed but I could dig 20 if I needed them.

Whole foods sales them in darling little pots with very small plants. I would use the whole pot with one batch of lamb chops marinate.

Good luck you guys. Sharon

I used to use quite a bit of Rosemary when cooking until John told me he didn't like sticks in his stew. I have since purchased a ground rosemary, but still love the idea of twigs in my own food. Come to think of it, I haven't been using any herbs in my cooking for some time now and will probably need to purchase new ones when and if I decide to use them again.

Last summer I grew and preserved several things but again, haven't used them for a while, so I am not even sure if they still have flavor or not.

Thankfully there is an Mennonite Cheese Shop in the next town over where a person can buy herbs and spices in bulk and that really saves because the grocery store prices on these things are outrageous. Just recently I ordered 50 pounds of baking soda from them. I use a dipper full of baking soda whenever washing a load of clothes and buying from them was about as cheap as any way I found.

Yeah Sharon, I have seen little Rosemary trees decorated for Christmas in some grocery stores and I think that is a really cool idea. Before planting my bush outside I used it as a houseplant for a couple of years. It grew but nothing like it did when putting it in the ground.

Thanks for your comments Sharon and Gita.

Ruby

Worms---

I have never cooked Lamb of any kind.
Yesterday, I purchased a small package (on sale) of 3 lamb chops (steaks??).
Please give me some idea on how to cook lamb.

Thanks, --you can D-Mail me so we don't bore other people...
I will check All Recipes.com also.

Gita

I must not be doing something right. LOL I have read and tried just about all of these methods and never had any success with rosemary. I will have to look for more cuttings and try again.
Linda

I actually marinate lamb with rosemary, chopped garlic and olive oil. Usually overnight. Then I grill it. Depending on thickness, it does not take very long to cook. Lamb should not be cooked well done.

Linda, you sound like me. I have tried growing several plants after being warned they are invasive, and killed them all. hahaha

Gita and Sharon....will pass on the lamb....but I do love Rosemary on other things.

Ruby

Interested in the Baking soda in the wash ! how much do you use? I've never tried it !

I have tried lamb but can't bear the thought of eating it now (even though My name is MARY LOL).... but would love ideas on cooking rosemary with other things...

Our rosemary is HUGE... almost growing out of control.... but have tried rooting it and "so far so good"... LOL

Mary

Hi Mary - I am probably a bad person to ask about the amount of baking soda to use. I tend to go overboard with any good thing that comes along. I am sure that I use too much but haven't had any problems with it so far. You may try searching on eHOW.com to see what is recommended or any other search engine...just type in "using baking soda in laundry." It will probably give some idea of what will properly do the job. I use a smaller laundry scoop and fill it about half way. Just guestimating it would be maybe a bit over a quarter of a cup to a half cup per load. Ialso wash very large loads so if you do smaller ones, measure accordingly.

As for Rosemary in cooking, there was time I used it with almost everything I prepared. After the comment about eating twigs, I cut back and began using mainly ground Rosemary and now thinking about it, haven't been adding any herbs or spices much recently.

I know that I particularly like to add Rosemary, Basil, Thyme to beef or pork roasts when baking. The same three herbs I find to taste good in the vegetable beef soups I prepare in the winter. If I am cooking tomato based dishes I also use a lot of Parsley and Oregano along with those herbs listed above.

One little tip regarding a spaghetti or other tomato pasta type of dish is to add a small amount of All Spice to the meat mixture, plus a very small amount of sugar. Sure does liven up the taste.

Another tidbit....for anyone watching their weight, some years back Weight Watchers had a veggie soup recipe in which a person could basically eat unlimited amounts and Parsley and Oregano was used in the soup as acted as a diuretic.

Playing around with herbs and spices is fun I think. I would definitely use a lot more of them if I were only cooking for myself, but I have other palates who I have to try and please also.

Good luck and please report back in with your findings.

Ruby

Thank you Ruby !

When I first started my herb garden.... I really enjoyed cooking with them... I haven't as much as of late particularly because I cook SO much less than I used to...
but even though our rosemary is SO huge... I really never got in to the habit of cooking with it.

now the Basil I could put in anything... and love to cook spaghetti but never tried rosemary in spaghetti....

Thank you so much for all the information !

Mary