Hi,
I have a large rosemary plant that I managed to nurse through last winter indoors. (I'm amazed it survived the attack of killer mealy bugs and then powdery mildew.) I know that it doesn't like being indoors and hardly grows at all during the winter, but last year when it was safe to bring it outdoors again, I discovered that it was really pot-bound. I'm afraid to try to re-pot it now just before the trying indoor phase, but thought maybe someone here could give me some expert advice about it.
I'm planning on rigging up a small fan this time to try to keep the mildew at bay.
re-potting rosemary
Might actually do better indoors if you cut back the roots a bit and add new soil. Same size pot.
Thanks darius!
This is the first time I've been able to keep a rosemary plant alive. They usually would turn black after the first month. I think that I was over-watering them because I thought that the dry indoor air would do them in. I bought another small plant at the beginning of the season as a kind of "insurance" but would hate to see the big beautiful plant go down the tubes.
I had three in a bed next to my house, 6b, that did well outside. They were 5 feet tall and nearly as wide, NEVER try to transplant ones that size! (I lost all 3.)
Zone 6 pushes the limits for Rosemary, but with a rock wall (or cement blocks and a backdrop) and in a winter sunny location, they can survive.
Good luck.
Hardiness for rosemary varies with variety. Some are very tender, others like 'Arp' are supposed to be hardy to (I think) -10'F. I've had trouble overwintering them outside, but I think it's because we get these warm spells that cause them to come out of dormancy, and then they succumb to the cold snap that follows. I've got a 'Salem' rosemary now that's planted up against a big rock with good drainage, and we'll see how it fares this winter.
I like Darius's suggestion about trimming the roots (especially snip back some of the big bulky ones so more little feeder roots can form) and repotting in the same pot. You don't want to put it in a much bigger pot right now, I don't think, because all that extra soil might stay too damp after watering, and you know rosemaries hate to have wet tootsies. I have one that's been happy inside for several winters now in a 12 inch pot with a generous spoonful of "Soil Moist" polymer crystals added to the potting mix... I think those water absorbing crystals keep the soil from getting either too soggy or too dry.
Keep us posted!
i'll add my 2 cents- i have way too many rosemary plants- all in pots cause it's just too cold here in the winter- some time ago we lived in spain for a while- and rosemary grew everywhere in the wild- heavenly- so i've been addicted to it ever since. i leave my pots outside until about thanksgiving- they are all still out there now in spite of frosts, etc, and i have found that the less time they are in, the better- and the cold sort of puts them into a slower growth gear. after they come inside, they may start growing a lot of soft green growth, and i cut them way back at that time- or atleast sometime during the winter. i actually have found i loose a rosemary plant to underwatering sooner than overwatering. there just is no rescuing a rosemary if you have let it dry out comepletely- dead as a doornail. it happens really fast. so that, i think, is the biggest danger! the cooler the environment the better- the cooler it is the less aphids and other bugs you will have- and sunny- i have a few places that have been good indoors, and also have a little greenhouse that i keep pretty cool at night. i do my repotting in the spring- like darius says- with quite a bit of root pruning. i have never done it in the fall, so i'm not sure agout that. mine stay in their pots for 2 years, i just can't get around to repotting every year- and i'm hoping to keep them a bit on the "bonsai" side of growth rate maybe!...anyway, they do get very root-bound! i put them back outside very early spring when we have more rain than snow, when i see signs of the first crocuses, and then begin to bargain with them about who gets to be repotted. the big ones all go back into the same size pot - because there just has to be a limit!
I have a HUGE pot of rosemary that was in the garden all summer... would the enclosed patio (unheated) be a good place for her to stay? I've NEVER been able to winter over a rosemary because I am not organized enough to figure out when or how much to water ...
maybe I need to just harvest and treat her as an annual or send her to a warm climate friend to winter over in a Southern or Western spa??
hi janiejoy- the unheated patio is worth a try- especially given the alternative! it might be perfect- try puting a big pot saucer under the plant, and water it well when you remember to- if it goes above freezing most days (even barely above freezing) in that space, it may just love it in there!
Now that it's February, I thought I would add my own rosemary experience. Last summer, I had a gorgeous rosemary out in my herb garden. Rosemarys are definitely not happy outdoors in our Michigan winters, and I knew that I would either have to let it die or bring it in for the winter. So I got a deep large painted French clay pot for this 3' tall rosemary (thankfully it's not that wide) and potted it up around the end of October in pure sand since that's what it had been so happily growing in all spring and summer.
Amazingly enough, the rosemary is doing great! Like many people, I had never, ever in a million years, been able to keep rosemary indoors over the winter. Usually they turn into dried crispies that drop all over the carpet within a few weeks. But this huge guy has tons of new growth on the top! He's been just perking along all winter... A bit of drying on the base of each stalk, but overall I cannot believe how well he's doing. Maybe he just likes having pretty much an entire room to himself? We have only one room in the house with a south-facing window and this huge rosemary is sitting in the middle of the floor (dropping dried leaves on the carpet here and there). He takes a few cups of water approximately once a week. Here's hoping that he makes it through the rest of this winter! I'm looking forward to seeing him back in the garden.
Mine is still green out on the patio. Thanks for bumping this thread - I need to give it a drink.
Hope we both have rosemary to transplant this spring!
Well, so far so good. Mine is still alive and growing too! It seems to like the grow lights a lot. Of course this Winter was a repeat of the last one in terms of the two scourges ------ mealy bugs and mildew. I have a small fan trained on the plant in hopes of discouraging the mildew, but have a feeling that all it did was to help the spores travel faster. Rats! I used almost a quart of chamomile tea on it a few days ago and plan to brew some more today and try again. At least a bit "white and fuzzy" sure beats "dead and black" any day
My Rosemary was dug in mid-October and transplanted into a terracotta pot, then placed in my greenhouse. The plant was just one year old, but I decided to try and sustain it (or convince it to grow larger!). I have provided adequate heat, light, and water since I brought it into my greenhouse. For the past 2 weeks, though, the needles are drying and the whole plant seems to be drying-up or going into a dormancy phase. The plant has no apparent bugs or disease, so I am unsure what is actually going on. I have not tried to water it daily because I was afraid of mildew or over-watering, so I have watered it every other day.
Suggestions? Comments?
Too much water! It may be too late because it sure sounds like what always used to happen to mine. I thought that it was getting too dry because of the dry indoor air and didn't know that too much water would cause the leaves to dry out and the plant to give up the ghost. I water mine once a week or less and would think that a greenhouse environment might require less than that.
Lynn- don't be so sure you overwatered it- underwatering is just as bad- if the soil gets very dry in the pot, it will die quicker than any plant I know- the thing is it doesn't look dead for a while, just sort of dry, but you just can't bring it back. When they are overwatered the leaves yellow and fall off and it dies slowly, and painfully- that situation is hard to turn around too.. I think in your climate you would be best to leave your pots outside. They really are fine in the cold- and appriciate a little dormancy- up here in New Hampshire it's just too cold for that- but Va., if you sunk the pots into the ground, or banked some leaves around them, I bet they would be happy come spring. I leave my pots outside as long as possible, and put them out again as soon as I can- I feel that night time temps in the 20's is fine as long as it is above freezing, or almost above freezing, at some point during the day.
My Rosemary update: the plant is still hanging in there!! I moved the plant to a shelf that receives strong morning sun in the GH. Then I told myself to just 'ignore' her......I water about twice a week now. Before I moved the plant, I checked the roots. The plant was not root-bound but could've used a little trim. I opted to leave it alone, figuring that by early April, the plant can go outside. So far so good!!
SJMS, I've tried wintering over Rosemary several years and it never survives here. But I will buy another small Rosemary this spring and do an experiment on the south-side of my GH growing-area outdoors. I may be able to overwinter one there due to the thermal mass of the landscape stones and the warmth of the GH. I figure it's worth a $3 'experiment'!
Everyone else still doing okay ?? Winter is "almost" over!
We're still doing okay here in Michigan! Same old same old... Rosemary is leggy and wishing it was outdoors, but it is surviving well and it's growing nicely. It is still enjoying getting to take up a nice chunk of the guest room floor in front of our only and very small little South facing window. I am desperately wishing that I could put my poor baby outside. He's been so good this winter and deserves to be rewarded! I'm ready for spring!!
We'll have to come up with a special bread or muffin recipe using our overwintered Rosemary. We will eat to good health and herbs while patting our own backs! LOL I can just imagine the name of the concoctions we could create, too..... How's about "Rosemary/Parmesan Survival Bread"? That actually sounds pretty good! Hmmm....
I love foccacia with rosemary and calamata olives.
Oooh, I love rosemary and parmesan together! And I love the idea of "Survival Bread" lol. I am also a huge fan of foccacia with rosemary and just about anything. Haven't tried it with calamata olives before, but I will do that soon because I've finally come to love black olives. I know potatoes are good with rosemary...
I shall have to give this some thought, since it's been so long since I've used fresh rosemary (haven't wanted to irritate the big guy in any way in lest he decide my garden and I just weren't worth the effort of staying alive!). I'll come up with some good ideas soon, I promise! Then maybe we should start a thread for rosemary recipes :-)
Those sound good to me too, even though I'm not a big bread eater.
Both of my rosemary plants are survivors as of this date. Both are also looking a little worse for wear. I'm sure they're longing for the great outdoors.
I'm a cold zone Rosemary fan too.
I was inspired by a shop owner in Shipshewana Indiana.
My husband and I were casually strolling through the business district during the late Fall (a couple years ago) when I saw 3 *huge* potted Rosemarys in a store front window!!
I dashed in and seized the person who appeared to be in charge. It was thestore owner, whose wife owned the potted monsters and could offer not advise and only complained about having the haul the big cumbersome things in and out twice a year. I didn't get any tips but decided then and there I was going to try and over winter Rosemary in the house. I think I even posted something about this on this forum, maybe back in 2004-05?? Anyway I have an un-named variety that appears to be some prostrate form and its still alive! It spends the summers on my kitchen porch which is a northeast exposure.
It grew and bloomed all summer.
This winter I freaked beause some of the older branches in the center of the plant died off. I thought maybe it was going to croak but the new branches have even been blooming recently. You might be able to see a few blossoms in this photo.
It in my coolish diningroom in an east window. I let it dry out before watering.
I plan to try and root some cuttings this year and pot up some more.
Love my Rosmary!
Pict. here winter 04/05
Heres a close up I took tonight
Note blossoms
how cool this is!!! mine have never bloomed. Maybe they will this year.
I think the secret was changing the soil to nearly all sand and then watering frequently but in small amounts?
Gorgeous Rosemary! I just love the scent and how long the oil will linger on fingers!
Mine is still plugging along.....in a few weeks, I'll put mine outside. I'm thankful that the needle drop was not from pests or disease.
I read on another thread that someone's hubby accidently bumped into her Rosemary and broke off some of the branches. I think it was McCool who posted that, too! So where's McCool on this thread!??? Time to vent!! lol
Glad to hear that everyone else's rosemary is doing well! And wow, I'm impressed by the flowers. Mine certainly does not have flowers, and though it is alive, it is quite sad and wishing it was outdoors. It looks about the same as it has all winter: kind of dead and dried on the bottom few inches of most stems, but lots of soft new growth on the top. Definitely no flowers!
I am downstairs from my rosemary right now, and I swear I can hear his whining and grumbling from here! Pity it's at least a month until I can let him go outside to play...
"bumped into"? Ha! He dropped a whole shelf with two attached grow lights onto it and broke off four big branches and one little one! I was definitely NOT a happy camper when he called me at my store to tell me about the mishap and HE was not too happy to hear me moaning about my poor plant for the last few days. The possible silver lining is that I cut a lot of tips off of the broken branches and have set them in soil to try to root them. If even half of them make it, there will be a mass of rosemary around here. The poor battered plant is a big one and hopefullly will survive this episode. It was already a bizarre shape due to its trying so hard to get into the available light during it's first winter inside. This year it was actually growing a bit due to the grow lights and re-potting with fresh soil just prior to being brought in for the winter. This one has never bloomed, but I have a much smaller one in a south-facing window at my store which bloomed it's head off this winter. It hardly grew all last summer though. I think they must be different cultivars.
Well, hey there ya are, McCool!! So Mr. Man did a two-step on the whole shelf, eh? OMG!! Luckily for him, you are looking at things with a positive attitude.
My Mister has a new nickname: Sasquatch.
No kidding. He's only 6'3" but he seems to think that there's nothing wrong with lumbering through any of my gardens, stomping on ANYTHING green, not admitting to anything, not noticing ANYTHING alive. And when I SEE him do this, I get this innocent, total look of stoooopid.... Yeah, right.
You know the old adage about what paybacks are ....
;-)
Wow! What a rosemary above. I've just managed (well almost) to over winter a pot of Rosemary too. Also a first for me. Just keep your fingers crossed for me for a few weeks and I'll put it outside again, but maybe in a bigger pot.
Ann