I understand that rosemary is very difficult to start from a cutting. I think I'm halfway there, and I need some advice.
I put a young shoot in a pill bottle filled with water several weeks ago. It is still alive, and has grown a little, but so far, no roots. Is there anything I can do to encourage it?
My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.
Use a rooting hormone, or put some willow bark in the water with the shoot.
Lee Valley sells a rooting hormone in gel form, you dunk the end of the shoot in it, and then plant the shoot in growing medium. The gel keeps the hormone where it will do the most good. Go to
HTH
I have never had any trouble rooting rosemary. I have started two rosemary bushes from fresh rosemary sprigs purchased at the supermarket. I have seen roots begin to break the wood when you place cuttings in plain water. Yes, it can take weeks. I encourage you to change the water regularly, and to try multiple cuttings at a time, if you can get them. You only need one to work to get going.
I also stuck a cutting from one of the plants that I started straight into the ground. I had it staked, and I watered it for a while. Six years later, I had a shrub that was too big to transplant. Regrettably, I had to kill it instead of following through on my intentions to relocate it.
Your climate may affect your results. Rosemary is a Mediterranean plant, and I am gardening in a Mediterranean climate. San Jose, California; USDA zone 9; Sunset zone 16.
Once you have the rosemary going, don't baby it. In its native environment, rosemary grows in lean soil. If you provide too much organic matter or fertilizer, you will get a lot of woody growth and the shape of the plant will become unappealing. Also, it is not necessary to water much. Don't water at all, unless you live in an arid climate.
Good luck!
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That means anyplace with heat running in the winter. It needs a little water, but not much.
My suggestions for rooting rosemary would be to be patient - it takes up to a month easily - keep the root area wet but also keep misting the top. If there is no root, the plant can not drink, it it dries out it will die - so mist everytime you think about it. Colette
I've got rooting hormone in powder form, and dipped the stem in it when I started. I have no instructions for using it this way, though, so I don't know whether I used enough... or need to use it repeatedly... and if so, how often... and so on.
My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.
I live in Chicago, so I must consider it a house plant... along with the basil plant that I started in 2002 and brought with me when I moved back here from your neighborhood in 2003!
My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.
I tried that approach first, (while rooting in moist soil), but it didn't work. If I kept the cutting moist enough not to shrivel, it grew mold. Water and open air seems to work better for me.
My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.
I live in Australia, I don't know if that makes a difference, but I grew mine just by putting a piece in the ground with some other herbs. I just watered the whole area when it was needed, I didn't even think about the cutting, eventually it just grew. I do that with most plants. We get frosts here during winter, but we also get hot summers.
Jen
OK, I've got some roots now!
I'm concerned that I may still lose the cutting, though, because the lower part of the stem (below the roots) has rotted. If I leave it in water until the roots are clearly long enough to support the plant, I'm afraid the whole thing will rot.
Any suggestions on how to manage the transition from water to soil so that the cutting neither shrivels up nor rots?
My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.
I put the cutting into soil about a week ago, and so far it's doing fine.
I wicked the water away with a paper towel before putting the cutting in the soil so that the roots would spread out instead of clinging to the stem. For the next couple of weeks I plan to keep it on a windowsill where it gets cool air and indirect light. I'm going to keep the soil very moist. After that I will let the soil dry out and introduce more direct sunlight.
My email address is LLM041103 at earthlink dot net.
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