All my herbs got wiped out last winter. So I am starting fresh.
At the moment I am wondering how many rosemary seedlings I can grow in a 17 inch pot. They don't spread out much but they have extended root systems. Would 3 seedlings do well in a 17 inch pot?
Paul
They should do okay as long as you carefully monitor soil moisture. Rosemary likes generally dry conditions, rotting with too much water; but completely dry soil will likely cause the seedlings to die. The rosemary bush in front of my house receives winter rains and perhaps 2-3 hose waterings from late spring until the rains start in early winter. However, I suspect some roots have spread out under my neighbor's lawn, which is watered several times a week through the summer; in that case they are definitely under my roses, which get drip irrigation every other day.
Also, you need to keep the tops pruned so the plants don't outgrow the ability of their roots to supply moisture and nutrients. With sweet bay (Laurus nobilis), I found that allowing the plant to reach about the width of the pot and about 10% taller than the pot is deep was sufficient. When you harvest the rosemary, just keep the need to prune in mind.
Typically, a root system will be as large as the vegetative part of the plant. If you don't let the plants get larger than your pot, it shouldn't be a problem.
I almost forgot. When pruning or merely harvesting rosemary, you must either cut out the entire branch or else leave green shoots below the cut. If you cut below the lowest green shoot, the branch will die back to its base. This is true of all salvia relatives, including sage, mint, oregano, and lavender.
It may be a good idea to start off the seedlings in smaller pots (say
3") and then put around 3 into the 17" pot once they've reached a good size in the 3" pot. This will help with the watering problems a bit more as small seedlings in very large pots, can be overwhealmed with watering more.At work, we usually wait until rosemary is around 6" high before potting them on from 3" pots.
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