Grow Rosemary Indoors
Rosemary is a fragrant herb that adds tremendous flavor to meat, vegetables, and other dishes. It does fairly well when grown indoors in pots and containers. Propagate rosemary from a mother plant to ensure the best yield. Upon transplanting, the herb needs a lot of light and minimal watering, and it can seem somewhat sensitive until you get these amounts right.
Contents
Steps
Propagating and Transplanting
- Select a strong, high-quality rosemary plant with recent growth. The quality of the mother plant will determine the quality of the propagated plant. Recent growth indicates that the plant has not grown dormant, so you should be able to spur new growth from a cutting.
- Snip several 2 1/2-inch (6 1/3-centimeter) stems from the rosemary. Choose the most recently grown stems, since these have the greatest growing potential.
- Remove the bottom set of leaves from your cuttings. Use scissors or shears to cut them off. Yanking the leaves off by hand could cause damage.
- Dip the bottom of each cutting in a little water. The cuttings do not need to soak. They just need to be a little moist.
- Encourage rooting with a hormone rooting powder. Dip the bottom of each cutting into the powder, immersing it by about 1/4 inch (2/3 centimeter). Doing so will increase the cutting's odds of taking root.
- Mix equal amounts of peat moss and perlite in a plastic seedling tray. Other small containers, ranging from pots to plastic cups, can also be used.
- Fix each cutting into its own container. If using a seedling tray, place one cutting in each separate compartment. Press the cutting down into the growing medium until the exposed stem is completely buried. Do not cover the leaves, however.
- Moisten the rosemary by misting it with a spray bottle. Do not allow the growing medium to become completely soaked. Continue misting as often as necessary to keep the medium moist to the touch, paying special attention to your plant on dry, sunny days.
- Prepare the cuttings for transplanting once they take root. This usually occurs within two to four weeks. If your plant continues to grow after a few weeks have passed, it has likely taken root.
- Fill a terra cotta pot with sterilized potting soil. Select a pot that is at least 3 1/2 inches (9 centimeters) in diameter and depth.
- Terra cotta draws moisture out of the soil faster than plastic. As a result, using a terra cotta pot will reduce the risk of over-watering and cut down on occurrences of root rot.
- An all-purpose soil should work fine most of the time, but do not use standard garden soil. Dirt from your garden could contain pests and diseases that might damage your rosemary.
- For a more precise soil mix, blend two parts potting soil with one part sand or perlite to promote better drainage. You can also add 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) of lime juice to a 5-inch (12.7 centimeters) pot to increase the soil's alkaline properties.
- Pinch the top bud. Pinching the top terminal bud increases the likelihood of your rosemary branching. Once the bud develops, literally pinch it out with your fingers or snip it off with a pair of scissors or snips. Removing the bud at the tip of a branch redirects the rosemary's energy to other buds along the sides, leading to more branches and a bushier plant.
Care and Harvest
- Set your plant out on a windowsill that receives plenty of light. A window that faces south or west may be the best choice. Your rosemary needs, at minimum, six hours of direct sun.
- Invest in fluorescent lighting. If you do not have a window that can provide your plant with adequate sun, fluorescent grow lights can work just as well. Place the lights 6 inches (15.24 centimeters) above the top of your plant and leave it on for 14 hours per day.
- Allow the top 2 inches (5 centimeters) of soil to dry out before watering. Rosemary thrives in a little dryness, but do not allow the soil to dry out completely. When you water, do so thoroughly, but do not allow the soil to become soggy.
- Keep the air in the room mildly humid. During the spring, summer, and autumn, the room's natural humidity should suffice. During dry winters when the furnace comes on, however, you may need to provide your rosemary with extra humidity by sitting the pot on a humidity tray, or by running a humidifier in the room a few hours each day.
- Use fertilizer sparingly. Feeding your rosemary once or twice a month with a balanced liquid fertilizer should do fine. Dilute the fertilizer with equal parts water before applying it to your plant.
- Allow an electric fan to stir the air around your rosemary. Rosemary can get powdery mildew if the air around it grows too stagnant and stale. Letting a fan blow on it for a few hours each day dramatically improves air circulation and decreases this risk.
- Treat your plant with a fungicide if mildew or another fungus forms. You can also treat your rosemary before it gets a fungal disease, but many gardeners prefer to use as few chemicals as possible, making post-disease treatment more favorable than preventative treatment.
- Apply neem oil to your rosemary if it gets infested by pests. Indoor plants do not get infested as often, but it can still happen. Neem oil is harmless to humans and most pets, making it safe to use on plants intended for consumption.
- Harvest rosemary by snipping directly above a stem joint. Snipping above a joint allows new growth to continue forming on that stem. Never remove more than 1/3 of the plant at one time.
Tips
- You can also grow rosemary from seed, but doing so typically results in poor germination and uneven quality. Rosemary that is propagated from an existing plant will share the quality level of that plant. Another way to guarantee the quality of the plant is by purchasing and transplanting rosemary seedlings.
Warnings
- Avoid getting chemicals, including fertilizers and pesticides, on the rosemary leaves themselves. Only apply chemical products to the soil. Many of these chemicals may have adverse effects if consumed. You may also consider organic alternatives, which are less likely to cause a problem when you use your rosemary.
Things You'll Need
- Rosemary plant
- Shears, scissors, or "snips"
- Rooting powder
- Peat moss
- Perlite
- Potting Soil
- Sand
- Spray bottle
- Seedling trays
- Clay pot
- Fluorescent grow light
- Humidifier
- Fertilizer
- Electric fan
- Fungicide
- Neem oil
