Can never seem to get my Thyme right

[harrislpm]

I live in Hong Kong where the climate is in general warm and humid, with ridiculous heat and occasional long rain in summer.

The first herb I tried was Rosemary. Bought a slowly dying bush in a store and managed to propagate before it died out completely. I now have about 4 pots of 2nd generations going strong for more than a year and 10 shoots of 3rd generations freshly propagated this year. In other words, Rosemary is doing great here.

Thyme though..... no matter what I do, I can't seem to get it right. They looked great from the store as baby bushes. I would buy them and place them next to my Rosemary pots at the gardening balcony outside of the apartment window.

They would look healthy and grow extremely fast in the first 2 weeks. After that, they fluctuate between healthy and shrinking leaves depending on my watering. I've heard from everybody that thyme likes things dry, but it just seems to me that every 2-3 days the leaves would shrink and tips of branches would soften and curl down. I would water that night, and the leaves would go back to normal the next morning, all branches erecting upright again (seems to be proof that the shrink was due to the need of water??)

But then after another month, stems would go brown, then the brownness goes up the entire plant and seemingly kill the entire thing regardless of watering. A search on the web would tell me I probably over-watered and suffocated the roots, but if that's the case, why would the leaves be shrinking and drying every 3 days and go back to normal when I water it? This is very confusing to me.

The first time I tried growing thyme was around this time of year, and I thought our summer heat was the major problem. This year I intentionally buy the plants early and they still receive a similar fate (probably dying even faster this time around).

Is it my watering?
Is it the humidity?
Is it the heat? (at early May, the heat isn't even here yet)
Is it the occasional rain that lasts for days with no sun?

I'm just super confused about what to do to keep them alive. The internet makes it sound like Thyme is that super tough guy who would survive on hard rocky soil, but it just keeps dying in my hands. All my propagation attempts fail as well.

I really love steaks so thyme is naturally the number 1 herb that I want to farm on. Would appreciate any technical advice

PS : if pictures would help, I could find a way to get some pictures on here.

[burnie]

Firstly welcome to the forum and secondly I have no idea about growing Thyme, sure someone will be along to help soon. You will have to make more posts before the forum will allow you to post pictures.
this may help
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOmRd0GxSbo

[Jungle Jane]

Hi welcome to the forum I don’t know but what is the compost mix you use,any sand,gravel to help drainage? I don’t grow thyme but I grow rosemary in a sandy compost mix in a clay pot. I don’t know if they’re very similar.

[Martin H]

Thyme grows wild in chalk grassland. So it's adapted to well drained, alkaline soil that is fairly low in nutrients. So I would try adding a generous helping of lime to the potting mix.

I have some thyme growing in a trough of multi-purpose compost outside my kitchen door. It's surviving but not exactly thriving, so maybe I should take my own advice.

[Snoop Puss]

Hello and welcome.

Is it possible that the pots you buy are not in fact a single plant but bits of plant with only a small amount of root? Meaning that the roots struggle to supply enough moisture during the heat of the day to the leaves? But the whole lot are doomed to die anyway? Have you tipped out one of your dead or moribund plants and had a look?

Also, thyme grows naturally in hot but very dry conditions, with significant rain only a few times a year. We have lots here, but it really only looks good in the spring and then the leaves die back naturally in the summer. I don't think even in the wild it's what you might consider a year-round kind of plant.

[harrislpm]

Thank you for the warm welcome guys.

Hi welcome to the forum I don’t know but what is the compost mix you use,any sand,gravel to help drainage? I don’t grow thyme but I grow rosemary in a sandy compost mix in a clay pot. I don’t know if they’re very similar.

Unfortunately, mine were store-bought, already in little pots kind of thyme, and my infinitely-close-to-zero expertise would not allow me to identify the soil mix used. Looks like regular budding soil to me, dark brown looking, not sandy or anything.

Thyme grows wild in chalk grassland. So it's adapted to well drained, alkaline soil that is fairly low in nutrients. So I would try adding a generous helping of lime to the potting mix.

I have some thyme growing in a trough of multi-purpose compost outside my kitchen door. It's surviving but not exactly thriving, so maybe I should take my own advice.

like i said, my pots are store-bought, already in some type of soil provided by the soil. Would it actually help if I scrape off the sides without damaging the roots, and swap in a mix that's more suitable?

Hello and welcome.

Is it possible that the pots you buy are not in fact a single plant but bits of plant with only a small amount of root? Meaning that the roots struggle to supply enough moisture during the heat of the day to the leaves? But the whole lot are doomed to die anyway? Have you tipped out one of your dead or moribund plants and had a look?

Also, thyme grows naturally in hot but very dry conditions, with significant rain only a few times a year. We have lots here, but it really only looks good in the spring and then the leaves die back naturally in the summer. I don't think even in the wild it's what you might consider a year-round kind of plant.

It is highly possible that what I have is not a singular plant. I'm decently positive that it's part of a working plant that they skillfully cut off and plant into soil separately. I mean, how else are they going to make money at USD$2 per pot, right? That said, the top ends of the roots are visible at the top layer of the soil and they look to be at healthy size.

I've never thought about this being a problem though, so thanks for bringing this up. Unfortunately I have not performed an autopsy for all the thyme pots that I failed to grow before throwing them away.



Basically, at first I thought it was the heat. But for my latest attempt (March - present) the heat hasn't even arrived yet.

Then I thought it was the water. But the plants got all whacky when I don't water it for more than 3-ish days. What could have made them look bad if they truly like dry conditions? So I was just really confused and got stuck watching them go brown with no way of saving them.

I don't know man, if this last pot dies, I will pull it out of the pot and check it out.

Thank you all for the ideas.

[veggiechicken]

Hi and welcome
Did you buy them from a food store or a garden store?
Supermarkets here sell lots of potted herbs that are intended to be used fresh and not for growing. These have lots of little seedlings in the pot, and look very bushy.
Some of us buy these pots and split the seedlings into lots more pots and let these grow on.

[harrislpm]

Hi and welcome
Did you buy them from a food store or a garden store?
Supermarkets here sell lots of potted herbs that are intended to be used fresh and not for growing. These have lots of little seedlings in the pot, and look very bushy.
Some of us buy these pots and split the seedlings into lots more pots and let these grow on.

i bought them from a garden store.

I've bought thyme 3 times.

The first time was a tiny plant that has about 20 branches (the species with the softer stems and bigger leaves). It grew extremely quickly in the late spring/early summer setting, but started browning and dying off in mid summer. I started cutting off shoots for propagation (splitting the seedlings like you said) but all of them died out either in the water or later when I put them in soil.

The second time was last Nov-Dec. I figured if it was the humid heat of Hong Kong that killed the plant, maybe I can get more done out of buying one in early winter. Bought a bigger, denser plant this time (the species with harder, drier stems and tiny leaves). It didn't even grow much and started dying within 4 weeks of purchase. I tried cutting stems off like last time but they also died out.

Current is my third attempt. Main plant has no healthy shoots left. I'm just hoping that the main stems aren't dead and fresh shoots will grow again.


During all 3 times, in both species that I've bought, the top tips of the branches all curl down when I stopped watering for 3-4 days. This has been my question all this time about thyme supposedly love being in dry conditions.

I want to buy big pots and split them like you said too, but I can't go big before I'm confident that I can keep them alive. So far I'm stuck on step 1. It frustrates the hell out of me because my rosemary is doing so well.... I have so many pots of them now that all spawned from the same grandparent, and I can't seem to keep ONE thyme plant alive.

[SarrissUK]

And where is the thyme? In full sun or close? My thyme last year was doing really, really well in a spot that gets the sun all day, and that was one helluva hot summer. I know the drainage isn't good enough where I'd put mine though, so it just about died over winter.... but I will lift it and put it in a pot, and put it in the same place.

I will use a very sandy, stony mix with very little compost in it, so that when it rains, the water will drain away very quickly. I'll probably have 25% sand, 25% compost and 50% gravel. What mix is it that you use?

[Ocelot]

I find that thyme requires maximum light and minimal watering, in well-drained soil. Even other plants' shadows can impact its growth.

My success with thyme is variable. I still have some plants from three years ago, which grow on a flat roof extension, in the same pot, in a south facing garden. Some are really healthy, some are not, despite identical conditions.

[Snoop Puss]

I think maybe you're all asking a lot of thyme. The wild stuff here now looks nigh-on dead after flowering earlier this month. But it'll all regrow next year.

[Jay-ell]

Have you moved them into larger pots or are they still in the pots they were grown in? The compost might be exhausted or they may be root bound

[harrislpm]

And where is the thyme? In full sun or close? My thyme last year was doing really, really well in a spot that gets the sun all day, and that was one helluva hot summer. I know the drainage isn't good enough where I'd put mine though, so it just about died over winter.... but I will lift it and put it in a pot, and put it in the same place.

I will use a very sandy, stony mix with very little compost in it, so that when it rains, the water will drain away very quickly. I'll probably have 25% sand, 25% compost and 50% gravel. What mix is it that you use?

Thanks for the input

I'm still not sure if it should be watered as often as I was doing, I will probably experiment again whenever I buy new plants for another attempt. I will make sure I also experiment with transferring at least one new plant to a stony mix immediately after purchase and check if that changes anything

I find that thyme requires maximum light and minimal watering, in well-drained soil. Even other plants' shadows can impact its growth.

My success with thyme is variable. I still have some plants from three years ago, which grow on a flat roof extension, in the same pot, in a south facing garden. Some are really healthy, some are not, despite identical conditions.

yeah.... everyone's been saying that, I feel like I need more thyme to test things out(pun intended). Thank God they are kind of cheap to buy, but at the same time the flower market isn't exactly that close to home.

But I will definitely check if I can go there once before mid-summer, otherwise I will probably have to wait till late fall.

I think maybe you're all asking a lot of thyme. The wild stuff here now looks nigh-on dead after flowering earlier this month. But it'll all regrow next year.

I don't know about others, but personally, I just want to have at least one healthy thyme plant after so many failed attempt.

But a few of you've mentioned that they sometimes regrow the next year, so if all fails, I will cut off all dried up branches and just leave the stems in the pot and see if they grow back whenever.

Have you moved them into larger pots or are they still in the pots they were grown in? The compost might be exhausted or they may be root bound

I had not moved them, but I shall do so in my next attempt.

PS : what does it mean to be "root bound"?

[Snoop Puss]

^The branches that look dead will sprout new leaves and flowers next spring. At least, that's what wild thyme does.