Rosemary Query

[broadway]

Hi Folks,

Took some cuttings a while ago that have now rooted. Question is what do I do now, leave them in pots, cold frame, plant out, yadda yadda yadda?

Cheers As Always

Danny

[Flummery]

If they are hardened off I'd plant them out. It's a tough plant. I think things do better in the ground - I tend to forget to water things!

If you've got several you can split the difference - belt & braces!

[Hilary B]

I would tend to plant them where you want them, but if you are worried about frost, keep them in a cold-frame (in pots) until spring and THEN plant out. Rosemary isn;'t particularly bothered by frost. Preventing waterlogging might be more important. It grows wild in Spain, on hillsides which get heavy rian at intervals, but it mostly runs off. My parents had a rosemary bush which was planted from a cutting taken in summertime, and just planted out as soon as it had roots. The bush was still going strong 25 years later (then more cuttings were taken to replace it because it had got 'leggy').

[andrewo]

I suggest you keep them in pots in a cold frame for now. Though they may be hardy when it comes to frost, they don't like to sit in the wet - and we've had plenty of that recently. They can only come through a damp winter when they've had time to get their roots down, planting it now won't allow for that and with wind, rain, you may strike lucky and they'll pull through but as relatively new plants, I would play on the safe side, pot them on into larger pots with plenty of grit in the soil and leave in the coldframe.

[marigold007]

I've got mine in a terracotta pot. Last Winter I put it next to a brick wall in a sunny location.

[andrewo]

I have mine in a pot now too, it's by the front door and is sheltered all year round.

[maddles]

Rosemary query

I left mine in pots containing a mix of compost and sand in the (unheated) greenhouse through the winter and planted them out the following spring. They're just starting to bush out now. They really don't like getting waterlogged so that's the main thing to avoid until they're a bit more established. Good luck!

[geoff]

Overwintering rosemary

Rosemary has a strange response to winter, I've learned the hard way
The upper plant will resist frost, but the roots don't like it, so the plant dies
There are two ways round this

If you plant rosemary outside in yer proper soil, the roots will go deep enough to evade frost, but you must plant it early enough in the year to give the roots time to grow down

If you keep it in a pot, you must bring it into shelter for the winter It doesn't have to be heated; a shed, unheated greenhouse or a garage will do

Why not try both options, and see what happens?

[BrideXIII]

I take at least 20 cuttings twice a year, root them in a glass of water, then pot them off.
these stand outside all summer and autumn then cold frame for the winter, and plant out late spring the following year, i have wintered them out too, still in the pots, and not lost more than 10%, they are very hardy.

I recently tried pinching the tops out of half, it made no difference to the growth.