More herbs going drastically downhill

[Marb67]

Well, here I go again with more dying herbs. For the life of me I just can't understand why this happens to nearly every plant I buy/grow. Rosemary again going brown at tips (purchases healthy plant from Waitrose a few weeks ago and potted on) Thyme going brown in middle and spreading (bought at very good nursery and planted in herb bed in full sun) and a recently very healthy sage cutting I grew on through Winter which is pretty much dead.

Do I cut off all the brown, dying foliage ?

The only shop bought (Waitrose again) herb that is thriving in soil is coriander.

I can't work it out as other plants are healthy enough, I don't use chemicals or pesticides, overfeed, over or under water

[roitelet]

I would suggest that your Thyme needs a haircut to encourage new growth lower down on the stems. The others, no idea!

[ameno]

What compost are you growing them in? That would be my first suspicion, especially with the burnt leaf tips on the rosemary.

Also, on the subject of the rosemary, have you checked to make sure it is definitely just a single plant? Supermarket herb pots are often 3-5 plants all stuffed in together, and they don't last long like that. They need separating.

[Snoop Puss]

Herbs have a natural life cycle. The wild thyme here is dying back, just twiggy sticks left. And the wild rosemary is nowhere near as vibrant as it was in the spring. I think it's optimistic to think we'll all have lovely looking herbs of every kind all year round.

Sorry.

Edited to add: if the first picture is your sage cutting, Marb, I reckon it's too wet and the compost needs something in it to improve drainage. Sorry again.

You could have the same problem with the rosemary: https://www.yourindoorherbs.com/2-re...ple-solutions/

[Marb67]

Well the thyme was only bought about 5 weeks ago and planted out so it shouldn't be dying. The Rosemary is a single plant. Every Rosemary I have ever grown (different composts/plants) have always ended up going brown and dying despite doing everything listed in the books. It just seems I am not meant to grow herbs for some strange reason.

[Nicos]

I just did a gooogle as to what causes rosemary leaves to go brown and also why at causes thyme to turn brown and both times it’s come up with overwatering.

You say you don’t overwater so maybe it’s lack of drainage...maybe the soil holds too much water? Can you add vermiculite or something to help the drainage?

[ameno]

Well the thyme was only bought about 5 weeks ago and planted out so it shouldn't be dying. The Rosemary is a single plant. Every Rosemary I have ever grown (different composts/plants) have always ended up going brown and dying despite doing everything listed in the books. It just seems I am not meant to grow herbs for some strange reason.

Have you tried just growing them in the ground? Rosemary don't really like being in pots, anyway. They make sizable shrubs. Around where I am they do just fine in the ground, even in our clay soil.

[Marb67]

Yes, tried in the ground with same results. I can tell you I don't overwater.

[Martin H]

Too much water. Knock them out of the pot, you'll find the roots are waterlogged. It is so easy to overwater these modern peat-free composts, I do it myself. The compost can look dry on the surface but still be sodden an inch or two down.
Waterlogging is the one thing mediterranean herbs hate. They can handle drought no problem.

[Plot70]

When I lived in Hampshire I got some rosemary going from seed taken from some in a local council planter.
It was in an inside out cat tire on a flat roof and it grew on to flower and sefe seed into a crumbly 8 foot brick wall.
When I moved out the plant in the wall was flowering every year. It never got watered due to the location.

[Marb67]

I can tell you it hasn't been overwatered. I mixed grit into the compost when I potted it.

[Containergardener]

I have thyme in terracotta pots and I don't water them . Got them last yr and overwintering in the greenhouse as we get so much rain. It's more grit than soil.
I've had thyme in large planter too again unwatered.
Rosemary I've never managed to grow . It's very wet here anyway so don't bother.

Your thyme I would chop off brown bits .
Sage chop off, put in shade and see what happens .
Rosemary looks ok to me. Maybe moisture and sun caused leaf burn. Rest looks OK.

[quanglewangle]

We grow thyme as ground cover and fill-in between stones on a path. It's quite important to cut it back after flowering, even before the flowers fade completely. This stops woody patches developing. The woody bits in the pic are where it's been neglected and not cut back.

We also top dress it after flowering - tease a little of a mixture of soil, compost and fertiliser down into the plant. But otherwise its roots are in course gravel. In the foreground it has spread onto concrete and is doing fine.

Smells great when walked over and doesn't seem to mind.

[Marb67]

Thanks folks, I have taken on board the suggestions, cut out the dead wood, flowers and packed in more grit under the plant to help drainage more. The Rosemary I will just leave and only water when very very dry. I don't want to plant out because I would have to take it in again in Winter.

[quanglewangle]

Rosemary is frost hardy if it is dry. We grew it outside when we lived in East Anglia, which is pretty cold in winter. The soil was thin light and sandy and that's the key.