French Tarragon

[marmalade]

Hiya

I have a lovely french tarragon plant that I bought from a shop looking a bit ill. However, after a couple of weeks of being spoken to (telling it what it's going to be used for ) and watering and sunshine it's looking very very healthy

I know you can't grow french tarragon from seed so I assume that you can either take a cutting/separate it - which is it?

can I take a cutting from it and start another plant off? I use tarragon a lot

thanks x

[Capsid]

French tarragon rarely sets seed. It is propagated by division, or from cuttings. Division is best undertaken during the dormant period - autumn or early spring. Carefully cut or gently pull a piece of root apart from the main plant, making sure there is a dormant bud attached. Cut the piece of root to about 8-10cm (3-4in) in length. Put these to root, laid horizontally or vertically, in a well drained organic cuttings mix. Keep them cool but frost-free. Water initially, but keep the compost on the dry rather than wet side.

[marmalade]

I'm sorry I must be quite thick but I'm not sure I understand what you mean

cut the roots to 3-4"? how do I then put them to root? in what?

sorry, I'm new to this

[Capsid]

OK maybe this is easier and what I would do now. Perhaps your plant is still too young to take cuttings from and also it's the wrong time of year. I recommend you let it grow and establish itself into a bigger plant this season and then in autumn or next spring dig it up and split the root and then repot that.

[marmalade]

thanks

x

[Eco-Chic]

Cuttings take readily. Why not take 3 or 4 cuttings every week to build up a Tarragon nursery? I use 50% MP compost and 50% sand and put a tennis ball tube over the top of a 3" pot to avoid transpiration. A poly bag will do if you don't have tubes.

[marmalade]

50% sand seems a lot! maybe that's why my other cuttings never really took

I shall have a go it's so healthy and growing so fast it certainly won't hurt!

[bluemoon]

French Tarragon is indestructible, whatever you do to it will probably work.

[BarleySugar]

Mine wasn't. I bought a decent sized plant and split it into 3, each had a good bit of root, but 2 out of the 3 died, so I've ended up with one small plant

[cupcake]

I find it quite tender, I've lost quite a few plants in the open (we have free draining soil) I now grow it in a pot and take it into the greenhouse for winter.

[TonyF]

French tarragon is so hardy, killing it off is like killing off mint. Mine survives oputside in a herb box right through the winter, box is about 75 cm square and stays where it is through all the minus 8 and minus 10.

If I thin it I just cut rooted pieces off, pot them on and leave them, the mother plant soon fills the gap.

[valmarg]

French tarragon is so hardy, killing it off is like killing off mint. Mine survives oputside in a herb box right through the winter, box is about 75 cm square and stays where it is through all the minus 8 and minus 10.

C'mon TonyF, you can't compare the Dordogne with (in our case) North Staffordshire. French tarragon is most certainly not hardy here.

I understand Russian tarragon can be grown from seed, but is much coarser, and inferior in flavour.

I got my French tarragon from a reduced price pack in a supermarket. I rooted the cuttings, and have kept it going by splitting for about 10 years.

To root the cuttings I would use a 50/50 mix of compost and vermiculite.

valmarg

[TonyF]

The Dordogne in the winter is really cold, wet and miserable. If North Staffordshire has consistant rain for weeks (well, perhaps it has) and temperatures that regularly hit minus 8 and stay that way for a week, they're comparable cos it's the cold and wet wot does it. OK, summers are much hotter/warmer but many plants here die off in the winter, just the same as they do in the UK.

[valmarg]

Oops sorry TonyF, I assumed anywhere so far south of here as the Dordogne would have milder winters. As OH says, 'It's not very often that you're right missis, but you're wrong again'.

I would have to say in mitigation, French tarragon is most definitely not a thug round here. It needs to be carefully nurtured, unlike the real thug - mint.

valmarg

[Tam]

I live in the borders of Scotland and my French Tarragon has survived through many winters. The first plant I bought was forgotten about and lived in its pot untended throughout an extremely cold winter - now many of its grandchildren live happily in the garden and in many other gardens too. I love it with mushrooms.