Rosemary going downhill.

[Marb67]

Well it has got much worse so yet another casualty in my every increasing list of garden death. Been kept dry in the greenhouse all winter. No animal pee or the like. I could buy a new one but it will just end up the same. I had planted another I used to have in sandy soil and that died.

[Marb67]

Rosemary going downhill (again)

Why oh why, when I look after this herb does it start to go black and loose it�s leaves ? One was kept sheltered through a mild winter, the other in the kitchen window.

For the life of me I don�t understand why every rosemary plant I buy ends up dead.
Again, I cantpost a picture from my ipad as this frustrating site gives me an �upload filefailed� every time without fail when it used to have no problem with ipad pics.

[veggiechicken]

Marb, I've merged 2 of your threads as the answers this time won't be much different.
There is a photo in the 1st post though!

[Marb67]

These are different plants VC.

[veggiechicken]

I thought you'd say that.
Does the new one have the same appearance as last years?

[SarrissUK]

If it's going black and spongy, it's probably root rot which is caused by too much water. Is there a way to restrict how much water it gets?

[farendwoman]

Is it a Beagle?

Had to think about this comment for a while before I got it .
Poor old smoking beagles!

[DannyK]

Did you look at the potting medium when you bought the plants? I've not bought rosemary for years, but I've found when buying cacti that some retailers use peaty composts, which are OK in industrially controlled houses but deadly for us amateurs as they act as poultices and rot the roots. If you find peat next time, buy somewhere else or clean it off roots and repot 25% grit 75% JI No1.

Do you need to keep it indoors? Surely its hardy there. Survives deep snow here. Far better light outside.

[Nicos]

I've come back from 2weeks away to find a massive dieback of my huuuge shrub. Probably about 1/5 has died back.
The rest of the shrub is in full flower and looks very healthy.
Bizzare!

[bikermike]

I have no luck with Rosemary in the kitchen. I think I should take some cuttings and grow more outside.

[SarrissUK]

My rosemary is about 15 years old now, and it's old and gnarly and several times suffered with root rot in its pot. I've repotted it and put more and more gravel into it, and it seems to love it the more gravel it gets. It's the same with thyme.

[Marb67]

Half of the leaves are healthy green and the tips are black

[Jungle Jane]

iPad photos fail to upload when the file size is too big. Edit the photo & cut a bit off the top & bottom,hope that helps.
Can you cut the black bits off? My rosemary’s quite leggy,it’s been in the same pot for about 3-4 yrs but always flowers it’s a good low maintenance plant but I might repot it one day & maybe bury a bit of the woody stem if that’s ok to do. Have you given your plant any fertiliser? Ive only used seaweed on mine but it must like it.

[SarrissUK]

Black bits on a rosemary usually means it's too wet. Could you repot it with more drainage in the pot, like grit? They don't really need a lot of fertiliser, but absolutely hate having roots too damp.

[Greenleaves]

As Sarriss says, it sounds like root rot because of over watering. As there is no cure, it will problably all die in the end. Time to start again I am affraid Marb