Introducing Rosemary!
We’ve all heard the song by Simon & Garfunkel about the essential herbs. Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. What they didn’t tell us in the song, however, is the fact that rosemary plants can be surprisingly tricky to grow indoors!
Rosemary seeds tend to have a pretty low germination rate, they are slow to grow, and don’t like it when conditions change too much. But don’t be deterred! Once a plant is well established it can live to be over 30 years old!
Part of the same botanical family as all those other herbs, the mint family (lamiaceae), rosmarinus officinalis is an essential ingredient when thinking about cooking all different kinds of meats.
How great would it be to be able to pluck some leaves from your indoor herb garden! In this article we’re going to go through all it takes for growing rosemary indoors, so sit tight and get a pen and paper!
What do Rosemary Plants Look Like?
The rosemary plant is an evergreen variety. This means that its leaves will remain green and persist all year long, as long as the plant’s ideal growing conditions are met and maintained.
Each rosemary leaf is needle-like and is very similar looking to that of a hemlock needle. Each leaf is 2-4cm long, white below and green above and it is covered in very short, dense, and wooly hairs.
We don’t need to tell you that rosemary leaves are aromatic. They are said to have a bitter and astringent flavor and taste that goes great with savory dishes. These leaves are accompanied by blue flowers.
There are both upright and trailing rosemary plants. The upright shrubs can achieve heights up to 5 feet (especially when growing wild) and trailing shrubs will linger closer to ground under 12 inches.
Where do Rosemary Plants Come From?
Rosemary is originally a Mediterranean herb and is used to growing wild in places that are very dry, have rocky soil, and have super hot temperatures and a ton of sun. They’ve become naturalized in certain areas of Asia and North, Central, and South America as well.
Rosemary can exist happily outdoors all year long in USDA growing zones 6 through 10, but should be kept as an indoor plant outside of those zones. There are certain cultivars that are able to withstand cold winter temperatures.
As an indoor herb, a rosemary seed will require very similar conditions and should be treated as a Mediterranean herb. A potted rosemary plant will need those same dry, sunny, and hot conditions.
How is Rosemary Used?
Culinary – first and foremost, people love growing rosemary in their herb garden. Rosemary is an essential fresh herb for all sorts of savory dishes and meat dishes, or people will keep it as a dried herb in their pantry.
Ornamental – not everybody knows this, but rosemary actually makes for a great ornamental plant too! This is because it has an attractive growth habit, it’s amazingly drought tolerant, it’s leaves repel pesky insects, and flowers attract beneficial insects.
Companion planting – gardeners usually tend to plant fresh herbs in a large container or large pot along with other ornamental plants because their highly fragrant leaves help deter pesky insects and attract beneficial pollinators. Fresh herbs are also great for companion planting because they tend to add vital nutrients to the soil.
Perfumery – rosemary has also had a long history in perfumery. It’s often distilled into an essential oil and used for aromatherapy and is an ingredient in more musky, earthy perfume scents.
How do you Grow Rosemary Indoors?
Now for the reason that we’re all here: caring for a rosemary plant of your very own. There are a few mistakes that even the most seasoned gardener can make when it comes to growing rosemary indoors. So we’ve prepared a few things to look out for and list of things that you will need:
- cactus mix & fertile potting mix
- rosemary seeds
- fish fertilizer
- drainage pan & pebbles
- terracotta pot
Soil – it is super duper important that rosemary is planted in soil that is extremely well draining. It should basically be treated like a cactus in this way.
Lots of gardeners will actually combine fertile potting mix with some cactus-specific soil to ensure that it has excellent drainage.
To ensure further drainage, it’s a good idea to put the pot that the rosemary plant is in over top of a drainage pan that is filled with pebbles and water. This will maintain the right soil moisture and excellent drainage, too.
Water – watering rosemary is an area where lots of gardeners will falter. Though it is very drought tolerant, that is only the case for a mature plant that is superbly well established.
Rosemary also hates having wet feet. If it is over watered it will very quickly develop root rot, and if it’s watered from high above and water gets all over the leaves, it will quickly develop powdery mildew as well.
The best way to maintain the right level of moisture for a rosemary plant is to let the couple top inches of soil to dry out before watering again, but to not let the soil dry out completely.
Sun Exposure – this is a big one. Rosemary plants need a ton of bright light. It’s easier to achieve the right level of sunlight outdoors by just placing them in an area with all day sun, but they won’t get enough indoors.
If you happen to have a south facing window that gets direct sunlight for at least 6-8 hours, then the plant should be okay. But otherwise, you’ll need supplemental light through a grow light.
Set your grow light timer to 14 hours a day and make sure that light is at least 5 inches above the top of the plant. This will be fine if the plant has lived its entire life inside, but if it’s been moved indoors, it’s also important to slowly introduce the plant to those new conditions.
A rosemary plant will most frequently perish because it is shocked by the change in sun exposure. To prevent this, very gradually move your rosemary to shady areas during the for a gradually increasing period of time so that it learns how to be more efficient with the amount of sunlight it receives.
Fertilizer – rosemary plants, though used to growing in pretty poor soil in the wild, will benefit from receiving fertilizer during their active growing season.
Gardeners have found that diluted fish fertilizer seems to be the best option for a rosemary plant. The plant only needs to be fertilizer 2-3 times during its growing season.
Potting – rosemary is also a plant that likes to be confined. Choosing the right size of pot is a very important aspect of rosemary care. Basically the pot should be as deep as the plant is tall.
As the plant grows, an indoor rosemary plant will need to be transplanted to a larger pot. Luckily they don’t grow very quickly, so that won’t have to happen too often.
Pruning – pruning goes right along with potting. Rosemary is interesting in that it performs better if it is pruned at the roots. Basically, in order to keep the size in check you prune the roots to maintain the same size above the soil.
FAQs
Are rosemary plants deer resistant?
Something awesome about growing herbs is that herbs usually have very fragrant leaves. Growing herbs in the garden help deter larger pests like deer, rabbits, and squirrels.
What are the damaging agents to rosemary plants?
Growing herbs indoors can sometimes be tricky! There are all sorts of things that can go wrong, but the most damage that can occur to rosemary will happen either through being overwatered or not receiving enough sun. Potted rosemary is very susceptible to root rot and to powdery mildew.
When is a good time to harvest rosemary?
The time of year to harvest rosemary will vary according to when it was planted. Most herbs are best to harvest right before they flower as the flavor of the leaves will change slightly once the plant flowers, which is also the case for harvesting rosemary.
Are rosemary plants perennials?
Rosemary plants are evergreen perennials, meaning that they bear leaves that will remain green and persist all year long, and they will also continuously before small blue flowers year after year as long as their ideal growing conditions are maintained.
What USDA growing zone can rosemary plants grow in?
Rosemary can exist happily outdoors all year long in USDA growing zones 6 through 10, but should be kept as an indoor plant outside of those zones. There are certain cultivars that are able to withstand cold winter temperatures.
How often should you water rosemary?
Watering rosemary is an area where lots of gardeners will falter. Though it is very drought tolerant, that is only the case for a mature plant that is superbly well established.
Rosemary also hates having wet feet. If it is over watered it will very quickly develop root rot, and if it’s watered from high above and water gets all over the leaves, it will quickly develop powdery mildew as well.
Should you prune rosemary?
Rosemary is interesting in that it performs better if it is pruned at the roots. Basically, in order to keep the size in check you prune the roots to maintain the same size above the soil.
Do rosemary plants prefer full sun or partial shade?
Rosemary plants need a ton of bright light. It’s easier to achieve the right level of sunlight outdoors by just placing them in an area with all day sun, but they won’t get enough indoors.
If you happen to have a south facing window that gets direct sunlight for at least 6-8 hours, then the plant should be okay. But otherwise, you’ll need supplemental light through a grow light.
Set your grow light timer to 14 hours a day and make sure that light is at least 5 inches above the top of the plant. This will be fine if the plant has lived its entire life inside, but if it’s been moved indoors, it’s also important to slowly introduce the plant to those new conditions.
A rosemary plant will most frequently perish because it is shocked by the change in sun exposure. To prevent this, very gradually move your rosemary to shady areas during the for a gradually increasing period of time so that it learns how to be more efficient with the amount of sunlight it receives.
Where can I buy rosemary seeds?
Rosemary seeds can easily be found at your local nursery or garden centre, or they can be ordered online.
What is the ideal potting soil for a rosemary plant?
It is super duper important that rosemary is planted in potting soil that is extremely well draining. It should basically be treated like a cactus in this way.
Lots of gardeners will actually combine fertile potting mix with some cactus-specific soil to ensure that it has excellent drainage.
To ensure further drainage, it’s a good idea to put the pot that the rosemary plant is in over top of a drainage pan that is filled with pebbles and water. This will maintain the right soil moisture and excellent drainage, too.
What is the easiest way to propagate a rosemary plant?
Propagating rosemary can really cause gardeners a lot of trouble. Planting rosemary straight from seed usually doesn’t pan out – as a rosemary seed will rarely grow into a rosemary seedling – and gardeners will usually be more successful with rosemary cuttings.
Rosemary cuttings can be obtained from a fellow gardener who needs to prune rosemary themselves. You can then choose to plant rosemary inside or outside.
How tall do rosemary plants get?
There are both upright and trailing rosemary plants. The upright shrubs can achieve heights up to 5 feet (especially when growing wild) and trailing shrubs will linger closer to ground under 12 inches.
