What's wrong with my rosemary?

[Salaam]

Hello all,

Another in my what's wrong series! The leaves have curled, have white spots, and the whole plant looks sickly. I always have problems with rosemary.

Salaam

[Labradors2]

Rosemary prefers a light, well-drained, alkaline soil. It doesn't like to be over-watered. Perhaps you have been loving it a little too much (with the watering?)

Linda

[Salaam]

I think I've watered it once. We've had a lot of rain here and no watering was needed. I think there's only an organic potting mix in pot .

[Worth1]

They hate nitrogen.
Worth

[PhilaGardener]

Might be mildew - give it lots of fresh air and sunshine! As others have said, not too wet (if you have a lot of rain, maybe move under a protective overhanging roof edge?), not too dry, and no fertilizer. Good luck!

[dmforcier]

I think your dirt is too good. Fill a pot with caliche and top with some nice flinty rocks. Then neglect water and fertilizer. Then watch it smile.

[oakley]

Powdery mildew. Doesn't look too bad yet. Very common. Wet feet and too good of a
fresh fluffy soil. Especially if it has moisture control.
I can't over-winter rosemary so i pick up a nice fresh grown plant like yours every
season. It goes right into a pot that grew something else last year. Nice spent soil, good
drainage, sometimes add some sand. No mulch. No food.

For a cure i believe potassium bicarbonate is the best solution. It is a contact fungicide
and will kill off the fungal spores.
I use baking soda on my zucchini but it is only effective as a preventative. Not a cure.

Seems counterintuitive to use water, but laying the pot on its side, spraying heavily to
prevent the puffy loose spores from sticking like a good bath, then spraying...
and get it in some wind to dry off quickly.

And changing the soil will keep it from coming back. Cheap stuff. Dirt. Loves sun but not
wet feet. Mimic dessert dry conditions. And ignore. If you can't move it out of the rain,
cover the soil of your pot with something, like a plastic sleeve so it doesn't get a
constant saturation. Mine is doing just fine in old soil even with some good storms.

Some use a milk spray or dilute vinegar, even mouthwash.

[Worth1]

Cactus mix works good.
Worth

[Labradors2]

What Oakley said sounds great!

Reminds me that I finally discovered how to grow Lavender, another med. native. It likes gravel and sand, and drought. I gave it what it needs by planting it along the side of the house under the eaves in builder's sand. Finally, it is happy! I bet Rosemary would love it there too!

Linda

[dmforcier]

Rosemary really likes full sun, though it will do well enough in bright shade.

[bower]

Rosemary also thrives as a houseplant, for the dry soil and neglect that it gets - although it will also get leggy for trying to climb out the windows towards that sun!

My rosemary is huge and a shocking shape... I just potted up to a ten gallon container and a summer in the greenhouse, but I need to air layer and root the gazillion disoriented side shoots.

[GrowingCoastal]

Originally Posted by bower

Rosemary also thrives as a houseplant, for the dry soil and neglect that it gets - although it will also get leggy for trying to climb out the windows towards that sun!

My rosemary is huge and a shocking shape... I just potted up to a ten gallon container and a summer in the greenhouse, but I need to air layer and root the gazillion disoriented side shoots.

They root very quickly in water, too.

[bower]

Originally Posted by GrowingCoastal

They root very quickly in water, too.

Yeah I need to deal with the last few 'extra' tomatoes so I can get on with Project Rosemary. It is so bad, seriously embarrassing. Need all surplus toms and potting stuff out of the way so that I may stretch her Highness out and figure out the best way to proceed.

[bower]

@ oakley, Lemon Balm is another edible herb that is hardy here. Winter Savory I had for years but finally perished engulfed by moss and conifers. Horseradish and Sunchokes I got from the farm, they are perennial but not especially enthused with my site/companions so far. I suspect the ravens of plucking up horseradish, although a few have survived. Egyptian Onions and other perennial green onions, leeks etc overwintering no problem, garlic especially porcelains even seem to relish the cold spring weather as long as snow is off.
Many perennial medicinal herbs that thrive in my garden, culinary are scarcer but they are cherished!! I have seen parsley overwinter at other sites (not the frost pocket). And if not overwinter, both parsley and cilantro will self seed a patch if allowed. Kale likewise, my mother's kale patch is a yearly free for all. Some kales overwinter for early spring greens and "mockoli".

[dmforcier]

Think it could be trained to be a living, and really good smelling, Christmas tree?