[dromio]

Bought a rosemary plant in garden centre late April. Re-potted, hardened off, and been  outside since early May. Seemed to be doing fine, but it's no longer thriving, the leaves appear speckled and are starting to fall off.



never had a problem with a rosemary before. I thought they were indestrucible.

Help!

TIA

D

[Yorkie]

Welcome to the forums 

I've split your post off so it's a new thread for your question rather than on a thread that's 8 years old 

Are the leaves turning a different colour before they drop off?  Have you noticed any pests or beetles etc. on the plants at all?  Or in the soil?

Can you get a photo of the plant?

[dromio]

thanks for the welcome ... and the ammendment

I *think* the leaves might be getting a little speckled, and they're beginning to fall off, more than they should be. It's not thriving and it may be developing a greyish tinge instead of that lush, shiny green a rosemary has.

D

[Yorkie]

Hmmm, not sure.

Is it all the leaves or just, for example, the lowest ones?  What have your watering patterns been?

[JayG]

Only thing I can think of, in the absence of obvious insect attack, is that a few years ago I used to 'park' the business end of my garden hose in my rosemary bush. 

I must have forgotten to turn the tap off, so for a few days there was a slow drip into the heart of the plant - subsequently a few stems developed some sort of fungal infection and started to die.

Rest of it recovered when I cut out the affected stems and found somewhere else to park my hose. 

[mumofstig]

JayG, in a roundabout way you've mentioned over-watering, I'm wondering if - in one of the driest springs on record, if it is has just been too dry, if it is still in a pot? 

[dromio]

Thank you for your replies guys,

I have not seen any bugs or insects. I spent a week or two hardening it off and then it went outside early May.
I think the top shoots *may* be lusher and springier than the lower shoots, but maybe that's just 'cos you suggested it and now I'm seeing it.
Your hose provides a formidable lesson but I'm pretty sure I didn't over-water it,  that said It has something of the appearance of what books describe as over-watering. This is a damp part of the planet and I'm accustomed to warmer/drier climes.

I've taken it out of its pot and it's sitting inside on a cardboard packing tray on a window sill. It does not appear damp. Then again, I've never dug up a rosemary and so I wouldn't know a damp rosemary rootball if I sat and stared at one. Which I've done quit a a bit this morning.

 

D

[Subversive_plot]

Hi dromio

Too wet, or too dry, can both result in loss of a plant's ability to take up water.  Too wet can cause root death, too dry - well just not enough water.  While you were staring at that root ball , how did the roots look?  Healthy?

The only other thing I thought could be the cause: spider mites?  Tiny, you might not even see them.  You can do a "wipe test" to check, just take a damp tissue or paper towel and firmly wipe the leaves, if you see some orange or red tinge, it could be mites. If you see really tiny webs in and on the leaves, that supports mites as the cause.  See https://ask.extension.org/questions/313258 for information.

[dromio]

Thanks for the thought - it appears free of The Mite.
I put the rosemary back in its pot a couple of days ago. The rootball looked bone dry and some of the tops had actually started to wilt, so I took that as a hint. It looked lusher and the grey tinge was gone - of course that could just be an anecdotal, wishful, biofeedback brand of rose-tinted metaphor. But I did it anyway and the next morning the poor little thing appeared not unhappy ie the wilt was no more.
I've even taken a couple of cuttings.

I shall attend with interest.

D

[al78]

JayG, in a roundabout way you've mentioned over-watering, I'm wondering if - in one of the driest springs on record, if it is has just been too dry, if it is still in a pot? 

That would be my thought. Here in Horsham, if the Met Office monthly average maps are anything to go by, we have had less than three inches of rain in the last three months, and the last two days have seen teemperatures over 30C. It has so far been a very hostile year for growing anything outdoors.