Revive plugged rosemary?

[Smoson]

We pulled out this rosemary couple of days ago with some roots from relatively dry soll. After that we kept it in water for a couple of days and it looked healthy. So we thought we can put it into soil, but it started to become very dry, so we returned it into the water. is this the right thing to do? This is how it looks now. We also Think to add some fertilizer... please Help as it seems to die... Thanks

 

[DirtMechanic]

You may simply be drowning it. Dig a hole, fill it with water, let it recede, plant the rosemary and water it lightly every few days. And be patient, it grows relatively slowly and effects like root damage from moving take a while to show up. When the roots got cleansed of dirt it really hurt their ability to behave normally and will take a while to repair.

 

[Arden Sage]

Judging by the photo, I'm sorry to say, it looks dead Rosemary does not like being kept in water. It likes a hot sunny, drier spot.
@DirtMechanic has offered advice which you should follow in an attempt to save it (the roots may surprise you yet!) but my guess is that you may have to buy a replacement as those leaves look quite dull.

 

[Smoson]

Thanks for your responses! We put it back into quite dry soil and on a very sunny spot at the window, where we had it before. The only confusion, and reason we put it back into water, was that it was well for the week we had it in water and only got worse once we planted it into the soil...

 

[jen]

We pulled out this rosemary couple of days ago with some roots from relatively dry soll. After that we kept it in water for a couple of days and it looked healthy. So we thought we can put it into soil, but it started to become very dry, so we returned it into the water. is this the right thing to do? This is how it looks now. We also Think to add some fertilizer... please Help as it seems to die... Thanks

I transplanted my rosemary last fall, soil to soil, it died back some. But with heavy watering during the winter and spring it came back. Not much in size just green and healthy and longer branches. I did not harvest any until now, fall. Just so i wouldn't shock it. I find that my herbs do NOT like fertilizer. Kills them. Its probably me I'm sure. I also do not cover my rosemary in winter as i am in california and rarely get snow, but do get below freezing temps. So alot of my herbs die but come back. Hope that helps.

 

[Tetters]

If that was my plant I would put it on the compost heap and buy a new one..... a very small one, as a smaller young plant would make more progress in the garden. As @Arden Sage has said, Rosemary likes a spot in the sun with fairly poor soil and very good drainage. If you do this, in the springtime when your plant makes some growth you could take a few cuttings and increase your stock.

 

[AuntRose53]

If that was my plant I would put it on the compost heap and buy a new one..... a very small one, as a smaller young plant would make more progress in the garden. As @Arden Sage has said, Rosemary likes a spot in the sun with fairly poor soil and very good drainage. If you do this, in the springtime when your plant makes some growth you could take a few cuttings and increase your stock.

I would have to disagree with this in some ways. Rosemary actually prefers dense rich soil.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I would have to disagree with this in some ways. Rosemary actually prefers dense rich soil.

I will go with dense soil for sure as my clay has that property in abundance, and rosemary grows easily here.

 

[Smoson]

It actually died of in the end. I want to put a new one, mix the gardening soil with some sand to make it denser. The spot is very sunny, but the main problem is that the room is climatised, always at 23 degrees, which many plants cannot handle well

 

[Marck]

Greetings, welcome to the Forums.

I agree, the plant pictured in the OP is basically dead. It is not clear what caused the initial decline, possibly either underwatering or overwatering, but removing all the soil from the plant and soaking it for several days in a vat of water was surely its death-knell.
That was not at all the right thing to do.

If overwatering or poor drainage caused the decline, then reduced irrigation and/or correction of any drainage problems with the soil, contianer or saucer needed to be done.

Sometimes a container plant's soil becomes overly dry, and soil becomes hydrophobic. it will then need to be soaked to allow water retention to occur. This is done by soaking the entire container and soil rootball of the plant in a large vat or bucket for a few hours or overnight. If the container and rootball is so light that it floats, it must be somehow held or weighed down underwater so proper soaking can occur.

Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus, formerly Rosmarinus officinalis) grown in containers should be planted in well-drained potting soil, watered regularly and given full sun conditions. Growing Rosemary indoors is not ideal, but it can sometimes work in very sunny/high light settings.

Planted in-ground, Rosemary can grow well in full (to part) sun, in clay, loam, or sandy soils, but drainage must be excellent and warm-season irrigation should be low to none. I grow Rosmary in well-drained clay soil, in full sun, where it gets virtually no summer irrigation.