Riling rosemary

[kpk250]

My indoor rosemary is starting to turn on me. It used to be dark green and lush. However as you can see from the attached picture it's starting to turn lighter and some leaves are brown and shriveled. You might have noticed my other posts. Seems indoor herb gardening isn't so easy!!!! The answer always seems to be too much/too little water, too much/too little light, or too much/too little fertilizer. That's pretty vague. Haha. That's like saying a person died because their body stopped functioning. Ok, but what from??? For me it's hard to tell which one it is and what exactly I need to do in order to make the herb happy.

This the is history of the rosemary plant:
- Grew it from seed in seed starting mix.
- Hardened it outside for a few days because none of the herbs I grew seemed to be getting enough light in my south facing window sill, while I got larger pots and potting soil.
- Transplanted the rosemary into a 6" pot with Miracle Gro potting soil from HD that has some fertilizer built in.
- Placed the pot on my kitchen counter under strong grow lights from Horticulter Lighting Group, Quantum Board, 4000K spectrum range, I have this light on for about 11 hours a day with a timer.
- I had a problem with fungus gnats so at watering time I treated them all to two doses of soaked Mosquito Bits (BTI) about one week apart so far.
- I used a little water soluble fertilizer 18-18-21. It says to use 1 1/2 TBSP per gal, so I used about 1 tsp per 16 oz. Whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiich isn't diluting it, it's almost doubling it. 1 1/2 TBSP / Gal = .035 tsp/oz; 1 tsp / 16oz = .063 tsp/oz. I didn't use much per pot though. Just a few squirts from the 16 oz water bottle in each pot.

And now you can see the picture of what's happening.

Any ideas?

 

[GardenGalaxy]

Hi there!

I'm also big on herb gardening - I can confirm it can be much more challenging than it seems haha!

Based on the history of the plant, it sounds like you're doing a lot of things right, like providing plenty of light and using a good potting soil with fertilizer built in. However, the two doses of soaked Mosquito Bits might have been a bit much for the plant. It's important to be careful with insecticides and not to use too much, as it can harm the plant.

To troubleshoot, you might want to try adjusting the watering schedule to see if that helps. Make sure the soil is dry to the touch before watering, and then water deeply until the water runs out the bottom of the pot. You could also try using a moisture meter to get a more accurate reading of when the plant needs water.

Another thing to consider is the temperature and humidity in your kitchen. Rosemary prefers a cooler, drier environment, so if your kitchen is very warm or humid, that could be causing problems. Finally, you could try pruning the plant back a bit to encourage new growth and to remove any dead or yellowing leaves.

 

[Tetters]

@kpk250 In your other posts (I just had a look) it seems you are having trouble with a lot of your indoor herbs. May I ask if you have access to an outside garden as well? Your plants would probably like being out in the fresh air better. Fungus gnats can be a pain, and are often due to over-watering. Another thing you could try is yellow sticky fly catching patches if you can get them.

 

[lifegardener]

My indoor rosemary is starting to turn on me. It used to be dark green and lush. However as you can see from the attached picture it's starting to turn lighter and some leaves are brown and shriveled. You might have noticed my other posts. Seems indoor herb gardening isn't so easy!!!! The answer always seems to be too much/too little water, too much/too little light, or too much/too little fertilizer. That's pretty vague. Haha. That's like saying a person died because their body stopped functioning. Ok, but what from??? For me it's hard to tell which one it is and what exactly I need to do in order to make the herb happy.

This the is history of the rosemary plant:
- Grew it from seed in seed starting mix.
- Hardened it outside for a few days because none of the herbs I grew seemed to be getting enough light in my south facing window sill, while I got larger pots and potting soil.
- Transplanted the rosemary into a 6" pot with Miracle Gro potting soil from HD that has some fertilizer built in.
- Placed the pot on my kitchen counter under strong grow lights from Horticulter Lighting Group, Quantum Board, 4000K spectrum range, I have this light on for about 11 hours a day with a timer.
- I had a problem with fungus gnats so at watering time I treated them all to two doses of soaked Mosquito Bits (BTI) about one week apart so far.
- I used a little water soluble fertilizer 18-18-21. It says to use 1 1/2 TBSP per gal, so I used about 1 tsp per 16 oz. Whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiich isn't diluting it, it's almost doubling it. 1 1/2 TBSP / Gal = .035 tsp/oz; 1 tsp / 16oz = .063 tsp/oz. I didn't use much per pot though. Just a few squirts from the 16 oz water bottle in each pot.

And now you can see the picture of what's happening.

Any ideas?

Grew lots of Rosemary over the years, and one thing that kept it going well was letting the soil surrounding it really dry out before further watering. Also, it thrives without the need for adding much amendments. It welcomes a bit of tough love.