I wish I knew, my rosemary just bit the dust as well.

Yeah, rosemaries are tricky. You have to be fairly attentive with them in the winter. If they dry out too much they die really easily, but they don't like wet feet either. Keep them in a cool room with bright light if available. Root cuttings for insurance.
: D

I've had my Rosemary for a few years now and I agree, the watering thing seems to be tricky, but so far things are OK. Mine is in a very cold room (unheated, but above freezing) in a sunny window and I only water it when the leaves start to look a little dry. It usually perks right up, but you certainly can't let it go for a long time without some water.

In general I think most herbs do better when forced into a semi-dormant state by keeping them on the cold side over winter with the bare minimum of water. That wouldn't apply to things like basil of course, but trying to keep something like that going through winter would be difficult because it needs so much sun.

Kevin

hey

i havent had sun in 2 weeks [she is due east of me about 45 miles] ... and the soil is cold in the pot ... and the plant is drooping .... i fear a root rot

add to that... did you pot it early enough to get some active growth before you brought it in the house .. ???

and worst of all .. with my forced air.. the humidifier is struggling to keep the house at 30% humidity ... and that is not good enough for most annuals/perennials ....

sooo .. i am struggling with improper light/sun .... improper watering ... improper drying .. drainage ... and soil warmth or fluctuation ...

you would have much less trouble .. if you had them on a light stand .. with SOME bottom heat ... and a lot of them to raise the humidity [or tenting them] ...

rather than an odd plant or two on a cold window sill in the great white north of MI ...

a better question is why you think it will work ... lol ...

ken

Like any other plant that is native to the temperate areas of the world, they are just not suitable candidates for longterm indoor growth, just as dwarf conifers do not make suitable houseplants :-) Humidity is typically far too low, same with light levels, household temperatures too high and maintaining even moisture levels in small containers too tricky.

If you have a cool, bright sunroom or similar, you may have better luck - somewhere where temps stay around 50F and with as much sunlight as is available in winter. And plant them up in a good sized container - smaller pots tend to dry out very quickly and that constant drying and rewetting is not helpful. The soil should stay just barely moist to the touch for most herbs (mint, basil, parsley will tolerate moister conditions). It also helps to have a few jugs of water sitting around to bump up humidity levels a bit or use wide shallow saucers filled with rocks or gravel under the pots. Keep these filled with water but not so much that the bottom of the pot actually sits in it. Or use a humidifier.

And get them outside as soon as possible in spring when temperatures warm up sufficiently -- these plants grow best outdoors, not on the kitchen counter or windowsill.

just throw them out. and go to the nursery.. and buy some fresh young babes.. and enjoy them.. until you go buy some new stock for outdoors ...

SAVING these problem children will be a nice experiment.. but can drive a house bound northern gardener insane ... when you have nothing else to do .... in the dark cold miserable days of a MI winter .. seasonal affective disorder at its best ....

another solution.. is trying to root some cuttings.. and if that happens ... then throw momma out ... see pic for a rooting tent in MI in winter ... it is better to have HOPE ... for something new.. rather than struggling with DEATH ...

ken
{{gwi:5067}}

Well, the mint has been going for a couple years now, looks terrible right now but always perks up in the spring when she goes outside. Buying more herb plants in the spring isn't a big deal, they're inexpensive and readily available, but with the mint - I'm really fussy about mint, finding a cultivar that I like the taste of can be tricky, so I just try to keep her going. I did root some cuttings from a bundle of mint I bought from the market, so I will some have fresh stock there, too.

Anyway, why do I try? Why not? They were already potted, no big deal to pick up some pots and put them in the house. :0)

I do have a light cart for seed starting, but I don't want to run it and pay for all that electricity from November onwards for a couple of herb plants, that just seems wasteful, so I don't do that.

I *do* keep constantly reminding my husband that we WILL have a greenhouse at our next house...

go figure.. the invasive weed known as mint is nearly indestructible ... lol ... and it roots freely ...

of course ... you knew what i said.. but i explain for others attracted to the post ...

thought up another example ... as i was slathering my incredibly itchy arms and legs [and treating my cracking fingers] ... it is the furnace.. or lack of humidity that is drying my skin to a crisp ... i would prefer a severe sunburn rather than the itches ... cancer aside ....

imagine what it is doing to those tender leaves ...

in the olden days ... in the way back machine.. single pain windows.. dripped and iced all winter long .... all that humidity ... as we have gone double and triple pane windows .. and closed all the gaps ... the air in the house has become nearly desert-like .. and therein lays [lies??] the problem ...

i wont even get into what it is doing to my sinuses ...

quite a manly post.. if i say so myself ... lol ...

ken

Ken - off topic here, but I just got a new furnace in November with an attached humidifier. After two months, I decided it isn't enough, so I dragged out the portable humidifier that I had stored away (thinking I wouldn't have to use it anymore, but something told me to hang onto it...) and set it up in the living room. Running that unit really does make a difference. I also run a small unit in my bedroom during the day with the door shut (so it gets nice and humid in there then I turn it off to sleep), that makes a *big* difference - I hate waking up in the middle of the night with cotton throat, so the small unit in there takes care of that, and it keeps my skin soft (hey, I'm a girl, it's important to me...).

Perhaps you need more than the unit(s) you have - ?.

naw.. i just like complaining... lol

ken

If you were to post this question in the Herb Forum, you'd find that most of us agree that herbs simply do not like the indoor environment at all. Lack of full sunlight, lack of humidity, etc. all work against most herb plants.

its not hard to intuit.. that whatever has its prime season in july and august ....

is going to have a heck of a time in winter ... in the great white north.. INSIDE a house ... that is not a greenhouse ...

no one would contemplate trying to overwinter a tomato ... so why would anything that is in its prime at the same time.. be any easier ...

now none of that should stop you from trying.. we northern gardeners get pretty antsy this time of year ...

its just that your expectation should be failure... but then.. even a blind nut finds a squirrel once in a while ....

IF a plant roots rather easily .... you simply need to cycle the plants along... bring it in.. start some cuttings.. when they are going good.. get rid of the old... start some more cuttings ... and keep going until spring ... fresh young plants can take a lot more abuse than grandma ...

ken

I agree most if not almost all herbs might not be worth the effort when it comes to keeping them inside over winter - HOWEVER - I make the exception with Rosemary.

After a couple of years, these really do turn into something like a miniature shrub with all the cool branches and bark and a very distinct trunk. If you're into selective pruning, you could have a miniature masterpiece on your hands in no time flat.

But everyone is correct in saying if you can't provide the proper environment, you'll probably end up regretting your decision to save them. My cold room seems well suited to overwintering the things I save, but I really don't save that many plants any longer. It's just too much trouble.

Kevin

Well, among other things, rosemary puts on a fair amount of growth during the winter months, and usually blooms in January. So the biggest problem I usually have with it, is a lot of leggy, floppy growth that absolutely *has* to be cut off ...(and eaten) The one year I didn't have that issue, January and February were very mild, so the rosemary spent an incredibly high percentage of the winter outside.

Getting herbs to make it through the winter is just too much work for me - I'm not willing to invest in grow lights, and a humidifier and whatnot just to keep them going.

I grow them in pots on the patio and then harvest fresh throughout the growing season and then in October & November take the remainder for drying (you can do this on a cookie sheet in the oven) and freezing and then use them throughout the winter for cooking. It's not quite the same as fresh but it's better and cheaper then the bottled herbs in grocery store. The one I really miss and just accept as a seasonal item in the garden is basil as it does not freeze or dry well. But one rosemary plant is good for a whole winter and them some.

Agree about the basil. Dried basil doesn't even taste like basil to me, and I've also tried freezing it, but it's just not up to par. The local market sells "living basil" that is rooted with a small cell of planting medium attached, so I buy that, I can keep it going for at least two weeks in a vase of water on the windowsill. Well, more accurately, I usually use it up within two weeks, and it's nice because I can take some leaves here and there over the course of couple weeks as opposed to buying the clipped leaves, which tend to spoil in less than a week in the fridge. It's really a great idea, plus it comes from a local grower :0).

You can add me to the list of folks that tries every year to overwinter herbs indoors. I have a nice perennial herb bed, but to give up fresh herbs for five months of the year is depressing to me, so I bring in as many as I can with mixed results.

My rosemary is on its third winter, and though it looks a little disgruntled by springtime, it recoups nicely over the summer months. Parsley does very well for me in the kitchen window, and I've had some success with oregano. Each year I try basil and marjoram, and each year they die a slow and painful death. You'd think I'd learn. Oh, and that invasive weed known as mint ... I can't keep it alive, LOL. I've tried letting it overwinter on the porch, in the garage, in the house. Doesn't matter, it never comes back for me, but I don't dare plant it in the ground for fear it will take over.

Ken, I agree about the dryness indoors in winter, but where I live, the plants should be used to it. Our humidity levels are extremely low all year round.

I've thought about starting some herb seeds indoors in the fall, to see if I have any luck that way.

Bonnie