A Detailed Guide to Rosemary Planting Methods, Precautions and Pruning Techniques
Rosemary has been cultivated in China for a very long time, and records about it date back to ancient times. Rosemary has many benefits: it can be used as medicine, in cooking, or for brewing tea, all of which are good choices, so many people now like to grow it. However, when planting it, you need to have a comprehensive understanding of its cultivation techniques.
Rosemary Planting Methods
1. Temperature: It tolerates both heat and cold. It likes a warm climate and can adapt to a very wide temperature range, growing well at about 20-30 degrees C, and the temperature is especially suitable in autumn and winter when there is no cold snap. It can also grow smoothly in summer, but growth is slower during periods of high temperature on flat land.
2. Soil: Rich in sand and well drained. Mediterranean plants all need good drainage, and rosemary is no exception, so a sandy soil with smooth drainage is best. Alternatively, you can add coconut husk powder, coarse sand, vermiculite, perlite and other media to potting soil to ensure smooth drainage.
3. Layering propagation: Taking advantage of rosemary's ability to produce adventitious roots on its stems, bend a branch close to the ground, cover it with soil, and leave the top exposed to the air. Once new roots have grown, cut it from the parent plant to form a new individual, and plant it out in the open ground.
4. Planting out: To ensure high quality and high yield of rosemary, it is best to plant it in acidic sandy loam with plenty of sunlight, and apply plenty of decomposed organic fertilizer before planting. The planting spacing is 50 cm × 35 cm.
5. Fertilizer: Apply a long-lasting liquid fertilizer once every two weeks. Most herb plants generally do not need fertilizer, but rosemary needs a little more. You can choose a long-lasting liquid fertilizer and use it once every two weeks.
6. Watering: Water every day when it is dry. Although rosemary is fairly drought tolerant, it needs a fair amount of water; if it is too dry, the leaves become thin and fine, and the fragrance is less intense. It needs watering almost every day, while in winter wait until the soil is dry before watering.
Precautions for Rosemary
1. Do not water heavily. In fact, gardeners water based on experience, and those growing rosemary for the first time need to pay attention: in summer's high temperatures, although more watering is needed, you must not water heavily, as the plant easily wilts and growth slows. In addition, the same situation can occur with perennial plants if watering is improper.
2. Do not use chemical fertilizer. After rosemary blooms, it needs a sufficient amount of fertilizer to promote long-lasting flowering, but it is best not to use chemical fertilizer, to avoid burning the seedlings.
Rosemary Pruning Techniques
If rosemary is not pruned, it can grow to 1 or 2 m tall and is suitable as an outdoor hedge, but the whole plant will look slightly messy because of its sideways-growing branches; timely pruning can maintain ventilation and give it a better shape. The rosemary you cut off can be used in cooking or in products, but note that you should prune the uppermost tender stem portion, not cut too long, and not cut into the woody part; if you harvest too frequently or cut it too short, the plant will be unable to sprout or bloom again. Also note that the sap at the cut becomes sticky, so when harvesting you can wear gloves and long sleeves to avoid skin allergies. After touching it, you should also wash your hands immediately and avoid touching your eyes.
How to Propagate Rosemary
1. Rosemary cuttings propagation. You need to choose fresh, healthy stems that are not yet fully woody for cuttings propagation. This is mostly done from winter to early spring. Cut a branch about 10—15 cm from the top of the rosemary, then remove about one third of the leaves from the lower part of the branch. Then insert the branch directly into a moist medium. The minimum nighttime temperature for cuttings is 13 degrees C. Roots will appear after about 3—4 weeks, and after 7 weeks it can be planted out in the open ground.
2. Rosemary layering propagation. Bend a branch of the rosemary plant that is close to the ground, cover it with soil, and leave the top of the plant exposed to the air. Once new roots have grown, it can be cut from the parent plant to form a new individual, and can then be planted out in an open area.
When growing rosemary, you can generally start with its growth habits and choose an appropriate time for sowing. In the later stages of growing, you should strengthen the management of fertilizer and water; too much or too little will not do. There are many propagation methods for rosemary, mainly cuttings and layering, and you can choose one of them to use.