Once again we come to the garden forum with winterizing plant issue. We have a potted rosemary and lavender plant that have been doing great until the last several weeks. As you can see in the photos the plants seem to be darkening from the inside out? I assume this is not normal winterization? We water using ice cubes as the plant leaves wilt (lavender anyway). Thanks for any suggestions.
You need bigger pots to start with, then a fertilizer program.
Lavender and rosemary demand clipping. Toward summers end mine die back - til abt Feb and then return with greenery on dead branches. When they get too much moisture toward summers end they tend to darken from the soil up. Mine go dormant til cooler drier weather then.
Lavendar is fast to get that sooty mold...
This message was edited Dec 4, 2016 7:44 PM
Why do you use ice cubes on Mediterranean plants? Look at the plants in situ. They grow in rugged conditions but not extreme cold.
He's prob using the ice cubes to imitate cooler spring weather, but its also prob causing that cold earth near the roots to generate that black sooty mold.
OK... so stop using ice cubes asap - done! Bigger pot - will be done.
I understand the plants go dormant in the winter so do I stop watering even if they show wilt on the greenery? I also assume that I do not prune at this point?
Anything I should do to address the sooty mold? I assume that is the purplish color on the lavender and not the rosemary correct?
Our Rosemary grows all winter. It is on a shelf over the kitchen sink in a SE window.
I'm saying larger pots would be the biggest plus, and a little trim wouldn't hurt them either. I wouldn't go too far with the trim, think of it more as a hair cut. These are huge plants when in the ground so I'd say at least a three gallon pot and that's even on the small side, you may want to upsize that down the road.
Well, not a huge pot immediately! Just as it grows. Get some air circulation in the room and seperate the plants a bit. Indoor weather causes growing cycles to slow down, reduce moisture and reduce watering frequencies, they love strong lite and dont set the plant where your air circulation hits it directly on. Both of these plants can die out in the middle if not clipped back as they grow until they are larger. Most plants bloom on new growth anyway...
Though I agree with all of the above advice, some of what is appropriate in warm zones is not appropriate in yours. I'm in 7 based on altitude and, while mostly hardy, it's not guaranteed. You are somewhere between zone 7 and 6. In this case it is not recommended to prune plants when nearing freezes as you already seem to know. Also, be aware that potted plant roots suffer much colder temps than ones in ground. I believe CGardens was on track with an indoor plan. Pot up with a light mix. Find a cool but sunny spot. Keep watered and well drained. You can prune if they are indoors. Even if they could get into the ground they would not be able to establish in time. Lavender is more finicky than rosemary but to survive they need perfect drainage. Yours looks on the way out. I've got two rosemary plants in a stone planter and a large shrub growing on a granite hillside. There's lavender there too. I need to clean the leaf litter away from the plants. Any mulch in cool, wet weather is the kiss of death. We've been warm and dry but had several wet days and will be going down to twenties as of tomorrow night. Done rambling.
