Rosemary is one of the most widely used medicinal and spice plants for cooking, health and beauty. For this reason, more and more people want to grow rosemary at home. Anyone who has a piece of land, such as a vegetable garden or garden, will find it easier to grow this plant because it grows so easily in the ground. If you live in an apartment or house and only have a terrace, balcony and/or window, you will need to use pots and be a little more careful when growing.
That’s why we offer you some tips on how to care for the rosemary plant in pots.
Rosemary, never drier and with few leaves. The best tips for a strong and successful life!
The first thing you should know when caring for a rosemary plant is undoubtedly the conditions it needs to live and grow in good conditions. Among the conditions that must be taken into account when caring for rosemary in a pot are the following:
- Suitable light for rosemary: It should receive direct natural light, as it is a plant that needs a lot of sun and hours of light. However, care should be taken not to leave the plant in direct contact with the sun’s rays for too long in intense sunlight, otherwise its leaves can easily burn. For this reason, in times of great heat and plenty of sunlight, it is better to look for a place with sun and shade, and in times of medium heat or cold, a place with as much natural light as possible.
- Optimal temperature for the rosemary plant: This plant can adapt to hot and cold temperatures, but in reality, the right temperature for rosemary is the one that prevails in temperate and warm climates. Therefore, it does not withstand hail, frost and sudden drops in temperature, but it also does not tolerate areas with very strong solar radiation.
- Enough moisture for a potted rosemary: This plant is native to the entire Mediterranean region and is therefore used to times of drought and times with more water, but never in excess. Therefore, not much moisture is required and irrigation is sufficient.
Rosemary, where to place it so that it is strong and lush?
Knowing the conditions explained above, one can conclude that this potted plant can grow well both indoors and outdoors. Nevertheless, it is always best to plant it directly in the ground, where it will grow much more vigorously.
Depending on the climate, it is advisable to keep the plant outdoors or indoors. That’s why in cold climates, it’s best to have the rosemary pot at home. Indoors, it is important to place the plant near a window and not place it near radiators and air conditioners, as these can dry out the plant.
However, if we live in a temperate or warm climate, it is better to keep rosemary outdoors in a place where it will receive many hours of natural light. However, if the sun is quite hot in our area, it is recommended to place the rosemary directly in a sunny and shady place, for example under a larger plant or tree.
Watering rosemary: how much, when and how to prevent it from rotting?
Another care of rosemary is watering, because as we have already mentioned, it must be dosed well. In fact, this plant is used to droughts and wet periods, but never to extreme conditions. For this reason, although there are different irrigation systems, both for earth and potted plants, for the care of aromatic plants at home, such as potted rosemary, the drip irrigation system is recommended. This system allows you to control very well whether the irrigation is sufficient and not excessive.
But even if you use the most appropriate watering, improper drainage won’t do much good, as the plant can get soaked and die. Therefore, when repotting to the pot, you need to be careful to use a suitable potting soil and place some stones in the soil near the holes to ensure that the water seeps well and does not get trapped and drown the roots.
If the plant is still small and in times of intense heat, watering can even be extended to one day or every two days with good drainage. However, in slightly colder periods, it is best to water the plant one to three times a week, depending on the temperature.
Dried yellow rosemary leaves and flowers: this is how it’s done!
To learn more about caring for your potted rosemary plant, you should also consider pruning it. It is advisable to prune rosemary if you notice that it has dry or yellowish leaves and flowers, if you notice that it is barely growing or if there are parts that are heavily infested with parasites such as aphids or mealybugs.
Ideally, you’ll wait until the end of flowering and cut just below the part that needs to be removed, avoiding cutting completely healthy parts. In this way, you will see that the rosemary will be beautiful the next time it blooms, filling the room with fragrance.
