How To Propagate Rosemary Cuttings | Garden Season Tips

You can propagate rosemary cuttings and grow new, healthy herb plants from them. It’s easy to buy readily potted rosemary from the garden supply store but it’s satisfying to grow one your own. Just as I have been doing for more than a couple of years now.

Although my perennial rosemary plant isn’t about to go away anytime soon, I still propagate a few pots for my family and friends. I’d rather they prepare their meals from healthy and organic herbs.

But before you go and ask for a cutting from your neighbor or cut from one of your own, check this guide for great tips and ideas.

How To Propagate Rosemary Cuttings | Garden Season Tips

Growing rosemary from seeds can be done, but I like to grow mine from cuttings. I suggest that you propagate rosemary cuttings yourself, especially if the host or parent plant looks radiant and healthy. When you know where the parent plant and seeds come from, you know what to expect from your rosemary as it grows.

Rosemary grown from cuttings takes on their parent plant characteristics. Propagating rosemary cuttings is easy, but a few rules will apply.

Take on this easy gardening challenge with this simple garden season growing guide. You’ll have rosemary plants growing in abundance and growing from cuttings will be easy peasy here on.

 

Tool And Materials To Propagate Rosemary Cuttings

  • Plastic bottles
  • Scissors Or Pruning Shears
  • Rosemary branch
  • Water
  • Organic Rooting Hormone

 

Propagate Rosemary Cuttings

Step 1. Recycling Plastic Bottles To Propagate Rosemary Cuttings In

Now this is a great way to reuse plastic bottles and save you some bucks from pots for propagating plants in. You can use any kind provided they are of food grade or no chemicals were previously stored in the bottles.

Using a pair of scissors or a pruning shears, cut the bottle just below the label. Then fill it up with water to about half of the bottle.

Step 2. Take A Rosemary Branch

Choose a healthy looking rosemary from either your own bush or from a friend’s or neighbor’s plant – with their consent of course. Then, gently tear a fair-sized branch by pulling it from its parent plant.

Twist the branch to separate it from the original plant. With a fair-sized rosemary branch, you’ll be able to work on a couple of cuttings to propagate.

Step 3. Preparing Rosemary Cuttings

Now, cut your rosemary branch straight down the middle. Then take the lower cut branch and strip the entire lower half of the branch of its leaves. The stripped lower part of the branch will go down in the water.

Next, take a pair of scissors or pruning shears and cut an inch off the base of the cut branch. A good 45 degrees angle would be ideal for cutting the lower part. Then scrape off a bit of the bark along the cut part to expose the inner branch.

Do the same for the other rosemary cutting or for the rest of the rosemary cuttings you want to propagate. I would suggest for you to try to root as many as you can. Although propagating from rosemary cutting is easy, one or two may not be successful.

Step 4. Rooting Rosemary Cuttings

If you want to use a rooting hormone, you might as well do this little fun experiment. You can divide the cuttings you prepared and propagate half using the rooting hormone and the other half without.

Scoop a bit of the rooting hormone with a plastic spoon. Then mix it with the water in the bottle for propagating with rooting hormone.

Now, submerge the base of the rosemary cuttings you worked out in the bottles you prepared.

Step 5. Rooted Rosemary

Finally, with your bottles and rosemary cuttings in place. Provide them with an area where they can root best. A sunlit area in a window sill will be perfect. But you can also use an indoor grow light for this purpose.

Add a bit of water if some part evaporated from the bottle. Watch out for dirt and algae as well. Replace the water in the bottle once the algae have become prolific.

In about a week or two, roots will start to grow from your cuttings. Within a few more days, your cuttings will be ready for planting in hydroponics or directly in the soil. Making a record of your planting can help you to propagate rosemary cuttings in the future.

 

Planting Rooted Rosemary Cuttings

Once your rosemary cuttings have developed roots they are now ready for transplanting. Prepare pots for planting your rooted rosemary in. Fill the pot with vermiculite or organic compost to provide your young plants with soil nutrients to grow.

Rosemary actually prefers a limey soil as opposed to acidic. If your soil is acidic amend your herb garden with just the right amount of lime. You can also amend your acidic soil by putting crushed eggshells at the base of the plant.

 

Caring For The New Rosemary Plant

The first stage of the rosemary’s growth is the most crucial. Once it has established, everything else is a breeze. Although rosemary is a drought tolerant herb, watering the plant in its early stage of growth is important. But avoid overwatering the plant, just enough to keep it moisturized.

If you’re propagating rosemary in the fall, it’s best to provide them with indoor grow lights to keep the plant warm. This will give them time to establish roots ready for spring planting. Or you can just keep your rosemary indoors with other herbs for your indoor herb garden.

 

Watch the full details in this video from Khang Starr:

Wasn’t that procedure fun and easy? With this simple technique, you can try and propagate other herbs such as lavender, basil, and thyme. Besides herbs, this technique can be done for propagating flowers such as roses and hydrangeas too.

This technique will allow you to grow more plants without the cost. You won’t be spending on potted plants and herbs after this. Growing your favorite plants and designing your garden need not be costly.

Learn how to propagate rosemary cuttings and you won’t be spending in potted plants from the garden store again.

 

Your comments, suggestions, and question are appreciated. Don’t forget to leave your message in the comment box below.

Want to grow more herbs in your garden? Take some great herb gardening ideas here

 

 

Feature image source via houseandbloom

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