How to transplant rosemary: the best tips and tricks

Rosemary, which is an aromatic plant widely used and cultivated in home gardens. This means that many people have to know what their requirements, care and maintenance tasks are. Among these tasks are transplantation. Many people wonder how transplant rosemary in different ways

For this reason, we are going to dedicate this article to telling you how to transplant rosemary, what its characteristics are and the steps to follow.

Key features

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a dense, aromatic woody plant that is relatively easy to grow and ideal for any home garden or vegetable garden. It can be annual (lasting only one year) or perennial (lasting 3 years or more).

It has white, purple, or blue flowers and fragrant, leathery leaves that look like pine needles. It is a member of the Lamiaceae family, which includes many other plants (basil, lavender, sage). Rosemary is a plant that attracts bees because they like its pollen.

How to transplant rosemary

Rosemary planting can be started from seed or cuttings. In general, the use of seeds is difficult for beginners and is only worthwhile for large-scale use. It’s best grown from cuttings rather than seeds, but you can also buy seedlings if you don’t want to propagate them from cuttings.

Although the seeds are readily available and inexpensive, only 15% of them germinate properly. The steps to transplant rosemary are very simple:

• cut about 10cm (4 inches) to extend them.
• After cutting, remove the leaves at the bottom of the cut (about 2,5 cm or 1 inch from the end of the stem). This part of the plant will be introduced into the soil.
• Place each cut in a small pot with two thirds of coarse sand and one third of peat.
• Place the pot in a sunny place, but not in direct sunlight.
• Water the cutting regularly and keep it in a warm place until it takes root, which takes about 3 weeks.
• To help the cuttings germinate, the whole flowerpot can be put in a bag with some holes at the top. This will regulate the temperature and keep the cutting environment moist and warm.
• Dip the tips of the cuttings powdered rosemary rooting hormones to accelerate growth.

How to transplant rosemary in different ways

From pot to pot

Doing this transplant once a year is enough, always in spring if possible, after the risk of frost has passed if it is cold. If you want your rosemary to keep growing, it is useful to take advantage of this annual transplant to slightly increase the size of the pot and provide a new substrate for a very mature organic fertilizer.

On the other hand, if you want it to maintain its size, you can transplant it to the same or a similar pot, but take a little substrate from the root ball, cut the roots without soil. Then add substrate again. It can also be used for light pruning so that the size of the crown compensates for the size of the roots.

From the pot to the ground

This transplant should be done when you want to plant rosemary in pots to continue growing in the soil of the orchard or garden. It is also advisable to do it in spring, once the frosts have stopped but before it gets too hot, especially if it is in the shade and it will be in full sun. If the pot is already outdoors and in an exposed area, it can be transplanted almost at any time of the year since the plant has adapted to these conditions.

You’ll have to dig a big hole, at least 10 cm higher and wider than the potbut more if you can. If the soil is very sticky, or is always very wet, or if the soil is sunken, the rosemary should be planted at a natural or artificial height to prevent its roots from rotting from excess moisture.

When you take the rosemary out of the pot, see how the root ball looks. If the surface has many roots and they have become entangled, it is best to loosen them before replanting. This makes it easier and quicker to plant it again.

From the ground to the pot

Finally, you may need to remove the rosemary from the soil and move it to a pot because it can’t be left in place, or because you want it in a container to give it more room to grow, or something like this. If this is your case, you have to do a circle about 50cm from the stem of the rosemary and start digging a narrow and deep trench as if you want to dig something that can be broken as if you touched it.

When the trench is at least 30 cm deep, try to lift it with a strong and thin tool, trying to lift the island of earth that remains around the rosemary. Once the root ball is detached, take it out and condition it to transfer it to the container.

Using a light substrate and some very mature organic fertilizer, plant rosemary in a pot like any other plantbut make sure that the crown is balanced with the volume of the root. Don’t do this in the summer, better in the spring, so the rosemary will grow quickly and replace lost roots and pruned branches where appropriate.

Some aspects to know to transplant rosemary

Like many other aromatic plants, rosemary is not a plant that needs a lot of care. It grows in all types of soils, preferably dry, dry, slightly sandy and permeable soilsideal for poor soils. It grows on coasts and low mountains.

The best time to grow it is in late spring, but in warm climates it can also be done in early fall. Rosemary plants can be harvested multiple times in a season, but must be allowed to regenerate between harvests. Rosemary rarely needs fertilizer. However, if growth is slow or plants look dwarfed or yellowed, an all-purpose fertilizer should be applied in spring before new growth appears. Avoid applying fertilizer directly to the plant as it will burn.

Rosemary is not fussy about watering. Ideally, water every 1 or 2 weeks, depending on the size of the plant and climatic conditions. In rainy areas or humid climates, the plants should not be watered, only in times of drought. Between each watering, it is advisable to let the rosemary plants dry.

I hope that with this information you can learn more about how to transplant rosemary.