Every fall now for several years I have dug some of the rosemary in my
garden, potted in growing medium, and brought it indoors.

Invariably, soon after I have brought it in, the leaves start to get covered
with powdery mildew.

I can usually keep it alive by washing it frequently but it doesn't thrive.

It has been suggested that I should open a window every day and let it have
fresh air but this is impractical as the temperature gets well below
frreezing.

Could it be that I am keeping it too wet? When I pot it I soak it well to
set the roots into the potting medium.

Any suggestions?

Brian

On Sat, 24 Nov 2007 23:22:13 -0500, "BeeCee"
wrote:

Every fall now for several years I have dug some of the rosemary in my
garden, potted in growing medium, and brought it indoors.

Invariably, soon after I have brought it in, the leaves start to get covered
with powdery mildew.

I can usually keep it alive by washing it frequently but it doesn't thrive.

It has been suggested that I should open a window every day and let it have
fresh air but this is impractical as the temperature gets well below
frreezing.

Could it be that I am keeping it too wet? When I pot it I soak it well to
set the roots into the potting medium.

Any suggestions?

Brian


My two rosemary plants grow outdoors all year round (going on 8
years.) I keep them trimmed looking like little Christmas trees, no
extra water, no fertilizer, they seem to grow well on neglect. They
don't mind freezing temperatures. Rosemary doesn't grow well indoors,
the more sun the better it grows. If growing indoors watch for spider
mites.

"BeeCee" expounded:

Any suggestions?

Many people have asked how to overwinter Rosemary. A friend of mine,
a fellow member of the New England Unit of the Herb Society of
America, put this in our recent newsletter, the Pennyroyal Papers. I
hope it helps someone )

Success with Rosemary by Deb Peterson

1. Rosemary can stay outside until the temps stay below 45°. It can
withstand some frost (Don't let the pot freeze in the ground, though,
so you can't dig it out).

2. Bring it into the coolest part of the house. Rosemary is happy
with night time temperatures in the fifties or even the forties.

3. Give it as much light as possible.

4. A DRY ROSEMARY IS A DEAD ROSEMARY (not shouting, but emphasis).
Don't let it dry out, but don't keep it too wet. Texas potting is the
secret to this dilemma. (It is remarkable drought tolerant in the
summer out in the garden) Texas potting is explained below.

5. If your rosemary should develop powdery mildew, spray lightly with
a mixture of one tablespoon alcohol to a cup of water. Give it a
chill outside on a warm winter day. Powdery mildew is due to a lack
of air circulation.
************************************************** **************************

Texas Potting:

You will need:

1. Steak or roast carving fork (2 prongs)
2. A bag of perlite.
3. Appropriate sized plastic pots.
4. A source for flame

Heat the steak fork and make a double row of holes around the bottom
of the pot.

Make another row of holes just below the watering lip.

Put the perlite in the bottom of the pot to just cover the double
holes around the bottom.

Pot up your plant with regular potting soil. Water well.

Put the potted plants in a water tight container and fill the
container to any height to just above the bottom row of holes (this is
a great way to leave plants when you travel).

The secret of this system is the upper row of holes. These holes
supply air to the roots. Clay pots are porous and can be used without
making air holes. If you use clay, put at least 2" of perlite in the
bottom. This system also works well with cyclamens.
--
Ann, gardening in Zone 6a
South of Boston, Massachusetts
e-mail address is not checked
******************************

On 11/24/2007 8:22 PM, BeeCee wrote:
Every fall now for several years I have dug some of the rosemary in my
garden, potted in growing medium, and brought it indoors.

Invariably, soon after I have brought it in, the leaves start to get covered
with powdery mildew.

I can usually keep it alive by washing it frequently but it doesn't thrive.

It has been suggested that I should open a window every day and let it have
fresh air but this is impractical as the temperature gets well below
frreezing.

Could it be that I am keeping it too wet? When I pot it I soak it well to
set the roots into the potting medium.

Any suggestions?

Brian



The main problem is that you are trying to grow something that is quite
unsuited to your climate. If you must grow rosemary, treat it like an
annual and replace it every spring.

The rosemary bush in front of my house is about 30 years old. It
survived the "Great Freeze of '07" this past January, when temperatures
turned my wax-leaf begonias to mush and killed my statice (sea lavender,
Limonium perezii). Besides that record-breaking chill, we had a
generally cold winter, with frost as early as the end of November.
However, freezing temperatures here happen only at night. It's
round-the-clock freezing for several days that kills rosemary.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

"BeeCee" wrote in message
...
Every fall now for several years I have dug some of the rosemary in my
garden, potted in growing medium, and brought it indoors.

Invariably, soon after I have brought it in, the leaves start to get
covered with powdery mildew.

I can usually keep it alive by washing it frequently but it doesn't
thrive.

It has been suggested that I should open a window every day and let it
have fresh air but this is impractical as the temperature gets well below
frreezing.

Could it be that I am keeping it too wet? When I pot it I soak it well to
set the roots into the potting medium.

Any suggestions?

Brian
Thanks for the suggestions - I do plant new rosemary every spring but I like
to try to keep some going indoors over the winter, or for as long as I can.

For the person that suggested spraying with an alcohol mix - would that be
ordinary rubbing alcohol?

Brian

In article uqKdnU147JoR79banZ2dnUVZ_qSonZ2d@wtccommunication s.ca,
"BeeCee" wrote:

"BeeCee" wrote in message
...
Every fall now for several years I have dug some of the rosemary in my
garden, potted in growing medium, and brought it indoors.

Invariably, soon after I have brought it in, the leaves start to get
covered with powdery mildew.

I can usually keep it alive by washing it frequently but it doesn't
thrive.

It has been suggested that I should open a window every day and let it
have fresh air but this is impractical as the temperature gets well below
frreezing.

Could it be that I am keeping it too wet? When I pot it I soak it well to
set the roots into the potting medium.

Any suggestions?

Brian
Thanks for the suggestions - I do plant new rosemary every spring but I like
to try to keep some going indoors over the winter, or for as long as I can.

For the person that suggested spraying with an alcohol mix - would that be
ordinary rubbing alcohol?

Brian
Copper sulfate solution maybe, but not alcohol. Bad, bad, idea. You need
sunlight or grow lights.
--

Billy

Bush & Cheney, Behind Bars

Billy wrote:
In article uqKdnU147JoR79banZ2dnUVZ_qSonZ2d@wtccommunication s.ca,
"BeeCee" wrote:

"BeeCee" wrote in message
...
Every fall now for several years I have dug some of the rosemary in my
garden, potted in growing medium, and brought it indoors.

Invariably, soon after I have brought it in, the leaves start to get
covered with powdery mildew.

I can usually keep it alive by washing it frequently but it doesn't
thrive.

It has been suggested that I should open a window every day and let it
have fresh air but this is impractical as the temperature gets well below
frreezing.

Could it be that I am keeping it too wet? When I pot it I soak it well to
set the roots into the potting medium.

Any suggestions?

Brian
Thanks for the suggestions - I do plant new rosemary every spring but I like
to try to keep some going indoors over the winter, or for as long as I can.

For the person that suggested spraying with an alcohol mix - would that be
ordinary rubbing alcohol?

Brian
Copper sulfate solution maybe, but not alcohol. Bad, bad, idea. You need
sunlight or grow lights.

Copper Sulfate is fun stuff.. I used to copper plate things with it..
Wonder if they still do that in schools..

Oops, moved off topic..

Anyway, you're quoting Anns post about 1 tablespoon to 1 cup water.. And
yeah, that'd be something you don't drink.. Save the beer for later.

"Jangchub" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 24 Nov 2007 23:22:13 -0500, "BeeCee"
wrote:

Every fall now for several years I have dug some of the rosemary in my
garden, potted in growing medium, and brought it indoors.

Invariably, soon after I have brought it in, the leaves start to get
covered
with powdery mildew.

I can usually keep it alive by washing it frequently but it doesn't
thrive.

It has been suggested that I should open a window every day and let it
have
fresh air but this is impractical as the temperature gets well below
frreezing.

Could it be that I am keeping it too wet? When I pot it I soak it well to
set the roots into the potting medium.

Any suggestions?

Brian


In all the years of being a professional greenhouse grower did I ever
experience a Rosemary plant which thrived indoors. Each year we'd buy
rooted cuttings from a vendor and grow them for several weeks to
establish roots and we carefully timed it so they were only in the
greenhouse for about a month before being moved outside.

It's best to just buy a fresh plant each year. Rosemary does not get
near enough air flow, sunshine or anything it needs to thrive indoors.


I agree. When I read about people who made it work, I think "pure luck".

The other issue with bringing plants indoors is bugs. Unless you drown the
soil in some hideous chemical, you have NO idea what's living in it. A
friend of mine liked to move houseplants outdoors for the summer and in for
the winter, claiming she'd never had a problem. This year, her luck ran out.
She's got mealybugs all over the place, not just on the plants that lived
outdoors, but also on the ones that didn't.

In article ,
Scott Hildenbrand wrote:

Save the beer for later.

Never been big on delayed gratification. Anyway, breakfast is the most
important meal of the day;-)
--

Billy

Bush & Cheney, Behind Bars