We've had a rosemary plant in a pot by the window in the kitchen for
several years. This fall the leaves started turning brown and after a
while the plant was effectively dead.

We bought a replacement a few weeks ago and it's already going
through exactly the same process.

We thought a fungus might have gotten the first plant so we used new
dirt and a new pot, so the obvious routes of contamination were
avoided.

Here's a link to a bad picture of the new plant, but maybe you can
make something out:

http://www.visi.com/~bert

Any ideas what's going on?

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN |

Bad Karma


"Bert Hyman" wrote in message
...
We've had a rosemary plant in a pot by the window in the kitchen for
several years. This fall the leaves started turning brown and after a
while the plant was effectively dead.

We bought a replacement a few weeks ago and it's already going
through exactly the same process.

We thought a fungus might have gotten the first plant so we used new
dirt and a new pot, so the obvious routes of contamination were
avoided.

Here's a link to a bad picture of the new plant, but maybe you can
make something out:

http://www.visi.com/~bert

Any ideas what's going on?

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN |

On 16 Dec 2004 18:09:40 GMT, Bert Hyman wrote:

We bought a replacement a few weeks ago and it's already going
through exactly the same process.


Any ideas what's going on?


I am by no means a plant expert, but I have a similar problem with
several plants dying/being infested on me now.

From your picture, as bad as it is, I believe I can make out several
small white insects which are likely mealybugs.

They are probably killing your plant.

Eric

Low relative humidity

Spider Mites.



Hemmaholic, Zone 5a

Everybody kills rosemary as soon as the heat comes on in the house.
Yours looks to me like too much water, not enough humidity.
Yhe plant wilts from over watering(kills the roots) so you think it
needs more water . And then the furnace kicks on and drys the rest of
it out.

Bert Hyman wrote:

We've had a rosemary plant in a pot by the window in the kitchen for
several years. This fall the leaves started turning brown and after a
while the plant was effectively dead.

We bought a replacement a few weeks ago and it's already going
through exactly the same process.

We thought a fungus might have gotten the first plant so we used new
dirt and a new pot, so the obvious routes of contamination were
avoided.

Here's a link to a bad picture of the new plant, but maybe you can
make something out:

http://www.visi.com/~bert

Any ideas what's going on?

Rosemary is really not a houseplant. In areas where winters are
too cold, it can thrive in a greenhouse with climate controls set
for plants instead of humans (not merely temperatures but also
humidity).

On the other hand, you had a plant that seemed to do well in your
kitchen for several years and then failed. Then, its replacement
also failed. If nothing else changed during those years, you might
have a gas leak.

--

David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

I use Mozilla as my Web browser because I want a browser that
complies with Web standards. See http://www.mozilla.org/.

"David Ross" wrote in message
...

Rosemary is really not a houseplant. In areas where winters are
too cold, it can thrive in a greenhouse with climate controls set
for plants instead of humans (not merely temperatures but also
humidity).

For what it's worth, the plant is happy growing along rocky coasts of the
Mediterranean. My suggestion would be to buy another plant take it to
central or southern Italy until spring.



On the other hand, you had a plant that seemed to do well in your
kitchen for several years and then failed. Then, its replacement
also failed. If nothing else changed during those years, you might
have a gas leak.

I had an EXTREMELY small gas leak a few years ago from my furnace. I could
smell it occasionally as I did things in the basement, even though the odor
was very slight. The result was endless problems keeping tiny seedlings
alive under lights about 15 feet from the furnace. The gas company came over
and waved some sort of device around, pinpointed the source (a loose supply
pipe), fixed it, and the plants were fine afterward.

Some stoves release just a bit of gas before the flame kicks in. Might be
worth looking into.