Thyme and Rosemary--spring blues

[butsiethesungo]

I think my potted thyme and rosemary are dying. I bought both last summer and they became bushy during the fall, harvesting only once or twice before the winter. During the winter, I made sure to bring them indoors to protect them (Even though we don't have cold winters in South Louisiana).

Several weeks ago, I noticed that my thyme and rosemary were starting to look sick. My rosemary plants were not has bright green and spruce. It's still hanging in there, but I don't know for how much longer. My thyme looks dead....the plant is shriveled and has now turned black.

A week ago I tried spraying a small bit of fish fertilizer on both, hoping that they needed a boost of strength.

I don't know if they got too much sun and burnt or a neighborhood animal pee'd on it.... ?

Help!

Jeremy

[rainbowgardener]

The too much sun/ animal pee theories sound like having brought them in for the winter, you had put them back out for the spring. When did they start having trouble, while still indoors or only after you put them back out? How long after you put them out? The fact that you are moving them in and out means they are in pots; what kind of soil in the pots? What kind of sun exposure in the area you brought them out to?

In your climate, I think they would have been much better off to stay outdoors through the winter. If you have the possibility, they would do better in the ground than in containers. The thyme definitely sounds dead and likely the rosemary also - rosemary tends to die in slow motion, by the time it is looking bad, it's probably already a goner.

I doubt the problem was animal. Guessing from what you said so far, I expect you didn't harden them off, brought them straight out from indoors to sunny. I killed a rosemary that way myself once. Kept it indoors for the winter (which I have to do in my climate), then brought it out. I just brought it out to an area that gets only a few hours of morning sun then is in shade all day. Even so that was too big a change and and it just keeled over.

Having been in low light, protected space all winter, they have to get used to the outdoors again gradually. Also did they get rained on when you took them out? Thyme and rosemary are both plants that hate having wet feet. If there was a bunch of rain and the containers didn't drain well enough (or had saucers under them!) that would kill them off too.

[butsiethesungo]

rainbowgardener,

Thanks for taking the time to share some insight into my problem. I guess I should have explained myself a bit more when I said that I brought them in for the winter Actually, what I did during the winter was bring them in the night before than set them back outside the next morning when it warmed up. I drove my wife nuts with all my potted plants

I imagine my thyme must have got burnt a few weeks ago. I kept it in the same spot as my rosemary and parsley (on my front steps), which are both looking bad. My parsley is turning yellow and the needles on my rosemary are thinning

[rainbowgardener]

OK... if they were out all day all the time, then it probably isn't the hardening off thing, they should have been used to the sun (assuming you didn't change their location). I doubt all that in and out was entirely healthy for them. Besides being a lot of wasted effort, you are then giving them cool days and warm nights, which is sort the opposite of what plants are "wired" for. But probably not the problem.

So that leaves me with over watering/ too much moisture, which is what the symptoms you described this tim sound like. Tell us about how you are watering them, the amount of rain, the soil type, etc. The fastest way to kill thyme and rosemary is too much water.

[butsiethesungo]

rainbowgardener,

Yes, I agree that it probably isnt the hardening off theory because they continued to thrive during that time and were never deprived of outdoor sunlight.

So your second theory about overwatering may, to use a pun, may very well hold water If it is caused by overwatering, the overwatering is occuring from all the rain that we have been receiving over the last month. In fact, several weeks ago we received so much rain that the town flooded and we were under a state of emergency--FEMA, the redcross, and the national guard were called in. I'm trying to remember whether or not my thyme was already dying prior to the flood or if I started to notice signs of death after the flood

Jeremy