Why Are All Of My Herbs Rotting?????

[Flowers]

All of my herbs are turning brown and crispy on the edges of the leaves, and I don't know why! I only water when the top inch of soil dries out. I have recently repotted all of these to try and fix this, but to no avail. Any suggestions? What is wrong with my herbs!

[applestar]

Could it be sunburn? Are they recently acquired -- did you harden them off by gradually adapting them to sun?

[Flowers]

I suppose it could be sunburn. No, I didn't harden them off at all yet because they're indoors still on the window sill. They do get pretty good direct light for most of the mornings. Perhaps the window glass is magnifying the light and burning the leaves? Do you think I should try moving them back a bit from the window so they get less direct light?

[applestar]

OK if they are inside and touching the window glass, it could also be frost or just too cold transferred from the outside -- I imagine you are still getting frosty mornings?

[Flowers]

Yeah I guess the mornings are still a bit frosty, but the leaves aren't touching the glass at all.

[kweb]

I'd say look for a ting bug. I got a bit of a thrip problem on my thymes and lemon balm, parsleys, boxwood and Thai basil, that looks similar to yours. I find they suck on the new top growth of my basil and looks very close to the damage on your thyme.

Good luck

[Flowers]

I didn't find any bugs, and I'm still having this problem. I even tried giving all the herbs a haircut. I just don't understand why I can't get healthy herbs!

[rainbowgardener]

A lot of herbs are kind of prone to the brown leaf tips and it doesn't necessarily mean there's anything really wrong with the plant. The oregano especially is pretty sensitive to too much water, too much fertilizer, or getting water on the leaves (are you sprinkling or misting?) and any of those can lead to the browning. Herbs generally want very well draining mix allowed to dry out pretty much in between. You might try mixing some coarse sand or cactus mix in with your potting mix to improve drainage/ decrease moisture holding.

[Susan W]

Flowers, where did you get the plant starts? They may have had issues that you didn't notice. I have found that some browning on mints, especially later in season. I also find that oregano can take water. Outside is the great watering can in the sky. It seems to have larger root systems than others, or perhaps that there are a number of stems to make up a 'plant', and the starts are thirsty.
Inside is harder on judging water (easy to go over), and the plants usually aren't real happy.

[Flowers]

I will try Mixing something in for drainage. And I do mist my herbs! Oops, I'll stop doing that. I bought them at sprouts, they were the best of a very sad bunch.

[Susan W]

Flowers, I think you may have answered the question. If you got these at sprouts, not really potted, meant to harvest until remainder goes in compost, could be a losing battle. I tried a couple of pretty mints a few years ago from Fresh Market, or somewhere, thinking I had struck gold. Wrong! All they did was go south on me.

Go to a garden center and get a few starts potted in dirt, ready for larger pots or ground. I don't know what your temps are, but both oregano and mint can take a light frost, perhaps down to 30 and still be pretty. If you see a chilly night, snug the pots up against the house and sheltered. If cold, bring in! As you are drier and may be windier than here in the mid-south, will need to water more than I do. All of my pots drain, but I don't worry about lighter or faster draining soils. I've used Miracle Grow potting mix in smaller 10" pots that may be coming in for a couple months in winter.

Trial and error is part of the game and challenge.
Hope this helps.

[Flowers]

That's fair. I've thought many times about just tossing the plants in the trash. I'm not quite ready to give up on them, but I'm guessing that soon I'll just start over.

[Gary350]

I live in Phoenix. I have Thyme , Oregano, Marjarom and they do good here where it is sunny, hot and dry. I have mine in full sun all day and my irrigation system gives them about 1 pint of water every day. My soil is 50% sand, 50% potting soil. We had 102 degree F weather 2 weeks ago my plants grew about 3" taller that week. I have Basil too it is planted on the north side of a 6 foot tall bush where it gets a lot of shade.

When I lived in Tennessee I had trouble growing Thyme and Oregano, too much rain, too over cast, too much humidity, soil stayed too wet. Plants died. I mixed my soil with 50% child play sand and moved the plants to full sun all day and they did much better.

Herbs like Thyme and Oregano do good in hot dry desert type conditions in well drained soil.