Rosemary turning black

 Hi all,

    I am trying to propagating some rosemary using a branch a pluck off from
an adult plant. But for some reason, the leaves of the branch starts turning
black after I put it into the pot with my other plants. What does this
indicate? Is the soil in the pot too wet for the rosemary?

Thuan Seah

 

off from

turning

Was it a young piece of this year's growth, about 6 - 10 cm long which
you tried tp propagate?
Did you trim it with a sharp knife to just below a node?
Did you trim off the lower leaves neatly?
Did you insert it in a small pot with a suitable cuttings compost?
Did you keep it covered with something like an inverted jam jar to
prevent it from drying out too much?

Franz

 Yes, it's 6-10 cm long.
Hm.. not quite sure what trimming with a sharp knife is referring to.
Yes, the lower leaves are trimmed off.
I am inserting it in a small pot with potting mix. Not sure if it is
suitable for cuttings.
Didnt cover it. Is that step crucial?

Thuan Seah

 


It is usual to use something very sharp, like a razor blade or a
Stanley knife to cut the cutting cleanly very close to a node.  A node
is the slight swelling on the stem at the positions there leaf-stems
are attached to the main stem.


That would probably be OK.  I often use sharp sand for rooting
cuttings.  I also usually dip the cuttings into a corredtly diluted
fungicide before inserting them into the medium.


Yes, otherwise the cutting might lose so much moisture that it dies.

Franz

 So I suppose cutting cleanly means to have the end point of the cutting
close to a node? Or does it means I need to shave the cutting a bit from the
end up to a node?

|     <-branch                                              |  <-branch
o   <- node                           OR                |   <-branch
|   <-branch  (shave)                                  o   <- node
|   <- branch (shave)

Hope this is not too basic a question to ask. I am a novice in gardening.

Thuan Seah