How to grow rosemary from seeds at home

The name rosemary (in Latin “sea dew”) was not given by chance. In its homeland - in the Mediterranean - an evergreen shrub grows on the seashore, and how to grow rosemary from seeds at home?

Rosemary is propagated by seeds, cuttings, layering and dividing the bush. Nut seeds can be stored in paper bags without loss of viability for up to 3 years. They do not require special treatment before sowing; they germinate at +12 +20 degrees. They sprout well when sown in a mixture of peat and gravel (1:1) in a greenhouse. Sowing is superficial, planting depth is up to 0.4 cm.

How to grow rosemary from seeds

Seeds are sown for seedlings in early March and wait patiently. Shoots appear only in a month. Then the sprouts are planted in pots 6 by 6 cm. In the south, seedlings are planted in open ground according to a 50 by 50 cm pattern. But more often, rosemary is propagated by cuttings of annual shoots, the optimal harvesting period for which is September-October. With good care and sufficient food area, seedlings grow within a year.

The exploitation of this durable shrub, which grows for 20-25 years, begins in the third (sometimes second) year after planting. Flowering occurs in spring and summer, often blooms again - from early August until the onset of cold weather, and sometimes blooms in winter. Because rosemary is well adapted to the Mediterranean climate, it loves dry, hot summers and damp, cool winters, withstanding frosts only down to -16 degrees, lower temperatures are destructive for it. Very demanding of light. In humid weather and shade, the essential oil content in the leaves drops sharply. Does not like excessively wet soils.