understanding roots question: planting out rosemary that's taken root in water

Hi Robert, I've been getting quite a bit of rosemary rooting into water (from sitting in a jar on the kitchen bench). Are there any specific practices for potting these up successfully? What about planting into the garden directly? (it's spring here). It's probably not the best way to propagate rosemary, but it's the way it's happening at this time so would like to make good use of it.

Hi Rose, Sounds great you've been able to propagate rosemary this way. I would set them out directly where you want them in the spring after the soil is above 55F (sorry don't know C) Be sure to leave the upper roots very near the surface of the soil as these plants are prone to rot/crown rot. Don't plant to deep or you may lose the plants.

thanks Robert. Do I need to trim the roots or anything special? Sometimes they're long and wound round in the bottom of the jar. What about the top of the rosemary cutting? Will pruning that as I plant affect what the roots do?

When you say put the roots near the surface do you mean where they come out from the stem?

Here's some photos

another photo

I think all will be fine if you don't cut anything. Just spread the roots over a small cone of soil before covering them. Looks good.

ah, a cone, that makes sense.

I'm having way more success currently with this than in the past and wonder if it's either the water I am using, or the parent rosemary is more amenable to propagation this way.

Hi Rose,
I just did this myself. I have found that rosemary in a well-drained soil grows really well, and rosemary in a drowning, poorly draining clay dies. I made sure that the rosemary is in a place in which the soil drains and the plants grow really well. I'm trying to put it in the four corners of my garden. I want it to biodiversify my garden, but also to confuse annoying insect pests that want to take over. In addition I have this secret plan to bring some of it into the house and put it into my food as flavoring and medicine. There are many studies on the medicinal benefits of rosemary and rosemary oil. I'm trying to trick my wife into thinking that I'm a culinary genius, but she knows that I'm just a gardener with no special cooking talents. Don't let my secret out.
Thanks,
John S
PDX OR

Rose, I bet you're just becoming a better propagator. Or catching the plant at the right time - before the slips/stems get too woody.

I have also done rosemary this way.

When I plant cuttings with new roots, there is a diference with transplanting something that was in soil:
the roots stick to each other instead of spreading (as they did in water).
So I thought about a trick, maybe useless, may be it helps....

I prepare some thin DRY soil that I reserve.
I make a hole that I fill with water, and quickly put the rooted cutting in, so that the roots spread as they did in the bottle.
I add the thin dry soil so that it sticks well among the roots.
More soil around...
It does not matter if it is very wet for a start, the cutting was in water at first.

My soil has drenage, but here I really have to care about watering enough my rosemary.
And I noticed that transplanting old ones is very delicate.

I tried some basilicum cuttings in water, a woody type, and the result was much better with direct planting.

I make cutting of rosemary directly in the ground.....if the produce new root in water, I'd advice to plant them in a small pot, take it in shadow, the roots will grow also during the winter (where temperatures are above 32F), and the next spring you could plant in them in the ground, if you want to have them in pot you can use a bigger pot until next fall.