It can often become necessary to transplant your rosemary to avoid problems. Or perhaps you want to do it for aesthetic or practical reasons, for example, to move it to a nicer pot or a different spot where it would look better. Doing so is perfectly fine but it also carries some risk.
Rosemary can easily become damaged when it is being transplanted if it is not done carefully and gently. It should not be transplanted too often as that can damage the roots and prevent the plant from adapting to its new spot.
In this article, I cover the risks involved with transplanting rosemary whether you repot it from one pot to another, move it from a pot into the ground, or if you move an established rosemary bush from one spot in the ground to another.
Of course, I also share some easy but effective tricks you can implement to reduce the risk significantly.
Risks Involved With Transplanted Rosemary
While transplanting can be necessary to keep your rosemary alive, you should know about the risks involved with the process.
Here is what can happen:
- The roots can become damaged
- The roots can dry out
- Transplant shock
- Poor weather conditions prevent the plant from adapting to its new spot
Transplant shock is a term that covers a variety of transplanting-related problems. It usually occurs as a result of damage to the roots or because of a significant change in soil type, temperature, or amount of sunlight. I have written another article where I cover transplant shock in rosemary in detail including what to do about it and how to reduce the risk.
So in short, perhaps the biggest risk when you transplant rosemary is that the plant won’t settle in its new spot.
To reduce the risk of damaging the roots, it is best to remove the plant from its old pot or spot in the ground as late as possible. So dig it up just before you move it so it doesn’t stay out of the ground for a while as you prepare the new spot. That way, the risk that the roots dry out is as low as possible, which is crucial, because if they do, the plant can have trouble adapting to its new spot or it might not adapt at all before it dies.
Of course, the best way to reduce the risk is to know the process well. That’s why I wrote an article where I cover the safest way to transplant rosemary. That article is specifically about putting rosemary in the ground, so if that’s relevant to you, I recommend reading it.
Generally speaking, rosemary is not that hard to transplant but you need to keep these potential risks in mind when you do it. There are situations where rosemary loves being transplanted and other situations where it absolutely doesn’t like it so you should make sure to do it in the right situation. I discuss the topic of whether rosemary likes being transplanted here.
In addition to the above, your rosemary might need to acclimate to its new spot, or “harden off”, which means getting used to the new environment and conditions gradually over some time rather than at once. I cover this and some more tips that can reduce the risk when transplanting rosemary now.
How to Reduce Risk When Transplanting Rosemary (7 Easy Tips)
Transplanting rosemary comes with risk no matter if you move it from one pot to another or into the ground or from one spot in the ground to another.
Luckily, there are a lot of small tricks you can use that are easy and can help increase the chance of success when transplanting a lot, regardless of where you move the plant to and from.
I made this checklist of things you can do to reduce the risk of running into problems when you transplant your rosemary.
- Make sure the new spot gets 8 hours of sunlight per day
- Make sure the soil drains well
- Make sure the soil contains high amounts of sand, perlite, and pumice
- Make sure the plant is not infected by pests or diseases
- Allow your plant to acclimate to the new spot over 1-2 weeks
- Make the soil in the new spot wet before transplanting
- Make sure the weather forecast promises sunlight in the next few days
If you follow these seven tips, you are much less likely to run into problems after transplanting your rosemary since you give it the optimal conditions to adapt well to its new spot.
If you are not familiar with acclimating, it essentially means that your plant needs to adapt to its new environment over time instead of being exposed to it out of nowhere.
The easiest way to help rosemary acclimate is to expose it to its new environment at a gradually increasing rate. More specifically, put it in its new spot for a few hours on day one before bringing it back in. Repeat this every day but keep the plant in its new spot for a few more hours than on the day before. Continue this for 1-2 weeks before leaving the plant in its new spot permanently.
Other than following these tips, there are a handful of common mistakes people make when they transplant rosemary. Lucky for you, I have made a bunch of them and learned how to avoid them, so if you want to save yourself some trouble and avoid these mistakes, check out my article about common mistakes when transplanting rosemary.
Keep reading as I will cover some of the risks specifically involved with repotting rosemary from one pot to another and with moving established rosemary from one spot in the ground to another including what you can do to reduce the risk.
Risk When Repotting Rosemary (And How to Avoid Problems)
A very easy mistake to make when repotting rosemary is to use a pot that is too small. If you do that, you risk that the plant becomes root bound quickly.
If that happens, the roots are unable to obtain enough water and nutrients from the soil to support the foliage and the plant will start dying slowly. I explain more about why it is so bad for rosemary to be root bound here.
Of course, you can just repot the plant again, but doing it too often can stress the roots and lead to transplant shock.
So in conclusion, repot your rosemary into a pot that is at least 1-2 inches (2.5-5 cm) wider and deeper than its old pot. I usually use pots that are at least 2 inches (5 cm) larger and it seems to work very well.
I have a full step-by-step guide where I show and explain how to repot rosemary.
Risk When Moving an Established Rosemary (Avoid Problems)
When you move an established rosemary bush from one spot in the ground to another, perhaps the biggest risk is that the growing conditions in the new spot you picked are unsuitable for rosemary.
Luckily, you can avoid running into problems related to the growing conditions by knowing how to pick the right spot.
Here are some key factors to keep in mind:
- Pick a spot that gets at least 8 hours of sunlight per day
- Pick a spot with sandy, well-draining soil
- Pick a spot where the soil can dry out
Once you have made sure these criteria are met, the key to moving established rosemary bushes is to bring over a large block of soil around the roots. This makes the transition much easier for them as it makes it easier for them to settle in the new spot.
If you are planning on moving an established rosemary bush, I highly recommend that you read my guide where I explain and show photos of the safest way to do it.