How to Root and Propagate Lemon Thyme with JUST Water!
Thyme is one of the most savory of herbs, giving even the most bland chicken an incredible boost in flavor. However, a delicious variety of this perennial herb, Lemon Thyme, offers up a delicious citrus infused punch to your standard family dinner. Trying it once will make you realize that you need more than one Lemon Thyme plant; you’ll have to find a way to grow, reproduce, or buy this plant in order to have a continuous harvest of this potent herb. But, what if I told you that it was stupid-easy to grow this plant with NOTHING but a cutting and some plain old water, no money involved?!
You would probably say that I’m crazy, but I say that I’ve done it. This Lemon Thyme Propagation YouTube video proves it. So, follow below for the steps on how to make this work for you!
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: VERY EASY/BEGINNER
Select Your Lemon Thyme Cuttings for Rooting
Grab your Lemon Thyme Plant and seek out 5 healthy, young branches for rooting. Do not take more than 30% of your plants branches, just to keep your mother plant healthy. Make sure that leaves are green and healthy, and that you see no sign of disease such as wilting, browning, powdery spots, or anything else that may seem unusual. You want the SAME quality leaves that you would use in your family dinner. Cut these branches with at least 4 or 5 nodes present. These nodes, at the base of each set of leaves, are where new roots will sprout from. You want several in order to start a healthy root system. One node will work as well, but more nodes increases your chances of root development.
Placing Thyme Branches in Water: Don’t Use Rooting Hormone!
There is ZERO need for rooting hormone when propagating Lemon Thyme. All you need is a glass with filtered tap water (or plain well water) and a sunny window. Simply drop the Lemon Thyme cuttings into the water, and set the glass in the window. Ensure that 2 to 3 nodes are under water. This should yield at least 3 to 6 great new root sprouts on each cutting. Allow the cuttings 15 days to establish a miniature root system! Ensure that the water levels do NOT drop too low during this process. Otherwise, you might stress out the new, young roots. You don’t want this to happen, as the small branch is putting ALL of its energy into growing these precious roots in order for it to survive as an individual plant.
Planting Lemon Thyme Cloned Cuttings
Once the tiny clones have developed some roots, it is time to pot them up so that they may become the big, tasty plants that they have always dreamed of! You can start with small cups or pots with a top quality potting mix (such as Miracle Gro) in order to develop a strong root system, then you can transplant them into bigger pots when you are sure that they are thriving. You can go straight to bigger pots, but I don’t recommend this just in case you lose a few of the clones. It’ll save you work, materials, and resources.
