Hi, there is no such thing as an 'indoor' rosemary, and it would be perfectly fine outside except that if it's been inside all this time, probably could be shocked at first depending on how cold it gets overnight now and how small the pot is. In any case, you need to get it out of the pot to see the roots, whether they're filling the pot or not, and if you need a larger pot. To water it, now, you're right about the method, and if you can spring for one, a 'rosehead' (nothing to do with your tree) watering can (small) is the trick. It's the kind with a lot of little holes in a flat pad at the end of the spout. It works like rain to a plant, and if you do it slowly, giving it time to sink in, the water will do so, but I'd still check the rootball for how tight it might be now.

Everything Lucy said is right on, and just to add to that, especially until you repot this into fresh soil, you should look at watering multiple times in one setting. Water once with the fine rain head, wait a few minutes, do it again, and repeat until you see that you have actually gotten the water into the center of the the soil (as best as you can tell this)

Often, once you finally get the soil moist, it will be easier to water the next time, unless you let it get fully dry in between, which you really shouldn't do anyway.

You'll know if water's gone all the way through because it'll come out the drain hole. Just remember that Rosemary likes to get pretty dry between waterings, especially in winter (even if it's indoors).

Tried to take plant out of pot to check roots, won't budge. Checked bottom of pot - two thick wires going from one drain hole to the other. Do I somehow cut these wires? I can also just see this wire coming out at the top of the pot.

Absolutely - use wire cutters or whatever will do the job (the wire will be soft). Just straighten the ends so they can pull thru the holes.

Okay, Lucy, I've got the plant out of the pot. It is a mass of roots right up to the top. It doesn't appear there is much soil. If it was a plain old plant for my garden I'd go to work on it but I'm at a loss with this. Again, help.

First of all, I hope you have the rootball in a plastic bag tied at the trunk? OK, get a larger pot (if possible wider than tall, but certainly not shorter than the rootball as it is now). Then go to a store that sells aquarium fish and get a bag of smallish, natural colored stones (enough to more or less fill the pot). The next part might not be as easy, but find somewhere (garden centre?) where you can get small bits of bark (not a lot bigger than 1/16-1/8") which will be about 20% of the final mix. If you have trouble, get a regular bag of Schultz's Orchid Mix (the kind you can find at the supermkt or garden ctre) and it will have chunks of bark inside - lots will be large, but they're soft, so break them up longitudinally and then cut in half). There should be some soil in the bag as well, even if only a little, so use it to make up ~ 20% of the mix. Now, get a big bowl, mix everything with your hands according to approx. %'s and you'll have your mix - probably more than you'll need, so save the rest for your next bonsai. Presumably the new pot will have 1-2 good sized holes in the bottom - cover each with a piece of plastic canvas - comes in 1' sheets at any craft counter (incl'g WalMart). Trickle in no more than an inch of mix on the bottom. Take the tree out of the bag, spritz the ball lightly with a mister. Use a very sharp knife or clippers, whatever you have, to cut away the bottom 1/4-1/3 of the roots and, if possible without major breakage, very carefully loosen the large roots that are left, though it may take a while to tease them apart and you want to be very, very careful not to tear all the tiny 'feeder' roots that are holding them together, though some will probably be lost. Tickle out as much of the soil from underneath and all around as you can, but if there's a large 'hole' left inside the root ball, you'll need to a) mound some of the new mix in the pot's middle (or slightly to one side of that) and carefully, slightly spread any longer roots to the side without breaking them, tho' they really shouldn't be much longer than the bottom of the ball. Start trickling in the new mix all around, using a chopstick to fill any gaps, and just keep adding it til you're at the top of the ball, though leaving it just very slightly higher than the sides is a good idea. Tap the top of the soil but don't apply any real pressure, and then water slowly til it comes out the holes. Do that again in 10 mins. and you're all set. Make sure you never water into a saucer and let the pot sit in it or roots can rot. You'll notice that the water runs right through the pot, which is the point of it all, so now if you water a little more often than might be ideal (they prefer to get dry between times) far less damage will be done. Learn to know when water's needed, by hefting a just watered pot for feel, and then learning when it's a lot lighter, and/or by keeping a chopstick between the trunk and pot sides like a dipstick which you remove daily to see if at least 2/3 of the mix is dry (then water), and which you'll eventually not really need at all. Also go by how the tree looks in general - get familiar with it. OK?

Hi Lucy, rootball is now in plastic bag. I do have orchid mix and I'll go to Petsmart for the aquariam stone. Hopefully I can find the right type of pot "not shorter than the rootball". Your help has been invaluable and so greatly appreciated. I'll keep you posted on my progress. Andrea

Great advice, Lucy!

And good luck, Andrea!

Josh

The bonsai 'Rosie' is now replanted. Phew, that was a chore. I tickled the old potting mixture out as you told me to. I swear that plant was laughing from so much tickling. If it doesnt survive at least it went as a happy plant. Thank you again for your wonderful advice. Andrea

Just one last tip on your watering of this plant. I have killed about 5 rosemarys over the past 5 years by over watering. This plant does not like wet feet (roots). So make sure the soil is dry before watering. Im not saying bone dry; put a tooth pick into the soil, pull it out about 5 min later, if the tooth pick is damp, you do not need to water. You can also use a chopstick. Ummm, just like lucy said... I guess I just wanted to stress not to over water this plant.

Thanks Bill. I definately have to have a different mind-set about my bonsai. I left it outdoors last night now that our temps are returning to normal. But what do I do on our one day of watering and when it rains? Do I just keep it indoors all the time? Thanks, Andrea

Ahh, your in lakeland, well, you have about 3-4 months till rainy season. It seems I lose mine after the rainy season, I keep watering it daily when I should water it weekly.
I would try to cover some of the soil with something, such as a broken tile. Let it get some rain, but not drenched each day.
If you planted in 50-80% aquarium gravel, you might not have to worry too much. I have used profile (fired clay), it holds much more moisture than aquarium gravel, and I think that might be my down fall. I have recently planted some rosemary in the ground and it seems to be growing. Im going to try to make something to divert the extra water that comes with the rainy season.

Just my 2 cents...Rosemary is a woody perennial herb. Translation: hot dry well drained. Outside.

They will grow roots at an amazing rate and become root-bound in a very short time. I killed a few before I found that they want very dry feet, all of the time. They will grow well in coarse sand, plain Turface and simply love small grade (sieved) pine bark.

Watering then, is not a problem, with large drain holes you simply water them along with the rest.

I only ever had one that I did show on occasion and cheated because it thrived in a much bigger pot. To display I'd cut the root ball to fit the pot it would be shown in...exactly. Then return it to the larger pot as soon as it was over.

Watering: like Larch, the leaves will begin to 'droop' when it's too dry.

Another way is to submerge the pot in a larger container of water and allow it to soak. Remove and let it stop dripping before returning it to its window.

No, submerging is not a good way to water anything - chemicals that need washing out don't get there and 02 that needs raining in doesn't happen. The only time I'd ever immerse a pot is a) to drown ants, etc. that are inside, and b) as a last resort to try and revive a more or less dead tree (one that died as much from lack of water as anything). Definitely a no-no in bonsai.

[quote]Definitely a no-no in bonsai[/quote]
I have to disagree with that. One should always use a well-draining soil mixture which can just hold enough water and never to much to kill the tree. If the soil-type is right submerging a tree once in a while is a good way to renew air, bringing oxigen inside the pot and draining all harmful chemicals that have build up inside the pot. Once drained one could always fertilize or use products such as "Rainbow" to regain a wealthy environment and normal nutrition-level if dropped to low.

Use this method only for the reason described above, and NOT as a regular watering procedure. Always water your tree using traditional watering procedures and use this method only once in a while, say once a month or once every two/three weeks during dry periods.