They both look fine to me considering they are indoors and lacking light (hence the gangliness) But I'd give them a rest from harvesting.

My guess is that Rory isn't getting enough water considering that he lives in a small pot in your window sill.

Clive probably needs a wee bit of fertilizer... and a rest from picking. the brown is fine... just dead skins.

They are busy growing roots first.

But not too long ago, they looked like this...

Especially Clive... he was long and thick before... now he is short and skinny and limpy. Unattractive really. :(

I have never harvested Rory. The cuts on his head were there when I bought him. I did pluck off some leaves with powdery mildew (i think).

Might it have anything to do with giving it 24hrs of light? It was not exactly on purpose. It was my exam period and I was studying with the lights on till 5am and the sky would be bright by then. I am leaving for summer in 3 weeks and I will be leaving my plants with a friend... :(

James, rosemary is really like a small tree. The browning that you're seeing on the stems is completely normal, and a sign that Rory is adapting and growing stronger. When you first brought him home, we told you that most supermarket plants are forced to grow unnaturally--the wide leaves and green stems. Rory's brown stems and thinning leaves are more normal growth, and a sign that he is in good shape. Now, the brown tips on your leaves can be one of the signs of root rot and overwatering. You really need to water by the soil being dry, not on a schedule. Rory's been focusing on adjusting to being repotted and rooting, rather than a growth period which is why he hasn't needed tons of moisture. Once he adjusts, then you should see some growth and he may need more water then. Waiting until you see the growth tips droop can be a good way to not overwater if you're paying attention.

Clive is suffering a bit from lack of light, but he'll be fine. When you come back from your summer break, you may want to look into a supplemental grow light, making sure you have the proper spectrum. The yellow/brown bottoms are very normal. Some fertilizer can be helpful for chives--find a liquid fish/seafood emulsion that has very low numbers. Something like a 2-2-2. But if you wait until you get back for that too, Clive will be fine without it.

Hey, I thought I would post an update. Rory seems to have gotten worse. Here are some pictures. His leaves are browning and twisting as shown in the first two pictures, and he just generally looks sad. Why is this happening? I am barely watering at all. maybe just once every two weeks. :(

With these pics, it does look like he may be on the dry side. How much are you watering at a time? You may try small amounts a little more often. Did you figure if your pots can bottom water?

You mentioned powdery mildew and pulling a couple leaves with white fuzz--here's a pic of my poor rosey. I have spray to help it, but it's been raining here so much that I haven't been able to use it. But it will show you what it looks like, though I don't see any on Rory.

I guess he might be on drying out. But the other rosemary plant, Roman, is watered as often and looks brilliant. I bottom water my mint and basil as the roots are coming out from the drainage holes, but not the rosemary and chives or chilli. :( gardening is tough.

I have never bottom watered anything. Not even African Violets which most people bottom water. You need to water from the top until water comes out of the drainage holes. Don't let the plant set in water on the saucer. You need to be flushing the salts and chlorine from the water at the top of the plant.

yup i do that. i think the compost that i used is really bad, water seems to run through and then the soil dries up again really quickly. is there a way around this? is it actually a problem?

You probably hit the nail on the head. It would not hurt to try repotting with a different soil mix. If you have not fertilized, you may want to try a gentle seaweed based slow release fertlizer into the new mix. A perfect pot soil is light and airy but retains water... a gardening contradiction that eventually makes sense. Sounds like your compost is chunky, you could add 30% coconut coir and half a handful of slow release fert. Rosemary may like it hot, but she is not very tolerant to drought.

In my experience, coir does do good with water retention, but provides no nutrients so you have to supplement. I agree with Bardamu--if the mix is drying out that fast it will have negative effects and cause what we see in your pics. But, i have no idea what you have access to for recommendations.

I would tend to disagree with the slow release fert--I personally prefer to stick to low number liquids (quick acting, but disperses) when needed rather than over fertilizing which is easy to do with herbs.

I'm still thinking that the paramount factor with all your plants is insufficient light.

The concern I have is that I am only in Glasgow for two more weeks before leaving my plants with a friend for summer. I dont know what might survive or what might not. But I dont want to put too much money into the plants. I will be getting coconut coir and some fertilizer when I return from summer as they are really cheap, I can get them from the pound store. I cant help the insufficient light factor, The sun isnt visitng Glasgow. I am looking for accommodation for next year with as sunny and big a window I can get. :D

I have Roman, another rosemary plant, in the same conditions but doing much better. the soil had less algae when I bought Roman, perhaps Rory was just never going to make it far from the beginning... :(

Floral is true. The leaves of the photographed rosemary are long and lanky, an effect of not receiving enough sunlight. It is using energy to reach desperately to no end. The leaves that are drying out might be a symptom of exhaustion.

There are other herbs that require less hot sun, like the annual chervil. There are also other low light perennials. You may want to simply cut your losses, have Rory over for dinner, and use the pot for something that would thrive in that spot. Be happy the other rosemary is doing well somehow.

I had an experiment over the winter with two rosemaries. One I left near a window in a cold garage, and the other in a basement with artificial light on a timer. The one in the basement grew lanky as it was warmer with barely enough light. The one in the garage did not grow, just stayed still, in the freezing cold. The one in the garage recovered more easily than the other, but at this point, the lanky one has lost its lanky leaves and started making new sturdy leaves. It takes a lot of work to keep those long leaves healthy and green.

Light does not equal sunshine, although the latter helps. Even in Glasgow there is ample light to grow Rosemary outdoors, so you just have to try to get the pots as close to the outdoors as possible. Put them as close to the windows as you can and turn them regularly. Whenever you get the chance put them outside. You can't make up for lack of light by any amount of soils, fertilisers or worrying.

Well. I binned Rory. He was definitely dead. Angus the Apply Mint is the new resident of Rory's pot. RIP Rory.

Aww.....but apple mint is my fav for mint tea!