Lemon Carpet Thyme Browning In Sun
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: Samantha Paull
Posted on: August 03, 2010

I am trying to grow the lemon carpet thyme I just received in the mail and it was growing and green then started to turn brown. I got patchouli and penny royal which have been growing just fine but I am afraid I’ve doomed the lemon carpet thyme. It gets sun almost all day but it is in and out of the shade, as my back yard has plenty of trees. Any suggestions on growing would be great, I really don’t want to kill the plant.

The lemon carpet thyme was the most sun requiring plant in your shipment and as such languished the most during the dark days in transit. It would have softened and deteriorated the most and therefore have the most trouble with adjusting to the sudden change to bright conditions. I presume your 2010 summer is as hot as ours and that would aggravate the shock to the plant- it has trouble with a lot of heat anyway. Cover the plant with newspaper during the five or six hours of mid-day and make sure the plant is well watered. Gradually shorten the time the plant is covered until you do not cover it at all in about two weeks to a month, depending on how hot it is later in the summer. Mulch the plant to reduce the stress on the roots. Next year all will be well as the pant gets gradually used to the heat and possible drought. But in a drought do water all your plants, since they are not used to no water in their native lands.

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