How to Propagate Thyme for an Endless Supply of Herbs

Thyme is a delicious herb that’s a key ingredient in pasta, chicken, and even intricate cocktails. It’s a great addition to your herb garden or even a window box in your kitchen. If you know how to propagate thyme, it’s easy to keep a consistent supply growing at home, without having to make a trip to the gardening supply store.

So where should you start? Propagating thyme isn’t inherently difficult, but it does include a few key steps—and it’s important that you follow them. These tips and tricks will help you create a lush, thriving herb garden with an unlimited supply of thyme.

Benefits of Propagation

Like any method of propagation, propagating thyme allows you to create your own self-sustaining supply of herbs at home, saving you a trip to your local nursery. In the case of thyme, however, taking advantage of different propagation methods can have even bigger benefits.

“Thyme seedlings are very slow to grow,” says Nicole Burke, founder of Gardenary. “I don’t typically recommend starting from seed if your goal is to get usable thyme quickly.”

Carrie Spoonemore, co-founder of Seed to Spoon, also notes that thyme can be “tricky to germinate.” Fortunately, there are other methods that will yield more reliable results.

Propagating From Cuttings

Both of the experts that we consulted agree that propagating via cuttings is the best method. It’s “the easiest and most dependable way,” notes Burke. “I call it herb magic.”

First, choose a stem from a healthy thyme plant. It should be “green and flexible, but not too woody,” as per Burke. Then, cut 3 to 5 inches from the tip of the stem, just below a leaf node. Strip the leaves off the bottom half of the stem.

Spoonemore recommends then dipping the cut end in a rooting hormone, then placing it in a bio dome from the brand Park Seed. “It provides an ideal environment … great airflow, consistent humidity, and moisture control,” she says.

If you prefer to simply use what you have on hand, Burke says you can just place the cutting in a glass of fresh water on a sunny windowsill. Make sure to change the water and keep it fresh.

Regardless of where your cutting ends up, you should see it start to form roots in a few weeks. You can then plant it in your garden.

Propagating From Division

Spoonemore notes that propagating from division “is great for established plants,” but “it does require disturbing the plant.” It’s still a faster method than growing from seed, however.

Burke recommends waiting for spring or early fall—then, gently dig up the plant. “Shake off the soil and look for natural separations in the root ball,” she says. “Use a sharp spade or hori hori knife to divide the plant into two sections.”

Then, simply replant one half where the original was and move the other to a new place in the garden.

Care Instructions

Once. you’ve successfully propagated your thyme, it’s important to properly care for it. Make sure it gets 6 to 8 hours of sunlight per day and is planted in well-draining soil. Let the soil dry out between waterings—thyme is particularly sensitive to overwatering. Prune regularly.

Common Mistakes

Despite your best efforts, it’s easy to make a mistake or two throughout the propagation process. Here are a few common ones that you should try to avoid:

• Cutting too much: Never remove more than 1/3 from the parent thyme plant at once.
• Cutting the wrong stems: Woody stems won’t root as easily as green ones.
• Overwatering: Thyme doesn’t need a lot of watering, so overwatering is a major reason that this plant will wither. Always wait for the soil to dry out before watering again.