Oregano is one of those versatile herbs that’s peppered throughout the culinary scene. You find it in Mediterranean and Mexican cuisines, it’s everywhere in Italian cookbooks, and it complements all kinds of soups, sauces, and even salads with its spicy, pungent flavor. Growing this sun-loving herb indoors unlocks year-round access to fresh leaves of this bold and flavorful ingredient. But it’s a little tricky to grow indoors. Oregano is picky when it comes to water, and failing to find the balance between overwatering and underwatering is a common mistake that thwarts many attempts to grow oregano.
There are a variety of symptoms for oregano that’s having issues with water. Underwatered oregano will have discolored leaves that turn yellow or brown and then fall off with exposed roots. The leaves of overwatered oregano will be darker, even edged in black, with weak stems that are easily broken. You might even see mildew infections. Overwatering and underwatering oregano also creates leaves that are much less flavorful — that leads to lackluster batches of bacon spaghetti bolognese or Mediterranean-inspired hamburgers that don’t have quite the kick you’d expect.
How to dial in your oregano watering routine and revive your sad plant
Every type of oregano likes to have constant access to water without swimming in it. The container it’s planted in has to have plenty of drainage and the soil should facilitate draining as well, without being too porous to hold any water at all. To check that your oregano has enough water, stick your finger in the dirt and evaluate the first ½ inch of the soil. If it’s dry, your oregano needs water. If it’s moist, then you can skip watering for that day.
If you do have a sad oregano plant on your hands, don’t worry — it can be saved! It’s just going to take a little bit of TLC. And luckily, there’s not a lot that can go wrong with oregano. It’s a hardy plant that needs only a couple of things to survive: well-draining soil with the right watering routine and plenty of sunlight. Assess whether your oregano needs to be repotted into a bigger container or one with better drainage. Then take a look at where the oregano is located. If it’s not getting full sun for six to eight hours a day, move it somewhere it can get more sunlight and watch your oregano plant come back to life.
