How to grow sage

[imafan26]

I grow a lot of herbs and most pretty easily. However, I am constantly having to replace the sage. I can get them started from seed but I can't quite figure out the watering and soil mix out.

I have to keep them on a bench, when I put them on the ground, they don't get enough light, because they cannot compete with other plants.

I do water the bench everyday, the soil is moist but when I try to pot up the plant, it usually turns black or shrinks. I think my mix is too acidic. Any recommendations on how to change that? Can I plant sage in cinder? It would be fairly neutral that way.

It grows best in the ground in the open, but when it rains, it is still a goner.

[rainbowgardener]

Sage is another one of those Mediterranean herbs. Treat it like you would lavender or rosemary.

[imafan26]

I grow lavender and rosemary fine. I'll try putting it in a clay pot instead of plastic and see if that helps.

[Susan W]

I do sage like my others. I consider it a short lived perennial here, especially with 55+ inches rain.
It tends to get gangly and all, and I am needing to harvest new branches/shoots for market. In the past have added a couple of purchased starts/year, and kiss a couple old plants good bye. This season started from seed, popped up within 1 week (no special starting mechanisms).

I have 1 plant in ground, and it gets a bit soggy, may make another year or so. Others in containers, 12" min for 1 plant. The mix is what I've mentioned umpteen times, and use for about everything. The top soil and black kow poo both have sand, which may help. Also there's enriched dirt compost pile with worms, so near every pot out there is a worm farm.

[imafan26]

Thanks for the tips. I get about 20 inches of rain a year but most of that falls in a few months.

[rainbowgardener]

Always interesting, how the different climates change things. For me sage is much hardier than lavender or rosemary. Rosemary must come in for the winter. Lavender (the hardier varieties) can stay out with protection. Sage can usually stay in the ground without protection. I had one in the ground getting bigger and bigger for about five years. Then winter before last, we had such a fierce winter with zone 5 temps here in zone 6, and stayed that cold for a long time. Killed off my sage...

[imafan26]

Sage grows better in the lower elevations, my mother lives in Waipahu which is in Leeward Oahu and she has a healthy patch of sage in a half barrel. It is a drier and warmer by about 5-9 degrees from where I am.

In the Herb Garden, I can get sage to grow in the ground and it forms a mound, but the leaves are small. It lives longer than at my house but rarely does it last a year. It is near sea level there but the ground is not only extremely alkaline at pH 7.8, it has drainage issues since it is one of the lowest spots in the whole garden and formerly an asphalt parking lot. All they did was throw a couple of feet of fill soil, not even good soil on top of the parking lot. I still dig up sections of the asphalt when I dig into the garden.

[applestar]

I should think about growing culinary sage again. I lost mine a couple of years ago and never replaced it.

Is it as easy to start and grow from seeds as other "sage" like the kinds you grow for flowers?

Only sage I hoard and fuss over from year to year is the tender Pineapple Sage -- I bring that inside as well as take cuttings. I'm not sure if the garage overwintered mother clump survived this winter, but I have cutting grown small pot -- currently struggling a bit as it usually does this late into the winter/early spring indoor conditions due to pest issues. It will go out with the tomatoes.

[rainbowgardener]

Like other perennials, sage is a little slower to germinate and grow than annual salvia, but not especially difficult.

[imafan26]

Pineapple sage I can grow. It prefers to be in the ground since it is a large shrub. Sage is a slow grower from seed, I do make cuttings of the ones that I have. At least until the mother plant bites the dust.