I've been caring for this Common Sage for about two months. It appears to be doing good, however, in the past three weeks I've been noticing something strange accumulating on the surface of the soil around the plant. In color, it is white and yellow, and when the 'stuff' is clumped together it takes on a sienna color as well. I'm tempted to declare it a growth of some kind, but I'm unsure. It doesn't appear moldy or slimy, and it feels quite dry and inconspicuous to the touch. I've been searching the web for possible answers, and waiting for the stuff to start turning into mushrooms, but it only seems to spread itself around the surface of the soil instead of growing in height as I suspected it would. A little background on the plant.. it's in a self-watering plastic planter. I put a bit of water in the planter every day for the first few weeks of having the plant, then decided to cut back drastically, watering it once or twice a week. It grows at a nice pace, but the 'stuff' in the planter is spreading about quickly as well! I've been feeding it some 20-20-20 all-purpose gardening fertilizer as well, once or twice a week with watering. If anyone can help clarify what is happening in my Sage's home I would greatly appreciate it. Odd Stuff ( photo / image / picture from blackkat's Garden ) Odd Stuff ( photo / image / picture from blackkat's Garden ) Odd Stuff ( photo / image / picture from blackkat's Garden )
Hello, My first impression is a type of algae. I read that you have been watering the plant regularly and giving it , what I would call a potent fertilizer. A couple of ideas: (1) Do not water sage often as they do not like moist soils. They originally come from the Mediterranean area---this can give you an idea of what is 'normal' for them. (2) I would not give these plants much fertilizer at all--perhaps a handful of bone meal in the spring and then again at the end of summer. (I never give mine any at all now). (3) I don't know if you ever prune or want to prune your sage, but the time to do it, if you want is right after the blooming has finished. You can cut it back by about ¼ - ½ it's size. (4) They like a medium well-drained soil that is not too terribly rich. I believe that the combination of a bit too much water coupled with the frequent use of a fertilizer with a high NPK content has combined to give you some sort of "super growth" there in your container. If it is algae, it may have began to grow spontaneously, or it may already be living in your water containers that is used to give your sage plant water. It is difficult (even with pics) to determine what is going on there, but at least you have my ideas--if they are incorrect, you can at least cross them off the R/O list in your investigation. Good luck with this BC. Please let us know how your sage plant fares. I almost wonder if you shouldn't clean the roots and transplant this plant of yours, for it seems that the "stuff" is not only on the surface of the soil, but also seems to be down IN it as well. (Perhaps I am seeing your foto's wrong, though).
Hi and welcome to the Stew, Blackkat, I agree with Sjoerd it reminds me of algae,also. Which is airborne and will grow on any soil given the right conditions. I battle this every spring in the greenhouse and when it is really wet outside, on the bare ground in compacted soil outside.mine is always wet and slimy though. I do not water from below, I don't have the set up to do so. Is your plant in full sun? that would help to control the growth. I have peeled this stuff off and tossed it in the trash and also re-potted in a sterile container or use a 10% bleach solution on the one you have and let it dry before re potting it. Copper is a great fungicide and also works on algae. I toss a few real copper pennies ( as in pennies from the 60's and 70's) into the bird baths to control the growth. You might find this to work for your plant also. As Sjoerd said, they do like to be dry and really don't need as much fertilizer as you have been giving them. Cutting back on both of those wouldn't hurt. Good luck.
I was thinking salt deposit build up from too much fertilizer and using tap water to water it, especially if you have hard water. That creates a white/yellow crust on the soil surface and it spreads each time you water/fertilize. And since you have been watering and fertilizing so often if has been spreading quickly. To prevent it don't water or fertilize more often than the plant actually needs. And Sage doesn't need fertilizer (not more than once a month if that much) or to be watered until the soil is dry down to at least two knuckles length when you stick you finger in the soil. Sage also needs lots of warmth and sunlight. That self watering pot may be part of the problem. Letting plants sit in water, especially ones that require dryer soil for healthy growth, will suffocate the roots causing root rot. Roots need air as well as water. A fern might enjoy that pot very much since they require moist soil. To get rid of the salt crust, scrape the top 1/4 inch of soil out to remove what has built up there. There will be a build up in the soil too but you can remove that by Leaching. Leaching is a process of running water twice the volume of the soil through the plant. i.e.....a 6" pot holds 10 cups of water so you would run 20 cups of water through the soil.....use a jug of distilled water instead of tap water. In this case, pour the water out of the watering tray and let the soil dry out. Then water until water runs out the drainage holes....let the plant sit about 30 minutes, empty the tray and then water again. Repeat this until all the water in the gallon jug is used, let it drain completely, empty water from the tray. When you water it in the future, just water from the top until water runs out, let it sit then pour water out of the tray. Leach your plants every 4-6 months to keep the build up under control.
I agree with Toni. I was thinking some sort of salt or chemical deposit from the water you are using.
Thanks for all the replies. I'm relieved to know that it's at least probably not fungal. I will stop fertilizing and over watering immediately! Here's another image of the sage (and a pepper plant) sitting by my window. I open the blind in front of the plants to let sunlight in every day, for around 5-9 hours. Every two days or so I 'rotate' the plants around to try to even out growth. ( photo / image / picture from blackkat's Garden ) When I bought the plant back in July it was small, about 5 inches tall at the most. It has never flowered which I wrote off to be at the fault of my climate (I'm in a 5/6 zone, lately it's been between 80-110 F.) I've been pinching leaves to use with cooking, but I have not cut it back yet, as I feel the prime time for that has past. Should I trim it back anyway? Also I have the window slightly opened. Seldomly I will close the window if it is extremely hot, but, the room that my plants are in does not have air conditioning so I use the opened window to try to fight the heat. As far as the 'stuff' being in the soil, one of the images I've provided of the planter (that looks vacant yet spotted with 'stuff') is where the pepper plant was before I transplanted it to a terracotta pot, as it is growing quite rapidly. The soil goes down into a slope and ends in the corner of the planter. It's a bit hard to describe. The shallow parts of soil with 'stuff' is the surface. I never replaced the soil I took out of the planter when I took the pepper out, so it is the surface and not 'in' the soil. I plan on putting the sage into a terracotta pot soon, as it has come a long way since I bought it and I feel that its roots are going to require more space. Thanks for all the information! It's greatly appreciated. Oh and also, I have been using tap water for the plants. When I drink iced water out of a glass there are very substantially sized white flakes at the bottom of the glass, which I believe to be calcium carbonate. Should I switch to distilled/spring water for my plants? :-D
Blackkat, if you are dealing with salt build up in the soil you really need to remove as much of the soil as you can and re pot the plant. Salt deposits come from too much fertilizer and soft water that is softened with a "salt" system softener. Hard water will leave mineral deposits on the soil, which also aren't the best for your plant. Your best water source is rain water as it is naturally softened and the plant can use the minerals in the soil more readily and if the soil is very dry it is more easily absorbed. Hope all the info from everyone is helpful. good luck
Thank you. Very soon I will be transplanting it to a terracotta pot with brand new soil. Rain has been a bit scarce but I will run outside with a jug or bowl the next time it occurs. Thanks a lot!
I would also use distilled water for the time being to give the plants a bit of relief until you can obtain some rain water.
