Newly bought sage starting to go downhill

[Marb67]

Another to add to my catalogue of bought plants ging sickly. I potted a purple and normal sage with a Rosemary in one large pot. Watered as normal when dry, in a very sunny position. I noticed the inner stems at base a lot of mildewy dying leaves so cleared those out but the leaves are looking pale and yellowing. Should a boost with some nitrogen feed ?

[bearded bloke]

Could it have been botrytus rather than mildew Marb ? that's normally caused by a combination of dampness & lack of air movement, maybe try again but leave in single pots ?

[Marb67]

I have cleared away the dead and plenty of free air can now get between plants. Moved from the corner to more open and dusted dampened stems and base and dusted with cinnamon poweder which has natural anti fungal properties.

[bearded bloke]

^^ Good plan, fingers crossed that does the job

[Marb67]

Well the purple sage is also starting to yellow more and lose it's dark colour. I am sick of buying plants that are healthy, potting them up and watching them go downhill. Should I feed with chicken manure pellets to get colour back in the leaves ?

[ianric]

green sage

Not sure about the purple sage but the green type should only be watered when you see the leaves begin to droop a bit. Hope it gets on with the Rosemary.

[Marb67]

Well both sages have pretty much gone downhill despite keeping dry in winter. Leaves on white sage not drooping but white powdery stuff on leaves and stem. Why oh why oh why when I do the correct thing do they still die ? More money down the drain ��

[Marb67]

Another new, healthy sage bought a few weeks ago going downhill. Why oh why when given the correct conditions does it go downhill so fast ? Some leaves have white mildew and yellowing. There are also flowers on the plant.

[Nicos]

Powdery mildew?

Well having had another bit of a gooogle for you, one of the things suggested is poor air circulation generally.
I do wonder if your walled garden is maybe too damp with poor air circulation ?
That would explain a few of your other problems?

No idea how you could improve the movement of air for the whole area though?...

[Marb67]

To be fair when the wind gets up it seems to get around the garden ok. And why woul the leaves be yellowing and wilting.

It just seems every sage I buy ends up dead.

[vixylix]

Are the leaves all looking like that Marbs? I find with herbs there's always some leaves on the decline with the new growth taking over.

How are they planted? Are they still in a pot with other plants?

Its possible its not liked all the rain we've had - mine is flowering too

[1Bee]

I think sage is like thyme in that it hates having its feet wet. I think most of the Mediterranean type herbs prefer poor soil with great drainage... so if it's in a pot filled with mpc or soil, even with crocks in the bottom for drainage, it's going to be unhappy.

I also think a lot of garden centre-grown herbs are forced in warm, sheltered spots so have a lot of soft growth that doesn't like real life....

[Marb67]

Well more leaves curling and going grey/brown since my last post. In compost it was bought in but in a larger pot with good quality nursery grown multipurpose. I just don't get on with sage and also looks like my newly bought dill is wilting and yellowing.

As you can see It literally seems to be dying off by the hour today before my eyes. I knew when we bought it it wouldn't last long. Keep it in a nice sunny spot.

[Marb67]

can anyone shed any more light after my updated picture ? How on earth can a plant go so downhill on a matter of an afternoon ?

[Jay-ell]

I'm grasping at straws here bit is the Dill in the same compost?
Could it be a soil borne infection like Verticillium wilt?

I'd try and reduce the stress on the plant at the minute by cutting off the flowers - it's not got enough energy for them.

Has anything damaged or eaten the roots? Are they infested with anything? Heat and moisture can be good conditions for crown/root rot or moulds. If the roots have been damaged pruning it hard might help it make it through. If they've got rot then I'm afraid it needs burning - compost as well.