White Sage seed germination

Hello All,

I've purchased Salvia apiana seed. Nothing seems to germinate it. I've tried, garden soil, potting mix, seed starting medium, perlite (plain). I've tried heat, light, cold treatments....

Does the seed need to be consumed by some sort of animal or bird first or something exotic like that?

Help!

Chris

I have always had trouble geting this to germinate also i finaly broke down and bought plants a few years ago.

Hi Troy,

I bought plants also but this is very frustrating. If the plant flowers and sets seed........somehow they must germinate....

I'll keep searching

Chris

yea they do but they are fussy. they also root from cuttings

White Sage is a naturally low germinator to begin with. Plus, if your seed was harvested from wild plants there is an even lower incidence of viable seed because of the droughts.

I start mine in a commercial cactus mix to which I add a bit more sand. Sow the seed and water once daily until germination. Repot as soon as true leaves show, because they have a tap root.

White Sage seed is a light-sensitive germinator, btw. And germination can be improved by fire-treating.

All in all, however, it's a difficult plant to start.
Without fire-treating, I got about 16% germination, which Richo Cech, at Horizon Herbs, says is about normal.

that is where i got my plants

Troy,

Are you growing them like houseplants? If not, how do you handle them over the winter?

I bought two plants from Nichols. Nice healthy plants with good root systems. One is outside in full sun, one will be planted in a slightly more protected spot. They do grow wild around here on the hillsides but on the northern facing protected slopes as opposed to the harsher south facing ones. So I'm unsure which will do best in my little micro climate. Now that I know they do have a tap root I think I'll plant the other in a 1 gal pot and sink that in the ground for this year at least.

Brook, Do you leave your seed (in pots) indoors or out? How long did germination take more or less? Did you fire treat? I read the directions in the Horizons catalog (I think it was) and followed them to the letter, still got 0 germination. Horizon Herbs has an excellent selection of seeds and plants, but best of all, great growing and care information. I'm so glad you recommended them Brook. I haven't yet ordered plants from them. Troy, Are you satisfied with the plants you bought from Horizon?

Thanks for the input. My seed was purchased from Companion Plants, and may well have been wildcrafted. I've had good results with their other seed (so far till now) but I was unhappy to learn that they did so much wildcrafting of plants and seed so, I won't be ordering from them again.

Chris

Chris,

Understand that this is my first year for them, so a lot of it has been trial and error.

I started seed in an empty plastic container, that mushrooms had come in. Filled it with a cactus mix, to which I had added additional soil. Seeds were scattered in this, and watered once per day, as per Horizon's instructions.

I had it inside, under lights, at first, until the temps moderated enough, then moved it to the greenhouse.

Germination took a long time, about three weeks to the first seedling, as I recall. And the total (8 plants) popped over the course of another week or so.

When the second leaves appeared I transferred the plants to individual dixie cups. That's when I discovered the tap root. Which, in hindsite, only makes sense because they are a desert plant.

Plants are slow growers. They're now about 1 1/2 inches tall, with several sets of leaves. But this could be due to the crazy, unseasonable weather we've been having. The hot weather hasn't begun to come in.

I did not fire treat, mostly because the weather wouldn't cooperate. Plus fire treating is a royal pain. Richo told me, btw, that if you don't know what you are doing, you can have negative effects.

In addition to the seed I ordered a half dozen plants from Horizon, and they are great. Strong looking plants, with thick stems and lots of foliage.

My game plan is to keep at least one as a houseplant. The rest will go in a special bed I'm planning, that will include the sage, Cherokee ceremonial tobacco, and sweet grass.

Thanks for the details on planting. I have tons of seed so I'm going to keep at it till I get it right!! My plants are in great shape so far so hopefully I'll just have many more plants.

Your special bed sounds like a spot I'd like to sit and meditate in.

Take care

Chris