The subject: salvia officianalis. The story: raised in largish pot, grew very well, trimmed top leaves and, at 5-6 inches in height, was bushing out nicely on the lower stem.
Transplanted it to about 30" away from my best salvia plant. VERY carefully -- I'd be shocked to find that the roots were damaged in the process (although my x-ray vision is on the fritz...). Saw to it being well-watered for about a week (longer is dubious here, see below), with a bit of 12-24-12.
Temps are 65-80 F., occasionally a little warmer, no 90s (we're up at 2900 feet alt.) Roughly half-sun, half-shade, just as the other plant...and it is now losing its smaller leaves and drooping. No leaf damage from insects. Not dying (yet), but not healthy at all, still making new leaves, though more slowly than before.
The locale: El Valle de Anton, Cocle province, Panama. No frost concerns, ever. June-November is the rainy season here, and it is a typical one; very little add-on watering required in the garden.
Its plant mate (er, so to speak) is just chugging along, very healthy, and should end up being a fine sage plant.
The only garden pests of note are ants and wasps (very benign ones; you leave them alone, they leave you alone). I have not heard of ants chewing on sage roots, but I suppose anything is possible.
Thoughts? Ideas? Outright laughter? All notions appreciated, with the exception that I prefer NOT to use organophosphates for any reason.
Many TIA, gardeners!
It’s a mystery. It could just be a little transplant shock being in a new environment. Don’t treat it too kind. I have killed more plant with over fertilization and over watering than through neglect.
Do keep an eye out for any bugs on the leaves etc maybe even use a magnifying glass. Sometimes when I transplant stuff, I deliberately take off some of the bottom leaves, because I figure that will help the remaining leaves to survive. I could be mistaken, but that is what I do.
I also don’t want to risk burning from fertilizer, so I usually use slow release osmote type pellets when I transplant.
We have nice wasps, too. When we first planted the corn, Mr. Sg noticed little ants around the roots when the corn looked unhealthy. There’s supposed to be an invasion of “crazy ants” in the humid southeast US. They don’t follow behavior patterns of normal ants, and they reportedly eat electronics. Needless to say, we put food-grade diatomaceous earth all over the place and the little devils disappeared. Do you think those could be the problem?