Contents
Sage or salvia is a spicy perennial with beautiful flowers. It is valued for its decorative effect and useful properties, it is successfully used for a number of diseases and in cooking in order to avoid these diseases. The Mediterranean is considered the birthplace of this wonderful plant, which does not prevent it from growing everywhere in the wild. There is nothing easier than to settle it in the country – flowers will decorate the site almost all summer, and there will always be leaves with anti-inflammatory, antibacterial action at hand.
Landing
Sage loves light loamy or sandy soils that are neutral and nutritious. A place for him in the country should be chosen open, maybe just a little shaded. In the wild, salvias grow in meadows, along rivers, on forest edges, they love a lot of sunlight and moisture. Approximately such conditions need to be created for different types and varieties of cultivated sage, the seeds of which can simply be bought in a store.
You can plant sage in three ways:
- sow seeds in the country;
- grow seedlings at home, and then transfer it to the site;
- ask someone for an adult plant, divide the bush and plant its parts separately.
After harvesting legumes, potatoes, onions or cabbage (it is after them that salvia grows well), during the autumn digging of the garden, humus or compost is brought to the site, potash-phosphorus fertilizers can be added. In the spring, before sowing or planting seedlings, nitrogen fertilizers are applied to the soil. Seeds can be sown before winter. Do this at the end of October or even later, so that the seeds do not germinate before frost. They will winter quietly, and will germinate when the ground thaws. Seeds are laid in rows to a depth of 4 cm, between them there should be a distance of 20 cm, and between rows – up to half a meter. In the spring, after the emergence of seedlings, the picture will become clearer, it will be possible to thin out by transferring the plants to other places or seeding.
During spring sowing, the seeds are advised to be treated with a growth stimulator (for example, soak for a day in Energen, then dry), sow in rows in grooves in a plot with prepared soil. They are deepened by no more than 2 cm, between plants they leave up to 30 cm, and between rows – up to 50 cm. Crops are produced in March-April. If the ground has already thawed, but there may still be cold, crops can be covered with a film or non-woven fabric.
Seedlings are prepared at home so that they can be planted at the end of April. Seeds are soaked, hatched are placed in a light nutrient soil. After about 2 weeks they germinate, after another week they can be swooped down or simply transplanted into individual cups (great if they are peaty). When the real heat comes, strong grown plants are planted in the garden.
It is best to divide the bush and plant its parts at the end of summer. You can cut cuttings and root them in water – this is done at any time. And if you bend the branch and dig it in with earth, additional roots form, after a couple of months it is cut off from the main plant and planted separately.
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Care
Sage is modest and unpretentious, it can grow without fertilizing and even with a lack of moisture. But after all, we grow it to admire the charming long flowering, and medicinal varieties – to collect leaves, which means that we must create favorable conditions so that flowering lasts from mid-summer until the onset of cold weather, and the leaves are juicy and fragrant. This is not at all difficult to do.
Perennial varieties can be grown as one- or two-year-olds, that is, they can be updated often, or you can cover them with leaves or branches for the winter, and decisively cut the shoots in the spring, leaving 10 cm from the soil. Such spring pruning will rejuvenate the plant, stimulate the growth of new shoots. In autumn, after flowering and harvesting, you can cut off all the shoots – this helps to strengthen the root system. Usually, autumn pruning is carried out in the first years of growth, and then they switch to spring.
You need to loosen, water and free from weeds all the time. For active growth, sage needs nitrogen fertilizers, so 2 to 3 weeks after planting the seedlings, it is watered with slurry or chicken manure (diluted 1 to 10). Sometimes, to stimulate long flowering, you can feed with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers.
You need to water as needed, if the plant does not have enough moisture, its leaves become stiff. Excess moisture, an abundance of weeds or plant debris can help attract pests – slugs, snails, thrips, spider mites. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent dense thickets so that each plant has enough light and air. If parasites nevertheless appear, the situation will be saved by spraying with an infusion of onion peel or garlic with laundry soap. Mulching with pebbles or some other small pebbles will help retain moisture and protect against weeds. Usually this is done in the flower beds. It is very important that the water does not stagnate.
It must be remembered that sage is a cross-pollinated plant, if several species or varieties grow on the site, then they need to be diluted away or seeds should not be used. Salvia can grow in one place for 8-10 years, then the place needs to be changed.
Collection
The collection of greens is carried out during the flowering period – that is, almost all summer. You can cut off the leaves so as not to damage the growth of plants, or you can cut off the branches, then they are dried with bouquets suspended by the stems. The leaves are used in cooking or for medicinal purposes, either fresh or dried. Dry them, scattering them in a thin layer, in ventilated rooms at a temperature not higher than + 35 degrees, away from sunlight.
Greens are used as a fragrant additive to salads, first and second courses. Dried and crushed are used to flavor dishes and as part of complex spices. For the treatment and prevention of diseases, decoctions of fresh or dried herbs are used. Dried raw materials can be stored for up to 1 year without losing their qualities. But fresh leaves can be stored at a temperature of +1 degree for no more than a week.
Types of sage
In total, about 900 species and subspecies of sage are known, all of them differ in aroma, color of leaves, shoots and flowers. Among them there are herbaceous, shrubs and semi-shrubs. Only a few of those used in cooking and medicine are cultivated.
The most common is medicinal sage, it grows from 20 to 70 cm, has blue or purple flowers, stems and leaves are covered with soft villi. The most popular varieties: “Aibolit”, “Nectar”, “Breeze”, “Semko Patriarchy”. Meadow sage (forest, oak, sticky) has bluish-purple flowers, is used as a sedative and antiseptic.
Muscat usually grows as a two-year bush 30 – 40 cm, essential oils are obtained from it, which are actively used by medicine. Dalmatian grows up to 1 m tall, has light green soft pubescent leaves, has a pleasant aroma, cannot be used for food in large quantities due to toxic substances. Tricolor, purple, Greek, Spanish, narcotic sage – they differ in appearance, smell, composition.
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