Salvia Browning - Ask Extension
Hello,
I maintain a landscape including numerous blue salvia plants around in decorative stone. The plants looked really good earlier this year (20...
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Salvia Browning #877499
Asked July 16, 2024, 3:21 PM EDT
Hello,
I maintain a landscape including numerous blue salvia plants around in decorative stone. The plants looked really good earlier this year (2024) and flowered well. After many of the first flowers died off, I cut the dead flower heads off at the first leaf below the flower in mid June. A couple weeks later, I noticed all the plants starting to wither and brown all over. Is that possibly due to my pruning of the flower heads? I also spot treat these beds for weeds with a glyphosate herbicide, but that is used lightly and not too close to the Salvia plants...
Any idea what is causing this condition for the Salvia?
Thank you!
Wayne County Ohio
Expert Response
I'm sorry to hear that your salvia has had such a downturn. Deadheading is a common technique to increase flowering and should not have caused such a problem as long as the shears you used were clean and sharp.
It is always possible that your herbicide drifted more than you thought. Water and wind can carry it quite a ways, and some plants are more sensitive than others to it.
A common problem, though, with salvia is root rot caused by overwatering. In fact, brown stems can be a sign that they have gotten too wet and need better drainage. Salvia are more tolerant of drought than overwatering (whether it is from a hose or Mother Nature). How is the drainage in the location they are being grown in? I see a downspout coming down the house in the picture; does it go into a tile to drain away from the flower bed or does it dump just under the surface?
The links below are some extension-based factsheets on growing salvia that may have some tips you can use. If drainage may be the problem, you may have to move them to a better drained site or different soil. If you have other questions, please feel free to ask.
https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/salvia/
https://extension.umn.edu/flowers/salvia
It is always possible that your herbicide drifted more than you thought. Water and wind can carry it quite a ways, and some plants are more sensitive than others to it.
A common problem, though, with salvia is root rot caused by overwatering. In fact, brown stems can be a sign that they have gotten too wet and need better drainage. Salvia are more tolerant of drought than overwatering (whether it is from a hose or Mother Nature). How is the drainage in the location they are being grown in? I see a downspout coming down the house in the picture; does it go into a tile to drain away from the flower bed or does it dump just under the surface?
The links below are some extension-based factsheets on growing salvia that may have some tips you can use. If drainage may be the problem, you may have to move them to a better drained site or different soil. If you have other questions, please feel free to ask.
https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/salvia/
https://extension.umn.edu/flowers/salvia
