Pineapple Sage Wilting
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: Genevieve Epp
Posted on: November 16, 2009

I bought a tiny little pineapple sage from you this spring, and it has become a 5 foot (1.5m) beauty! I potted it up and brought it inside to keep it over the winter -- but even though the soil is moist, the plant seems to be drying up and turning brown. What do I do next??

I should mention that I did take clippings and try to root them, but I have been unsuccessful thus far (at least I think so -- the clippings are wilty looking and partially brown -- they don’t seem to be doing well at all).

When you potted the plant up, you disturbed the roots. When you brought it indoors you subjected the plant to much warmer temperatures and lower humidity, which would require more roots to cope with the evaporation. Instead the poor plant has fewer roots, because of the potting up. To save the plant, cut it back by one third and if it still wilts, put a clear plastic bag around the plant, but leaving it partially open at the top. As the plant recovers, slowly remove the bag over the course of a week or two. The cuttings need to have their leaves partially clipped off. Try to cut off half of most of the leaves and see if this makes the remaining portion perk up. You could also stick the cuttings into water -but change the water once a day- or if they are in a pot in sterilized soil, cover the pot with a clean plastic bag, to increase the humidity.

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