Does Sage Herb Use Fertilizer?

Type of Fertilizer

• Sage will grow well in moist garden soils with no additional fertilizers. When soil conditions don't provide enough nourishment, an annual light feeding of a 5-10-5 commercial fertilizer can benefit the sage herb. The numbers indicate the percentages of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the fertilizer.

Container Grown Sage

• Sage is a good container plant, but herbs grown in containers need to be fertilized more often because the limited space means that there is less area from which the plant can draw nutrients. Fertilize the growing medium in the container when planting, and then mix a water soluble 8-16-8, 10-20-10 or 12-24-12 fertilizer according to the directions on the fertilizer package to use when watering the container sage. Every seven days, use plain tap water to water the sage until water come out the pot's drainage holes to allow unused fertilizer to be leached from the soil.

Considerations

• Over fertilization of sage will cause the herb to grow quickly. This quick spurt of growth means that the valued oil contained in the leaves of the sage will be reduced.