Sage medicinal - plant unique. It is used in cookery, in traditional medicine, at production of medicines, in aromatherapy, in cosmetics. It will decorate with the beautiful decorative leaves and fragrant large inflorescences any corner of garden.
Sage medicinal - the long-term small semi-bush having height of 45-70 cm. The plant breeds seeds, shanks and division of bush. It is possible to grow up sage in one-year culture.
How to seed seeds?
It is better to choose the place for crops well lit, with humic soils. It is important that the soil was not sour, without overwetting.
Seeds sow in the early spring with depth of seal about 2 cm. Shoots appear 12-15 days later. On 1 sq.m 1 g of seeds is required.
When seedlings grow up, carry out otsortirovka of the weakened plants. At the same time dive and transplant them on the site with distance of 25-30х50-70 cm.
How to look after sage medicinal?
The sage is unpretentious and does not demand special leaving. As well as any cultural plant, it needs waterings if there is dry weather, removal of weed competitors from ""the area of accommodation"", scarification. In the spring or it is possible to introduce potassium-phosphorus fertilizers in the fall. But be not overzealous: the excess chemistry is not necessary in medicinal raw materials at all. Use humus, compost from garden heap.
The wintered sage bushes prior to spring growth cut off at the height of 10-15 cm from the earth and loosen the soil. Such cutting promotes the best kustistost of sage.
When and how prepare medicinal raw materials?
In the first year of landing the cut is carried out once, in August-September. Further cut off leaves several times during the season. Begin with the moment of promotion of flower arrows and finish in September that the plant has acquired leaves and was prepared for wintering.
Plants of three-year age will be the most curative. To this age the sage accumulates most of all medical substances. The leaves which are cut off from the top tiers of bushes will be the most valuable. In the leaves located in the lower and average tier, least of all essential oil.
The cut-off leaves of sage arrange in small bunches and suspend in shadow under shelters, on attics. When using cabinet dryers, temperature of drying of grass it is impossible to raise over 35 wasps, otherwise the quality of the made raw materials sharply decreases. The dried-up sage keeps the medical nature within two years.