Another photo

And another

Looks very leggy. Is it indoors? If so, is it near air conditioning or artificial heat?

Looks like a very young seedling. In our experience. this plant takes over a year from seed to start to look and act like the mature plant. The younger stage can be quite tricky.

Also, it appears to be in far too little light. This is a full sun plant - any less spells problems. This could be the root of your problem.

light is never the ROOT of the problem ... it would be the LEAF of the problem ...

but i see what looks like almost a pure peat media... which might be the ROOT of the problem ...

the facts do state.. that there are water management problems....

it is possible.. you are not only starving it for light.. but somehow rotting the roots off ...

and i cant tell from the pic.. but i used clay pots for a very short time... and decided they were near impossible to deal with.. unless you were using them in a greenhouse ... which roughly translates into... a water management problem ... if its plastic that looks like clay.. ignore this ...

you might learn a lot more about growing things indoors.. if you peruse the houseplant forum ... as that term can be used to describe any type plant you are growing in the house.. go figure on that.. lol ... i think there is even an herb forum ... and maybe even the cooking forum .... never know where you will find someone who has dealt with such ...

who knew there was a salvia forum ...

ken

You can learn a lot about California sages from Las Pilitas Nursery. Bert Wilson is highly knowledgeable about these plants, since he specializes in restoration of native landscapes, using appropriate plants for the particular site.

It's not just the soil type, but also the particular sunlight/temperature/nutrient ratio that plants need, and these vary with the season. Warm roots are good for these sages.

Strange behavior of growing leaf tips is often a reflection of what is happening to growing root tips.

Here is a link that might be useful: Las Pilitas Nursery