A few Questions

[zee]

Hi everyone! I joined a few weeks ago and I have been learning a lot from all of you, although I still have some questions about salvia divinorum. I was wondering if anyone could help me out.

First of all, what is a node? I took a couple of pictures of my new sally plant (it arrived last Thursday and has been recovering very well) so whoever wants to help me out may use it to answer my question.





Also, would it be safe to cut the bottom leaves two leaves touching the soil, and if so, from where and with what (e.g. scissors, razor)?

These are dumb questions but I don't want to ruin my baby! 

Thank you!

[jhazel]

Very nice plant. She looks great. Theres no such thing as a dumb question. I'm new here and just received my first salvia plant about 2 weeks ago so I know how you feel.

As far as the definition of a node...it is the point on the stem from which a leaf or new branch grows. I don't see why it wouldn't be "safe" to cut those leaves growing at the bottom near the soil. When cuttings are taken a sharp razor blade which has been sterilized is often used so if you wanted to be absolutely safe you could go that route.  I'll be interested to see what everyone else says to do with those 2 bottom leaves. I think Sea Mac has said that he let's his plants drop the leaves themselves unless they are harming the plant in some way.

Anyway, welcome to Salvia Source!

[Arcygenical]

I'd leave those leaves on... No reason not to

She looks really healthy!

[zee]

Thanks for the replies!

I'm going to re pot my plant right now. I also have a couple more questions that I forgot to add. 

I remember reading that cutting off a part of a salvia plant that starts with an A (I can't remember the name) would make the plant produce a hormone that would make it grow outward, or bushier. It would be great if someone could point that part of the plant out for future reference. I will try to find the post where it was mentioned.

Also, I bought "plant food spikes" (6-12-6) from Miracle-Gro for indoor plants and wanted to know if they would be suitable for salvia. If they are, I will wait a few months before using them because the soil I am going to use for re potting already contains enough food for 4 months.

Edit: I found the name of the plant part, it is called the apical meristem. I found it over at coffeesh0p.com.

Pinching - Pinching is a method to promote bushiness and outward growth in your plants instead of growing too tall. At the tip of each branch, there is a section called the apical meristem. This is where all the new growth comes from and is responsible for regulating a plant hormone called indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). This hormone promotes the growth of the main stem and inhibits sideways growth from nodes along the stem. If this hormone weren’t present in the plant, it would grow outwards instead of upwards, so it follows that if you remove the apical meristem, this hormone will no longer be produced and your plant will bush out instead of grow tall.

When your plant has reached the desired height, cutting off the top of the main stem with a clean sharp pair of scissors will safely stop the plant from growing taller, while maximising leaf output.

Do they mean the part at the very top of the plant which "splits" in half to form two leaves?

[Paradoxic]

My latest plants will be heavily pinched after the development of the 5th node... I can do a comparison to previous clones who weren't pinched at all... If you want

[zee]

Alright, I guess I'll hold off potting until Thursday, a full week after the arrival of the plant.

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone!