Soil Mixes

[Paradoxic]

Salvia divinorum does best in rich, well-drained soil. The soil should be loose and high in organic content. Compost and rich, organic potting soils are good ingredients to use in your soil mix. Vermiculite and perlite work well to improve soil drainage, but many growers are successful without it.

1) Here is the soil mix I use and have had great success with:

• 2 parts rich soil (preferably organic)
• 1 part vermiculite
• 1 part perlite

2) Heres a mix thats especially good for humid climates and doesn't use perlite:

• 1 part cactus/orchid mix
• 1 part rich soil (preferably organic)

3) Here is another excellent mix:

• 3 parts rich soil (preferably organic)
• 1 part aged grass cuttings
• 1 part compost
• 1 part coarse sand
• ½ part aged steer manure

You can experiment yourself with different soil mixes and see which works best for you. Make sure your soil isn't too dense. To loosen it up you can add some perlite or vermiculite. Another thing you can do is break up some styrofoam packing peanuts in a towel or something and mix them into your soil.

Try to keep the soil PH slightly acidic, around 6.1-6.6. One way to ensure the PH stays at this level is to water your plant once a month or so with Stern's Miracid. An easy way to lower the PH if it gets too high (above 7.0) is by mixing in small amounts of powdered, elemental sulfur. If the PH gets too low (below 5.0) you can mix in small amounts of ground limestone(basically calcium).

WARNING - Health hazard when mixing perlite
The danger comes from the fact that perlite is composed of expanded volcanic glass, and when handled dry, releases a large amount of dust.  Repeated exposure to the dust over a long period of time can be hazardous to your lungs and in the short term can aggravate the symptoms of bronchitis and emphysema. The easiest way to completely avoid the hazard is to thoroughly wet the perlite in the bag before mixing it with your soil, thereby completely eliminating the dust issue. If you are working with perlite on a daily basis and can’t wet it, use a particulate respirator having a minimum specification of 2200N95 as set forth by OSHA.

[DrYRHead]

I've been using a mix similar to #3. I put coffee and tea grounds in my compost too, though. Anyone else out there do that?

[Paradoxic]

No, I havent tried that, but I heard coffee grounds are really good. I think someone recently told me about Starbucks (...I think) giving away spent coffee grounds that you can use for compost. I might try to pick some up and try it out.

[DrYRHead]

Yes, I saw bags of spent grounds being given away at a Starbucks before.

[DrYRHead]

BTW, are there potting soils out there that already have peat in them?

[Jupe]

Hey troops...Jupe here....Almost all commercial soils have peat..its light , (cost savings for manufacturers) and its cheap, trouble is, it migrates through soil profile, and ends up in the bottom of your pot, with or without a root mass, where overwatering lets it go extremely acidic, no airflow, kills plant.....seems to take about two years or so....(or never for some plants or climates but salvia seems very susceptible, especially in high humidity climates like the tropics)

I'm an estate gardener, and have learned through trial and error to avoid any more that 10% by  potvolume any commercial peat.  Its great for starting delicate flower seedlings though.

I've been advising a cactus/orchid mix combo for people in humid climates, as it won't store moisture.  One can have soggy soil, and never even water a plant, due to wicking effect.  (like a sponge not drying in wet weather)

Folks in drier climates, or with large plants pulling out larger quantities of water, often won't see problems for a few seasons. 


Heres an orchid mix,  one could add  to it 50% local garden soil, or even...(yuck) commercial soils, and plants would be fine.

Lava is a good additive for soils, as well as perlite etc.  i prefer it because it gives strength and stability to soil, so plants get stronger roots, and staking is unnecessary.

[Paradoxic]

Thats some good stuff there, welcome to Salvia Source Jupe, its a pleasure to have you. I think I'll take some of that soil advice myself. Genius+

I added you as a cultivation and knowledge contributor so now you can edit/add anything to main site. It would be awesome to add all that stuff you just posted to the main part (original post) of this topic, so feel free to add anything, all of that would be great.

[Sam Fisher]

I?m using Black Gold Bonsai mix. I?m really happy with it so far. What do you guys think about it? Here?s a link with a photo.

http://www.sungro.com/products_displayRetailProduct.php?product_id=63&brand_id=13

[Sea Mac]

Hey troops...Jupe here....Almost all commercial soils have peat..its light , (cost savings for manufacturers) and its cheap, trouble is, it migrates through soil profile, and ends up in the bottom of your pot, with or without a root mass, where overwatering lets it go extremely acidic, no airflow, kills plant.....seems to take about two years or so....(or never for some plants or climates but salvia seems very susceptible, especially in high humidity climates like the tropics)

I'm an estate gardener, and have learned through trial and error to avoid any more that 10% by  potvolume any commercial peat.  Its great for starting delicate flower seedlings though.

I've been advising a cactus/orchid mix combo for people in humid climates, as it won't store moisture.  One can have soggy soil, and never even water a plant, due to wicking effect.  (like a sponge not drying in wet weather)

Folks in drier climates, or with large plants pulling out larger quantities of water, often won't see problems for a few seasons. 

Hi Jupe!

Welcome to the Forum.

Folks: Jupe is right on the money here (as always) - it was HE that finally convinced me of the error of my ways. (I'm a bit hardheaded in more than one way ... )

I used to use Miracle-Gro potting soil exclusively: I live in a dryer climate (Yesterday we had our first rain since APRIL) and it took a couple of years for problems to show up - but show up they did! Miracle-Gro has a LOT of peat moss in it and is not suitable for long term growing.

I have discovered that beetles prefer to lay their eggs in soil with peat moss in it: and the grubs eat your plants' roots -  and the first inkling you have that there is a problem is when all the leaves lay flat to the stem and the plant dies in a weeks time.

The short explanation of why I do not use peat moss in potting soils anymore is that "Peat moss eventually turns into peat BOG - and Salvia does not grow in peat bogs!" (She thinks they stink)

This year I found 3 commercial garden soils, sold at Wal-Mart and Most nurseries, by "Kelloggs" that are mostly forest floor debris composted with other types of organic composts. (Some types of beast poo-poo, when composted, make a highly enriched mix of fertilizers).

They are "Kellogg's Garden Soil", "Kellogg's N'Rich", and (My current favorite) "Kellogg's Gromulch" - and all 3 are a "chunky" and loose, well draining soil for growing Salvia (with big bits of bark in them already). I just toss in some Perlite and it's ready to re-pot Salvia plants.

For rooting baby plants I toss straight "Growmulch" on a 'plaster lath' type metal screen and the bigger bits of bark bounce off: what ever passes through makes a higher quality potting soil with sufficient density to hold the stems firmly in place, upright, as they root.

Gromulch is An aged blend of composted fir bark, wood fiber, nitrohumus and fortified
with mineral acidifiers (dolomite) and micronutrients (composted beast poo-poo). Will not
burn. Use as a premium soil prep for acid loving plants, bare root trees and roses. Excellent as a mulch.

And N'RICH is even "Chunkier" and is made of REDWOOD:

"Kellogg N'RICH? is ideal for all in-ground planting as well as mulching. Its blend of premium ingredients ? including kelp meal, worm castings, bat guano and chicken manure ? helps establish strong roots fast. Use it to enrich and improve all types of soil when planting trees, shrubs, flowers, vegetables, bare-root and lawns. Also ideal as a mulch, spread on top of the soil, it helps keep soil moist, regulate the soil temperature and it keeps weeds from sprouting.

    * All-natural and organic ingredients, nothing chemical or artificial
    * Contains long lasting redwood
    * Loosens hard, clay soil
    * Large landscape size, 3 cubic foot bale (for $7 at Wal-Mart: same price as "Kellogg's Garden Soil")
    * Ideal for planting and mulching
    * 100% satisfaction guaranteed"

I'm 100% satisfied with them!

Sam: that bonsai mix looks nice and chunky, and fast draining ...

It'll bet it'll do fine for extended use. 

[DrYRHead]

Thanx for the word up on the peat guys.

[Jupe]

Heres  some shots. of soil mix.( i use a soil sifter, as Carl suggested, but start with a very complex(tons of multiple ingredients) live compost pile. and one of pot ready to be put into ground, showing root structure and soil voids for air flow....... (seen at other forums also, sorry!!..they are faves of mine)

Cuttings such as these suffer no shock when put into pots, or when placed in soil, and can grow to full height quite quickly.

[Cakes]

fortified with mineral acidifiers (dolomite)

dolomite limestone is most definitely not acidic. and it has very few minerals in it. it has a lot of calcium and magnesium but not much else.

never use "hydrated" lime, only dolomitic.

re the coffee grounds>>they are quite alkaline. coffee in prepared form can be neutral and the solids in a freeze dried jar are very acidic but fresh grounds might be a powerful base on a soil.

Contains long lasting redwood

i'm not 100% sure but i think this stuff might be like cedar>>bad for microlife maybe. cedar is resistant to bugs (cedar chests for moths, etc) and that is why it lasts a "long time" but the fumes that repel those bugs are poisonous. like bird houses made of them give the baby birds brain damage.

Mix #3 looks like it is going to need replenishing every 12 weeks or so? and it's likely to be very close to neutrality on the pH scale at that point too, so the grower would really have to watch the coffee grounds at that time. Straying over the line past 7 can be hazardous to most plants, idk about salvia but i am guessing a big yes since she is an acid dweller.

[Jupe]

coffee ground are acidic, and can be used to buffer alkaline soil, to some degree, not the other way....

lots of refs out there..http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=7&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.allexperts.com%2Fq%2FFertilizer-717%2FCoffee-Grounds.htm&ei=egdDR87hIYK2pgSA3IHlAw&usg=AFQjCNE3FsSc0LfwE25YQPejb-PWVJdAiA&sig2=t1KbVcLXYoZSNke761jGRg

[zaorr]

Ok

This time around you got me for good. Bye bye peat.

Is lava rock those clumps of ash like looking rocks you buy at tropical fish stores? Thy sell it as ornamental decoration that won't break the glass when they fall over.

Another thing. If I want to add dolomitic lime to my soil mixes, could I use flowers of sulfur powder as a buffering partner?
I am trying to get a mix with good initial Magnesum, Calcium and Sulphur content that still has a suitable PH range.

ps. When I saw that chunky pic this time I saw some nursery black plastic bag grow containers that usually hoasts rose bushes and the like. The words long term suitability also threw itself into the logic there.  My original logic circuit is F#$e'd now

[JD1stTimer]

Eeeek.... I have probably made a screw-up using "Ferry Morse Seed and Cutting Soil"  It looks like mostly peat moss and vermiculite ground up fine.  I did mix it about 50/50 with perlite though...  Is it wickedly difficult to transplant salvia if she's not root bound? Her pot is four gallons...