Differences Between Two Strains of Salvia

[penumbra]

Strain:  Cerro Quemado and Julieta
Lighting: Fluorescent
Grow Media/Soil Mix: 1/2 Potting soil, 1/4 Peat, 1/4 Perlite
Fertilizer: Miracle Grow All Purpose Plant Food
Temperature Range: 60-80 degrees fahrenheit
Humidity: 19-40 %
Started From: Clone
Start Date: N/A

Other Details/Images:

   Few people have ever been able to produce seeds from a flowering Salvia plant. Fewer have successfully bred two existing strains of salvia together to produce a genetically unique variety. Luna is obviously a unique strain; Blosser is supposedly more “palatable” than H&W, but the other strains, the specimens retrieved from the Sierra-Mazateca region of Mexico, are for the most part identical to each other. I have trouble understanding how genetically unique strains can arise when a mother plant can only produce offspring asexually. Decades after being introduced to the united states, the salvia being consumed today is, in most cases, the same salvia that has been consumed by psychonauts, lab rats, and Mexican ritual-going Indians for hundreds if not thousands of years.
   Months ago I received plants of a two uncommon varieties in the mail. I took pride in believing that I had rare strains in my garden but at times worried that I had been ripped off. A plant vendor selling Salvia could claim to have strains available nowhere else but in reality be distributing identical clones of a common variety with arbitrary exotic sounding names.
   These fears of being a victim of fraud persisted until a few weeks ago when, after being pruned, my plants erupted in lateral growth. My “Julieta” specimen responded to the pruning like any other plant would. Removal of the growing tip led to the appearance of two new growing tips from the node directly beneath the missing apical meristem. Nodes further down the stem produced new growth as well. I had expected this.
   Pruning the “Cerro Quemado” produced similar but notably unique results. The absence of the growing tip was compensated for by the emergence of two new shoots (as with the “Julieta”) but these shoots that filled the gap between the main stem and the leaves were accompanied by a set of small leaves (potential shoots) between the new growth and the already present leaves. This means that if I were to remove the tips of the two new shoots, I would have six growing tips (two sets of leaves would appear on either side of the removed tip and the set of leaves between each of the two shoots and the leaves beneath them would develop into small shoots leaving 3 tips on each side of the plant. Performing the same number of cuts on the “Julieta” clone would produce only 4 growing growing tips)
I think pictures are needed…….
Since Salvia is grown for its foliage, this tendency to branch so prolifically may make “Cerro Quemado” an especially desirable strain. Conversely this quality may lead to more branches than leaves…its too soon to tell……


Julieta: notice the two new growing tips



Cerro Quemado: the main stem, two shoots that appeared after the removal of the growing tip, and the leaves between the current growing tips and larger,older leaves are visible in this picture

[JD1stTimer]

Wow, that's really interesting.  It reminds of the types of effects that can come from polyploidy.  Some plants get double flowers and things like that.  I wonder if S. divinorum is actually highly genetically variable.. in other words, the fertility problems are almost like it produces mules even when it self-pollinates!  What types of genetic studies have been done on s. divinorum?

[Paradoxic]

Thats pretty amazing! I have been looking for this kind of comparison with Salvia for some time and now its popped up right in my forum, I feel pretty honored. This is looking like the first step in creating a strain guide for Salvia divinorum where we will have information about all the strains. So thanks for posting this and please keep it updated 

As far as the differences you noted, I think you are definitely on to something. There is some mad branching going on with that Cerro Quemado. Before we can draw any conclusions we would have to test it against other strains a few more times and make sure it wasnt just random chance that it branched like that. Apparently the Cerro Quemado strain was collected from the Mazatec plantations by L.J. Valdés III (according to SageWisdom.org). It would be interesting to see what the Mazatec would have to say about it.

[Jupe]

In my experience, the pics show what a nice healthy plant is supposed to do, I'm not convinced strain variations will show up yet, if ever.
Given  correct lighting, water and soil etc.  almost all the strains will grow between 6-10 ft in one season (about 6-8 months growing). After their early growing, (sort of pushing and fighting each other for light, all differences seem to vanish.

I've always  "felt" that H and W is the predominant strain grown in Mexico, and that the varieties sold were collected by different people, and given names to honor them, but aren't really new varities.


 In my own patches, I have probably seen 50-60 different expressions or characteristics, ranging from unbeleivably robust and vigorous, running the gamut all the way down to spindly and feeble.   I don't have much control over how they respond other than I try and keep them fertilized and watered, and in some sort of filtered light....but the expressions they put out, are pretty amazing.

All my plants, (excepting recent seed strains) came from Green Stranger, and were labeled H and W....just a couple of little sticks....

If they are pinched, all that energy will go into branching.
 Its sort of a tradeoff, as tall, unpinched plants will not have as many individual leaves, but the ones they have, will be huge. Pinched plants are great for making  cuttings, to get your total supply going, but it also slows down plants a week or two, or more (when they aren't strong) and if done too late the season, plants will not flower.

Letting plants lean over, (by staking or letting them lean) will also encourage laterals to form, without the trauma of pinching.
(don't mean to hijack grow  thread.... please move thread and pic somewhere else if needed)

Heres an unpinched adult, notice the hefty laterals.  They are about 1 ft. long. Unless these plants can lean on something, they invariably wil break, as laterals make plant to top-heavy.

these ideas, of course...IMHO

ps check out spider thread off top of flower!!!  Hunting for my wasp pollinators.

[penumbra]

Oddly enough, the Cerro Quemado and Julieta appeared identical until they were pruned. Theyve both experienced the same growing conditions (light, heat, fertilizer, etc) and are about the same height. Im  sure theres some sort of obvious variable difference that is causing this odd branching in the Cerro Quemado and not the Julieta, i just cant put my finger on it at this time....
for now ill just pretend ive made some sort of discovery

[zaorr]

That is a cool picture.

Wasp pollinator? Hmmm. I was wondering about that. What species, does anyone know?

The insects around sally is quite a spectacle somethimes.

There is usually a leafroller fly watching over my plants waiting for leafroller moth's offspring, they lay eggs on the worms that hatch and kill the hoast. Those dreaded green worms nearly destroyed my slavia mexicanna plant this year.