eno's grow log

[eno]

Moderators:

Please remove this topic. I don't want this topic staying around once SD is illegal to grow in my state.

Also, please remove

http://www.salviasource.org/forum/image-gallery/1444/msg7068/#msg7068
http://www.salviasource.org/forum/image-gallery/1443/msg7067/#msg7067
http://www.salviasource.org/forum/image-gallery/1442/msg7066/#msg7066
http://www.salviasource.org/forum/image-gallery/1441/msg7065/#msg7065

Sorry to be paranoid

[Defenestrate]

It just needs to adjust to the environment. The humidity tent is a great tool to ease stress in the beginning, and as it becomes used to the new soil, pot, fertilizers, and such, you can re-adapt it to the normal conditions of the area it will be growing in. The reason it is wilting and the leaves are dying is because you repotted it without letting it get used to the environment first. Salvia needs to become acclimated with the humidity, temperature, and light before it can really flourish, or even recover from being shipped in a dark box that was thrown around for a few days.

My suggestions for now would be to leave her alone for the most part to allow her to get used to her new home, except for regular watering. Water until the soil moist, but not wet, and let it nearly dry out before watering again. Fertilizers won't be needed for a few weeks, as theres plenty of goodies in the new soil itself. Miracid is a good fertilizer, but be easy with it, start with less than half the strength called for and ease into full strength slowly. Fertilizer can burn the roots and stunt growth, or can cause warped twisted growth, so don't fertilize too often. I fertilize about once a month for my plants, all of which right now are under a foot tall. Mist her often, show some love and respect, and she will do the same. Except the misting part, she probably wont mist you, that is.

Good luck!

[Paradoxic]

Its unlikely for the humidity tent to make it worse (unless you never opened it up). The higher the humidity the easier the transition to a new environment is for Salvia. You should be misting your plant as much as possible with purified water.

One question, what is lambert potting mix? Does drain well? It should have some perlite or something in it to enhance drainage.

[JD1stTimer]

It sounds like a good setup.  I don't like the idea of putting two plants in one pot.  You should take the sickly one and put a cut soda bottle over it instead of having it in the container with your other two.  The small gap will be a good thing.  Make sure the container on top is clear enough to let plenty of light through.  The rumors of salvia's need for high humidity have been greatly exaggerated.  This has led to people watering twice a day and all kinds of related silliness which will kill your plant.  You can train your salvia to handle low humidity in one to two weeks.

[Arcygenical]

* 75 Watt output grow light (17 watts of energy): the color is white and slightly purple, but it isn't purple like some of the others they had there. It is mostly white.

Get more light! It's equal to a 75w incandescent bulb, but it's still only putting out about 17w (or about 3w of actual light...) and probably around a 900-1200 lumens.

Salvia would benefit greatly from 2-3 of these bulbs. Ideally, you want about 26w of CFL light, pointed directly at EACH plant. This is 17w of FL light, spread across an entire light tube.

Lights should be left on for 18 hours a day.

Make sure there are a few holes at the top of the container for gas exchange. Don't be afraid to blow into it once or twice a day too.

[Arcygenical]

Okay, thanks! Good thing I actually bought two lights, just in case.

I just added the other one on top, and it's much brighter.

And for gas exchange: at night I open it up for a bit and blow a fan, inside the tubs, mist it, close it up

Perfect. Should be fine.

I'd still drill a single hole in the top, JUST to make sure though!

[JD1stTimer]

I thought you were talking about putting a sickly plant in the same pot with a healthy plant.  Also cause you won't be able to separate the two.

[Arcygenical]

How big is the pot with the 2 healthy ones? Eventually, when they become rootbound together, they'll stop growing... A good plant will become rootbound in a gallon of soil, in about 5-6 months. So, I'd separate them while you still can...

[Arcygenical]

Well, if your pot does hold 4 gallons of soil, you can grow some damn big Salvia trees...

And yes, the purplish 2700k hue of the growlights isn't required for Salvia.

[Arcygenical]

Keep a good eye on that stem blackening... It might be signs of root rot.

[Sea Mac]

At last I show up and put my 2 cents in ...

Repotting Salvia plants puts a lot of stress on their root system: salvia is very sensitive to root shock - if they get bare rooted they seldom survive.

And keeping the soil damp promotes root rot: Ideally soils for Salvia have fast drainage. Mr. Siebert told me 4 years ago "Let the top half inch to inch of soil dry out between waterings. Salvia's roots need access to air in order to prevent root rot."

You need to let the plant 'dry out' by circulating air through the humidity dome a couple of times a day: eventually you will be able to ween it off of life support ...

You know ... I used straight Miracle-Gro Potting soil for over 2 years - problems showed up after 2 years but it's probably a better soil than some of these other soils ...

Now, knowing your circumstances better, I wish I'd have advised you to line the bottom of a well draining plastic pot (Your Picture shows the exact same brand I've used for 4 years now: you chose well) with gravel and used Miracle-Gro potting soil for it. Outside under the window in the wind and rain and sun is probably best for them if it's not too cold.

I fear your frequent repotting is slowly killing it by depriving the roots of all the fine (microscopic) hairs and connections it needs - as well as removing any Mycorrhizal mycelia that might have formed in the soil.

Of course, as a last resort I could probably mail you a box of unrooted cuttings for you to root and pot ...

I wish you the best of luck gardening Salvia!

[Sea Mac]

Alright! Now, don't you molly-coddle those two to death now ...

If you get them started off healthy they grow really fast!

[Arcygenical]

Get that cutting in an opaque jar of water, and give it light overhead. If the leaves get good sunlight, and the roots are in darkness, I guarantee your chances of rooting will be much, much higher.

[Sea Mac]

My Plants need lots of support!

They can get just so tall without Stakes to lean on ...

With Stakes - 10 feet:



Without Stakes - 3 feet:

[Sea Mac]

Most Likely a caterpillar: Look Under the leaves for a  green worm ...