JARG's First Salvia Grow (Grow Log continues at www.MichiganSalvia.com)

[bifster]

Looking good!  Those new plants are growing fast!  I love plucking off old leaves just to see the new ones grow and fill out even more.

[Sea Mac]

May they grow this big:


Happy Gardening!

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

Report Day: 42
Temp: 78°-84° F
Humidity: 30%-60%
Height: 4"-5"
Note: Richter's plant coming back to life!

So I inspected my plants today as I do every day or so and noticed that my little Richter's plant is coming back to life! YAY!  It has some new growth and I don't see any major signs of mites. The NEEM oil should be here soon to help protect her. I feel I have learned a lot from this plant almost dying on me and then turning it around. I have put her back under the full lights with the rest and hope she will continue to grow well.





JARG

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

Report Day: 44
Temp: 78°-84° F
Humidity: 30%-60%
Height: 4"-5"
Note: Neem and Castile soap arrived!

The Neem oil and Castile soap I ordered arrived today so I am going to spray the top of the soil and the leaves with it tomorrow morning. I haven't seen any pests on the plants in a while so I think that petroleum based oil worked. Here are some pictures of the current state of the plants. I am thinking about pinching the 4 bigger ones...

This is the Neem oil and Castile soap I will be using...


The new growth of the Richters plant. I fully expect this plant to make it now, since it is showing new growth and the bugs haven't messed with it any more.


Full view of the Richter's plant. It looks sad now, but soon it will be a big green bush! You can just make out 2 little leaves down at the base of the stem at the soil level. Those two just popped up yesterday or today.


The Owens has it's two biggest leaves hanging outside the pot now....it just keeps growing!


The Hoffmann and Wasson continues to get lots of leaves!


Cerro Quemado is doing well


Blosser is doing OK. It still needs a little time to adjust without the humidity tent. There are lots of leaves coming from the nodes which you can't see in this picture.


JARG

[longjourney]

 I hope this works out for you JARG as this would be a huge step in Salvia care.

Joe

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

Report Day: 46
Temp: 78°-82° F
Humidity: 30%-60%
Height: 4"-5"
Note: Took first cuttings...

So I couldn't wait any longer and decided that my plants were ready to donate their first cuttings. I looked them over and found that only the "Owens" and "Hoffmann and Wasson" were ready. They both had a lateral growth that was at least 3 nodes plus the protoleaves. I prepared two 1.5" pots by putting river rocks in the bottom covering the drain holes from the soil. I then added some pre-moistened jiffy soil-less mixture which is the same stuff that my mother plants are currently growing in.

I prepped a hole in the soil and then took my cut. I cut off the lower two nodes leaves and stuck the stem in the pot. I made sure to press the soil-less mix up against the stem and watered thoroughly. I then put a two liter bottle over top and did the second cutting the same as the first.

I took one cutting from Owens and one cutting from H&W. I might have been able to get two of each, but I want to do this as a "test run" to see what kind of issues I run into. The conditions in the 2 liter chambers have leveled off to 78°F and 84%RH.

A picture before the 2 liter goes on H&W. I left the cap of the 2 liter in the picture to get a reference of the small size of these cuttings.


H&W


Owens



What do you guys think? Should I also take the two larger leaves off leaving only the two small top leaves or is it OK the way it is?
JARG

[Arcygenical]

I've never rooted successfully in soil, so I wish you much luck!

The setup looks fine though.

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

Report Day: 47
Temp: 78°-82° F
Humidity: 30%-60%
Height: 4"-5"
Note: Cuttings alive...

So here are the cuttings after 1 day. There seems to be a little brown in the leaves, but nothing bad at all. Both cuttings still seem fairly robust and are holding their leaves without sagging too much. This is my first attempt at cuttings. Does it look normal so far?

The cuttings in their 2 liters 1 day after taking them...



Getting some fresh air and posing for the camera.



JARG

[MstryShovel]

they look great man, and cutting looks to be doing just well, tents are the way to go with cuttings in soil, makes it so easy, contrary to arc, the only successful cuttings ive ever had were soil cutings and 5/5 have lived where as 0/5 water cuttings  have made it, great setup

[Bayrat]

Looks good.  Rooting in soil is easy, just remember the roots will have no need to grow if it can get it's water from the humidity, so keep the soil moist and the humidity higher but not "wet".  Cuttings that small usually take a long time to really grow if they make it that far.  I say "if" because I tried to ween many of my small ones off the tent too soon and the tips died slowing growth to a halt.  I hate tents, but I have to keep those small ones in there for a very long time, so I only take bigger cuttings now.

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

Report Day: 50
Temp: 70°-82° F
Humidity: 30%-60%
Height: 4"-5"
Note: Cuttings are browning...

I wanted to make a quick note about the lack of misting to my plants. I can't remember the last time I misted them and they are still growing great.

I let the soil get a little dry to make sure the roots were getting enough air. A lot of my leaves started to get brown tips and I believe it was from lack of water. When the soil was moist and they were growing I didn't get brown tips. Just an observation at this point, but I think the two are linked.

The plants got a Neem/Castile/Miracle Gro watering today. Here is the mix I used:

1 Gallon of distilled water with:
1 Tbs Miracle Gro All Purpose 12-4-8 plant food
2 1/2 Tbs Neem Oil
1 Tbs Castile Soap

As of last night the plants went on 22/2 and every few days I will slowly increase the amount of darkness to eventually get to 18/6.

My cuttings are getting brown through the "veins" and I think this might be a sign of trouble. The cuttings are 4 days old and I have kept the 2 liter humidity chamber on most of the time. The first two days I misted the leaves and kept the soil "sopping wet" to try and simulate rooting in water. The last two days I haven't added any water to the soil or misted the leaves. I have misted the inside of the 2 liter only and the humidity is holding between 70%-80% I have been taking the 2 liter off for about 30 minutes once a day for the last two days. I notice the leaves droop when I do that and I hope that this will encourage the roots to develop if the plant thinks it can't keep getting water from the air. However, there is this browning happening through the veins...

H&W day 4 with browning


Owens day 4 with browning



And finally I wanted to give an updated picture of my Richter's plant starting to explode at every node with new growth. I watered all the plants today and I hope she will really start to take off! Should I cut off the last 3 old brown leaves to encourage new growth?


JARG

[Bayrat]

Wow 1 Table spoon of MG?  Mine may be different but it says 1/2 TEA spoon per gal. and I usually use half that.  Three tea's to a table.

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

Go look for a 1 1/2 pound box of this common plant food at any garden supply store (Home Depot / Walmart / Lowes / Target / most nurseries / Online):

"1 1/2 Lb Miracle Gro Plant Food


Home Depot
1 1/2 Lb Miracle Gro Plant Food
Product Description
Plant Food 15-30-15 - All Purpose ``Miracle-Gro`` Boxed Size=1-1/2 Lbs.
Water soluble; for all vegetables, flowers, roses, tomatoes, shrubs, fruits, trees, lawns evergreens/house plants.
Product Details
Price From:   < $5
Manufacturer:   Scotts 1
Model Number:   100112
UPC Number:   073561001120"

It comes with a little plastic two headed scoop in the box: you pack tight, one, level, LARGE End scoop and dump it in a gallon of water (and Stir well). They will appreciate being soaked in THAT very much.

My Salvia Plants LOVE this Stuff! They get this deep rich emerald green color in their faces: no mistaking it!

My bottle says 1 Teaspoon per gallon, but it is also on a 12-4-8 percentage solution.

I asked Sea Mac about the percentages he uses above and he confirmed for me that what he uses is not 15-30-15, but 24-8-16. The large scoop he is referring to is a 1.5 TBS. So I figured if he uses 1.5 TBS of 24-8-16 then it would be close if I did 1 TBS of what would essentially be a 36-12-24....or is my math completely off? Either way I guess in about a week I will see if it helped or hurt my plants...

Uh, oh..... It's been a few hours since I watered my plants and I noticed where the water touched the leaves directly it turned them BLACK! Now I am second guessing myself and wondering if the Miracle Gro mix was too strong....



JARG

[bifster]

Eesh yeah that does seem really strong...I always just use a little less than a tablespoon, and I'm always worried about nute burn even with that.  On the box it says use a half teaspoon every two weeks, so a tablespoon seems like a bit much.  Who knows though, I could be completely wrong.

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

Report Day: 54
Temp: 70°-82° F
Humidity: 20%-50%
Height: 4"-5"
Note: Lot's of luck at the store!

Humidity has been slowly falling this week, but the plants seem to be doing OK with it. The strong Miracle-Gro solution mix didn't seem to hurt the plants except where it touched the leaves directly. They are still growing fast and strong. I don't think the clones are going to make it. I want to make a simple hydroponics cloning device so I went to the store and lo and behold all the aquarium stuff was 20%-80% off! I paid less than $10 for hoses, air stones, brass splitters AND a pump! So after this post I am going to create something for cloning in water and see how that goes. The plants are on a 21/3 lighting cycle at the moment as I am still slowly adjusting the light to get to a final 18/6.

Here is an update of what my plants look like just moments ago...I don't think the clones are going to make it which is why I am creating something new for cloning.

H&W clone


Owens clone


Blosser


CQ


HW still has that 1 HUGE leaf compared to the rest of the plant...


Owens had it's two biggest leaves fall off as I bumped them... But there are others growing ready to take their place


Richters is still getting lots of new growth.


JARG