Ninkasi's Grow Log

[Ninkasi]

Hey Everyone,

I have been lurking the forums for a few weeks now, and thought it's about time I introduce myself and begin my grow log.
This is my first time growing Salvia Divinorum, I am a total noob, so I will welcome any suggestions from the experts
Eventually I would like to plant Salvia outside in the dirt, and devise some way of keeping it alive during the winter.
I am in North Georgia so we do get some weeks of below freezing, and some days of snow typically. Nothing some temporary greenhouse type structure shouldn't fix I think.

Strain: Blosser
Lighting: One standard 15w CFL bulb (5500 color temp) 24/hrs + Some indirect sunlight through the window
Grow Media/Soil Mix: Standard potting soil
Fertilizer: Miracle Gro "All purpose"
Temperature Range: 70-80F
Humidity: Not yet acclimated, high humidity
Started From: Clone
Start Date: ~1st July 2010

Other Details/Images:

Week 2:

Newly rooted Salvia plants pictured without their freezer-bag humidity tents.
They had started out being rooted in sterilized beer bottles (water method), but I decided soil rooting might work better and dipped the stems in Rootone and put them into soil.
Two of the three Salvia cuttings are thriving, and have sprouted roots, both below the soil (I assume), and up on the stem!
Number 3 is not doing so well as the others, this one might fall prey to my black thumb, time will tell.

[|if3]

Looking good my friend, welcome! One day I hope to see those plants outside that window, not inside .

Watch the water level in those bags, if it gets too full it could water log the soil. killing your babies.

Other than that, way to go!

[farmboy]

welcome to the forum man. I live in northern alabama neighbor.    We have a great climate for salvia, minus the winter time. I have been growing salvia for almost a year now, and have come to the conclusion that the plant grows so fast, that you can take 15-20 cuttings in January or february, and grow them outside all summer and have ounces of leaf very easily. I plan on letting my plants die, and start new every year from cuttings. As of now, all my outdoor plants are in pots, but next year,If I'm still growing, I'll plant 20 of them in the ground. I coud have plants 3 times the size they are now If I wasn't so lazy and would transplant them.    With those3 plants you should be able to easily take 15 cuttings in late winter. That is if your intrested in leaf production. Some people are not. Either way, the plant is very hardy, and wants to live, even that one on the end in the photo will make it, just dont overwater too much. She loves water, but you need a good draining soil if you wter often.

[Ninkasi]

Looking good my friend, welcome! One day I hope to see those plants outside that window, not inside .

Watch the water level in those bags, if it gets too full it could water log the soil. killing your babies.

Other than that, way to go!

Thanks for the advice and welcome!
The cheapo soda can garden pot definitely has it's limitations. I have had to poke a great many holes to get it to drain properly, and even then I think it stays a little too damp in that soil.
I typically only give the soil a couple of sprays a day, I never really drench the soil, but I will be glad to get these transplanted into bigger pots with stones on the bottom for better drainage, which I think will happen pretty soon.

[Ninkasi]

welcome to the forum man. I live in northern alabama neighbor.    We have a great climate for salvia, minus the winter time. I have been growing salvia for almost a year now, and have come to the conclusion that the plant grows so fast, that you can take 15-20 cuttings in January or february, and grow them outside all summer and have ounces of leaf very easily. I plan on letting my plants die, and start new every year from cuttings. As of now, all my outdoor plants are in pots, but next year,If I'm still growing, I'll plant 20 of them in the ground. I coud have plants 3 times the size they are now If I wasn't so lazy and would transplant them.    With those3 plants you should be able to easily take 15 cuttings in late winter. That is if your intrested in leaf production. Some people are not. Either way, the plant is very hardy, and wants to live, even that one on the end in the photo will make it, just dont overwater too much. She loves water, but you need a good draining soil if you wter often.

Thanks for the welcome! I think you are right about the little one, she has started taking root and looks like she will pull through
Leaf production is my primary goal with growing Salvia, I think planting a seasonal crop may ultimately be the way to go.
I remember reading somewhere on this forum that if the soil does not go below freezing, Salvia roots will survive and grow anew in spring. I am hoping that that is true, because that would save some labor and the Salvia crop wouldn't have to die

[Ninkasi]

Week 3ish

A couple days ago I gave the two larger plants a dose of Miracle Gro, and tonight I noticed they have turned a much darker green! 
The tiny leaves are beginning to grow larger and more noticeable as well

I have been taking them out of their humidity tents for a little bit each day and now they can take several hours without showing signs of drooping, I suspect they do not need the humidity tents any longer but I think I'll hold off on removing them permanently for a few more days.

The stunted Salvia cutting seems to be doing well. I have removed the dying leaves, not much new growth, but the growth that is there just looks healthier. I put a bit more rooting hormone onto her soil and watered it into the soil and I can see some tiny rootlets starting to form near the surface.



Tonight I also noticed some curling of the leaves on one of the Salvia plants. The picture below illustrates this better. The leaves have always been a little rough, but this is the first time I've noticed curling, otherwise they look healthy and green, and I am keeping them humid most of the time.

Could this mean too much light? (Or heat from the light maybe?) They get light 24/7, is this a bad practice?

[|if3]

Simple symptoms of salvia include:

Reddening of the leaves, at first the leaves will wilt drastically, this means that they're getting too much sun and they're starting to get sun burnt.

Wilting of course means that they could use a watering or you're watering them too much.

Curling of leaves happen for a number of reasons, sometimes not enough air flow or transpiration, but remember, if your humidity is too low, they'll start to brown because of that. Curling can also happen just because the humidity is too high or because the plant wants to.

Browning of the leaves happens due to a lack of moisture in the air, or because the plant is about to drop them due to a lack of light or efficiency.
On new clones, the plant will start to brown it's leaves to as a sign of change or willingness to change, as a gardener you have to figure out exactly what your girl needs.  Check to see if they need a transplant, they look like they could

Remember to air out your plants at least once a day but not to fig-it with your plant too often, the more you touch your plants the higher the risk of making a mistake.

Did you start a nute cycle yet? They might be looking for some additional food soon.

[Ninkasi]

Simple symptoms of salvia include:

Reddening of the leaves, at first the leaves will wilt drastically, this means that they're getting too much sun and they're starting to get sun burnt.

Wilting of course means that they could use a watering or you're watering them too much.

Curling of leaves happen for a number of reasons, sometimes not enough air flow or transpiration, but remember, if your humidity is too low, they'll start to brown because of that. Curling can also happen just because the humidity is too high or because the plant wants to.

Browning of the leaves happens due to a lack of moisture in the air, or because the plant is about to drop them due to a lack of light or efficiency.
On new clones, the plant will start to brown it's leaves to as a sign of change or willingness to change, as a gardener you have to figure out exactly what your girl needs.  Check to see if they need a transplant, they look like they could

Remember to air out your plants at least once a day but not to fig-it with your plant too often, the more you touch your plants the higher the risk of making a mistake.

Did you start a nute cycle yet? They might be looking for some additional food soon.

Thanks for the input I'm sure I'll be checking this post again if I notice any new symptoms.

I have since discovered the source of the curled leaves, I realized when putting the humidity tents back on the other day that my plants were curling everywhere a leaf touched the wall of the ziploc bag. 

I have tried moving them out of the humidity bags completely, however the AC in my house really dries out the air in the middle of summer in the south
I tried putting them into a storage crate and sealing it, but they wilted severely after only a couple of hours. I sometimes spend 12+ hrs away from the house and have to be sure they will survive while I am away. So as a temporary measure I threw together something I had from some spare junk laying around.

I let them get acquainted with regular household humidity when I am in(until they wilt slightly, of course), when I am away I switch on the fogger.

I have been giving them Miracle Gro fertilizer mix once a week for the past two weeks, (not so much for the little one yet).
I think I'll be getting them some larger pots this weekend as well (real ones), I don't want to wait until they need it.

[|if3]

Wait until they ask for it!:D Nice fan, try to move it off the ground though, it might get wet and stop working .

[aramos02]

when i acclimated my plants, the leaves curled under. after it was acclimated, some of the curled leaves fell off as new leaves were growing normal. i'd say acclimate your plants as soon as possible, then when you're gone for 12 hrs you wouldnt have to worry about them.  mine acclimated fast, it took about 4 days total until they stopped wilting and curled.   

[Ninkasi]

Day 30:

repotted in 6" pots.
I think their old containers were too water-logged, as they showed a new spurt of growth after being repotted.
They should be getting wayyyy more oxygen to the roots in their new soil mix.
They were not rootbound at all in the old containers, so that's the only way I can explain the new spurt of growth.

Soil mix is about 30% perlite, and 70% standard potting soil, and gobs of moisture absorbing polymer, the polymer interestingly enough works to aerate the soil by expanding when watered, and contracting between waterings, kinda neat to watch

[farmboy]

Isn't that the stuff thats in baby diapers?

[Ninkasi]

Isn't that the stuff thats in baby diapers?

I think so actually 
It's branded "Soil Moist", it releases water back into the soil when it gets too dry.

[Ninkasi]

I've noticed today some hairy leaves on at least one of the Salvia plants,...

Is this normal?

[farmboy]

yep. trichomes form on smaller leaves sometimes.