SD Office Cube Grow Log

[5010]

Strain: unknown

Lighting:
Visible to 4 fluorescent ceilingt panels (4 bulbs each), plus desk lamp

Grow Media/Soil Mix:
10" plastic pots with 8 holes each in the bottom, separated from tray with white marble rocks.
Layer 1: 1" pea-sized gravel
Soil: 1:4:8 mix of perlite, cedar mulch, and miracle grow soil

Fertilizer:
None added.

Temperature Range:
Office environment, steady low 70's

Humidity:
Low humidity

Started From:
Clones.

Start Date:

Xd013 - June 18, 2007
Xd016 - June 18, 2007
Yd005 - July 3, 2007

Other Details/Images:

Received 3 specimens yesterday at 3pm, each eaten up by pests (as expected).  Delay in shipment caused them to be in package for 50 hours (I forgot about campus having our own zip code).

Unpacking:
Plants were 8-12" high and root-bound, moist, with leaves drooping and curled.
Stems were unbroken.

Xd013
- 12" high, all large leaves curled at edges
- stem seems sturdy
- no leaves at nodes 1 and 3
- 2 tiny new leaves at node 2
- 2 5" leaves at node 4.  30% eaten 1% rotten, 5% eaten, <1% rotten
- 2 tiny leaves from same point at node 5, smaller is a bit blackened.
- 1 1.5" leaf at node 5, mostly curled, no rot
- 2 leaves at node 6: 2" and 3".  Slightly eaten
- 2 2" leaves at tip, no rot.

Xd016
- 10.5" high, all large leaves curled at edges
- stem seems sturdy
- no leaves at nodes 1 and 3
- node 2: 1 tiny leaf pair, 1 of pair half-eaten
- node 4: 1 tiny leaf pair, 1 leaf stem completely eaten
- node 5: 1 tiny leaf pair, 1 of pair partly eaten
- node 6: 2 5" leaf heavily eaten, one with rot at fringe
- tip: 5 leaves, 1-3" long

Yd005
- 7" high, all large leaves heavily curled and half-wilted
- stem seems weak
- no leaves at nodes 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5
- 5 leaves at tip, mostly wilted.  1 tiny baby leaf in good shap

9/19/07 - left in original pots to air out

9/20/07 - 12:30 repotted, watered, misted

[Sea Mac]

Welcome to the Forum, 5010!

Wow!  That is the most detailed grow report I have EVER Seen! And since I know NOTHING about growing Salvia indoors, let alone in a office setting, I eagerly await your experiences in growing her. I think you ARE advancing the knowledge about what kind of environments Salvia can be grown in and, to my mind, that is important work!

And thanks for the feedback on my shipping method ... I am VERY careful in shipping plants (some of you out there are nodding your heads as you remember unpacking them ... )!

You can upload pictures here to our gallery and put them in your log.

I'm sorry to hear the Y series plant arrived in poor condition. I PREFER not to ship plants before they are at least 6 weeks old and partially rootbound - this minimizes shipping shock.  This is another reason I ship 3 plants: redundancy! You can have one fail and one prosper for no apparent reason - but at least you'll still have a garden!

Those poor babies you have are true hardy survivors: they've survived a plague of Locusts / a storm of caterpillars / continuing drought and a nasty heat wave (Over labor day) here, and THEN lived through one of the more challenging shipments I've ever presided over to GET to you!

2/3rds of their brethren didn't make it the first 2 months. And, honestly, they look like they BARELY Survived also.

But you've done them good: you gave them root room to grow. They are well established rootballs (a yard of roots frustratedly circling around the tiny 3" pot looking for a way out) and stems: and can use all those roots to quickly grow new branches and leaves! I KNOW they will GROW! How fast depends on how much light they get (florescent lights are FINE for Salvia).  I want to know this too and you've posted their beginning heights already - Excellent!

I'm mostly worried about air conditioning removing all the humidity from the air and over drying them ... this is why I feel you are doing valid science research here! I don't mist my plants so they are already "Hardened" to about 66% relative humidity, and I'd like to know if they need misting in an air conditioned environment.

Well, I stopped using Miracle-Gro potting soil this year ... It's not as good for long term growing but for the first year or two it's OK. But I religiously fertilize them with Miracle-Gro fertilizer every 3rd or 4th watering - Salvia NEEDS that to prosper.

I'm curious to see if they show signs of blooming in a month or two. Salvia wants to flower when the nights get longer than the days and they may be in that environment (Permanently) now.

And an Expertise Point for the Thorough report!
  

[Paradoxic]

Yes, a warm welcome to Salvia Source!

Nice report, as Sea Mac said, exhaustingly detailed. Thats sweet you are growing in an office, may I ask for what reason? I would love to see some pictures of that, sounds like a cool setup. I would enjoy having some Salvia in my workspace as well.

Good luck!

[5010]

Thanks guys.  My only choice at Home Depot was Miracle Grow or Scotts.  Yes the packaging contributed to the survival even with the extended transit.  Each plant was wrapped delicately in aluminum foil, which not only kept them moist but provided a radiant barrier.  Each was taped to a squared tube of heavy card paper which minimized shifting.  The package was clearly labeled "perishable" in several places.

Today at 1pm I misted them.  This is just using a cheap home depot plastic spray bottle.  One thing I noticed when testing it is sometimes it sends a jet, so instead of pointing it at the plants, I place my hand behind the plants and shoot it at that.  Then when it comes out misty great! When it comes out as a jet it splashes off my hand and sprinkles the plants gently, so netiher the plants get hit with a hard jet nor does the jet hit my desktop.

The top of the original soil is damp.  I think they are ok on water for the weekend.

This morning I was trying to think of names.  I'm reading a book by Carlos Casteneda and considered "Elias", "Julian", and "Pablo" after the nagual lineage, but that would make more sense if they were cloned from each other.  I'll keep thinking.

I should record the details of the stems to see if they are getting better or worse.  I am calling the edges along the stems "fins" for lack of a better term.

Xd013:
A positive sign: the stem has lifted itself against gravity and the top leaf measures 13" high.
Stem from base to node 4 is opaque and a darker green.  From node 4 to tip is pale green and translucent.
Stem < node 1: all 4 fins are darkened at the edge, especially closer to the soil.  One face has a tiny round hole from the base of a fin to the center of the stem and about as deep.
Stem, node 1-2: 2 fins have very slight darkened edges. A third fin has the slightest darkening at the upper 40%.
Stem, node 2-3: 2 fins, very slight darkened edges.  1 fin partially darkened edge in 3 places.
Stem, node 3-4: 2 fins slightly darkened edges.
Stem, node 4-5: velcro garden tape loosely around this and the pole.  1 fin slightly darkened.
Stem node 5-6: uniform coloring.
Stem node 6 to tip: 3 fins slightly browned at edge.
Large leaves:  2 completely uncurled, the rest seem less curled.

Xd016:
Stem is opaque from base to node 5, and slightly translucent above this, but not as translucent as Xd013.
Positive sign: Some lifting has occured.  Now 11" at tip of top leaf.
Stem from base to node 3 has slight browning at all fins.
Stem, node 3-4, slight browning on 2 fins just near node 3
Past node 4, uniform color.
Leaves:  I removed the mostly eaten leaf.

Yd005
Top is 7 inches when stem bends over between nodes 5 and 6.  No sign of recovery.  I pruned 3 completely blackened leaves.  The 2 remaining larger leaves are hanging straight down and are trembling (probably amplified vibrations from the building).  There is one 1/2" baby leaf that looks fine at the tip.

Base to node 1: blackened fins
Stem, nodes > 2: pale, slightly darkened in some parts of all fins.  barely remarkable.
Stem, nodes 4-5 has 1 fin that appears eaten and is dark along the edge.

I will give them 1 more misting at 4:45 and leave the lamp on over the weekend.

Correction:  After reading more about humidity, I decided to mist them at 3pm and again at 4:45.  I expect them to become a bit too dry (the foliage, not soil) over the weekend and will try misting them more often come monday.

[5010]

Thats sweet you are growing in an office, may I ask for what reason?

Mainly because my girlfriend is afraid of this plant so I don't want to bring them into the house just yet.  The nice thing about growing them here is they are everpresent, forcing me to check on them every day.

My office mates come by asking if I'm doing some sort of scientific experiment .  I haven't told anyone the true species, but refer to them as a "rare tropical mexican sage-mint".  I'm planning to power up the digital camera Monday.

I haven't thrown away any of the wilted leaves, but toss them in an extra coffee cup to dry out.  Have you guys tried smoking dried leaf that had wilted, or is that unsafe?

[Paradoxic]

Oh really, is your girlfriend worried about legal consequences or something else? Hehe, you call it a Mexican sage plant, nice.

You can definitely use the wilted leaves, I've done it plenty of times. Its definitely not something to worry about.

[Sea Mac]

The leaves that fall off the plant naturally, when she's done with them, are the sweetest smoking and seem stronger.

You enjoy the fruits of your gardening when a leaf falls off.

I added Miracle-Gro to their pots an hour before I shipped them. A DARK Rich Emerald green color should spread over your plants in the next few days (I think from the outside in: leaf tips first then in towards the stem).

It sounds from your description as if Xd013 has that rich dark green spreading upwards along it's stem. Remember that dark rich green: that is the color of a Happy and VERY Healthy Salvia Divinorum plant! Strive to keep them that color please.

Poor Yd005! Sound like she hasn't recovered from shipping shock yet. I do everything I can to minimize shipping shock ...

I'd say you're off to a great start. Often I'll read about somebody getting a plant from a grower and having to place it in an Oxygen Tent - errrr - Humidity tent RIGHT AWAY to save it. I hope none of mine ever require a Humidity tent!  

[MstryShovel]

nice 5010 yeah that is very detailed  but nice,
just wanted to comment on the castaneda reference, i love the books myself, and all, which ones have you read so far? ive got Teachings, journey to ixtalan, a separarate reality. tales of power, and the art of dreaming. if anything they are a great story and im comming up with a little fan-fict based off of the ideas.
cant wait to see pictures

[5010]

I was a zombie this morning who forgot the camera.  I'm off work at 2nd job tonight so should have my wits tomorrow morning to bring camera.

Xd013:
- 13.5" high
- stem seems sturdy.  No noticeable change in color.
- no leaves at nodes 1 and 3
- 1 of the 2 tiny new leaves at node 2 is 1" long.  Black tip.
- 2 largest leaves at node 4 are stable, still curled at edges.  I pruned the wilted section from one of them that had been eaten up
- 2 tiny leaves from same point at node 5: no noticeable difference.
- leaf at node 5, still mostly curled, no rot, has grown to 2"
- 2 leaves at node 6: 2" and 3.25".  Not curled, one crinkled a bit
- 2 leaves at tip are now 2.25" and 2 1/8", less crinkled.

Xd016
- 10.75" high
- stem seems sturdy, node 7 stem leans 45 deg then grows at right angle
- no leaves at nodes 1 and 3
- node 2: 1 tiny leaf pair, 1 of pair half-eaten
- node 4: 1 tiny leaf pair
- node 5: 1 tiny leaf pair, 1 of pair partly eaten
- 2 5" leaf heavily eaten are drooping straight down, and feel dry and stiff but still very green
- tip: 5 leaves, smallest is 1.25" long

Yd005
- all leaves completely wilted
- stem is brown and dry, except for thin green edge between node 2 and 3

I misted the plants at about 9.  It is 11:17 CST now and they seem dry, will try misting every 2 hours.

Sea Mac:  I expect the climate here to be quite dry, but the 2 older siblings managed to grow and stay alive over the weekend with no misting, although they seem a bit stiff.  The youngest one looks like it didn't make it (will keep caring for it just in case though).   The stems don't seem significantly different in color, but I can see what you are getting at.  There is a thickness in the lower areas that I agree would be good for the upper areas to acquire.

MstryShovel: Currently reading The Power of Silence.

[Sea Mac]

Water them good if the leaves go flat to the stem.

If the lower part of Yd005s stem is brown: she is dying of some sort of rot.  Cut any part of the stem that is still green, and has turgor pressure, off of the dying plant: and put it in a couple of inches of water in a clean glass or plastic mug, to root as a cutting. Even a chunk of stem will root: and saving a piece of a sick plant is even better if it still has 1 good node left.  Some growers cut a plant into one node long slices and plant each chunk On it's Side in dirt: and keep it wet until the node sprouts roots DOWN and a STEM up!

See? I'm glad I only ship them in three packs for redundancy sake: one failed on you and I would have felt just awful if that had been your ONLY one. I still feel like sh|t that one of them DID die of shipping shock: and yes, it was the youngest one, too! I prefer not to ship them before they are solidly and massively root bound in those little 3" pots (I guess 2 months is about right ... )

Let's just say that it doesn't happen too often ...

Now: remember to SOAK them GOOD if the Leaves lay flat to the stem and the stem leans over (Like this):


Water the plant continuously for an hour (as in the above time lapse: watch the water level in the pot ...) if you see it wilted like the above picture. Anything that wilts TOO Much will die back (But the parts below that will recover: making it a '2 headed' plant).

Water when dry and mist regularly - let us hope the bigger 2 plants start growing fast soon!  

[strangeworld]

Thats a pretty cool timelapse demonstration of reviving a plant

Wowza.... a 5mb animated gif!

[MstryShovel]

I agree that is a pretty sweet time lapse, its a great thing to show new growers so they know what to expect, my first plant looked like that out of the box and when i forgot to water it before, and then perks up like that in an hour

[5010]

Thanks for the advice.  Unfortunately Yd005 had not 1 good section of stem on Monday.  I realize now that it was parched on Friday.

Xd016 is still drooping except for the top 4 leaves and the lower baby leaves.  There are 3 leaves drooping but each had been eaten to the center so I suspect that is causing a hardship on internal delivery of resources, so hopefully misting will compensate.

When I initially watered the pot, I did so quickly and it was enough to almost fill the tray.  I am in the process of watering the pot now more slowly.  Also when I mist the plants I also spray the top of the soil.  I don't know if that is useful but I speculate a dry top will suck moisture out of the lower areas and in a humid native environment the top stays damp.

I will increase misting of this plant to once per hour, especially the drooping leaves and see if they respond.

Xd013's top leaves have lifted, 30 deg and 40 deg and what looked like a point on top is now visible as 2 leaves.  A record high: 14.25".  The curled leaf at node 6 is down and touching the stem.  I suspect some sort of internal damage local to it because everything else looks great.  Stem between node 4 and 5 is developing darker green stripes.

[Sea Mac]

I'm sorry about Yd005.         

Sounds as if they will resume growing now ...

If you get any measurable growth in the next week or two we'll know they've got a good chance.

But what are you going to do if they get as big as my larger plants? I'm calling about a half dozen of them "Trees" now.  

[5010]

Xd016 has lifted up and is currently 11".  The lower leaves never did much, but hang down, although their stems keep them 2 and 2.5 inches out from the stem.  Node 4 has a tiny pointed bump.  Could be new leaves starting out.  Node 1 is .5" from the soil and is ringed in dark brown and has developed a tiny white spot in one corner.  The diameter is a bit narrowed in below the node and the fins are dark brown.  I noticed this yesterday and wanted to record it in case anything develops.  The stem between node 3 and 4 is definitely darker green and the stem between 4 and 5 seems to be solidifying more too.  The soil around the rooted area has sunken a bit.  I'll add some more.

Xd013's top leaves lowered to horizontal, so the hight is 13.25" now.  Maybe it was "taking a look around" with its photo receptors the past few days.  I'm expecting it to be ready for watering soon.  One of the tiny leaves on node 5 wilted the other seems a little bigger and is pure green.  There is a tiny pointed bump opposite that may turn into a new leaf pair.  The point on top of the plant is has tripled in size since the beginning and is now unmistakably 2 leaves separating at the tips.

I brought the digital camera today and will fetch some fresh batteries and fire it up later to download tonight after I get off the 2nd job.

Sea Mac:  if all goes well, I am donating one of the plants, and can put the other on the floor along one wall of the cube when it gets big enough, pruning it for width and height, but not depth.  This may result in cuttings to establish and give away to many new friends I am meeting via the local "Journey Circle".  I will probably waste a good amount of leaves experimenting with "sacred henna".  The idea is to see if henna fortified with salvinorin+terpene tincture (such as tea tree oil) will facilitate absorption through external skin.  The tattoo would be a symbolic visual, and reminder of the experience lasting for a couple of weeks.  Whether it works or not, I'll post a tech about what was tried and results if any.  We're talking months from now but if you find yourself doing an extraction and want to try a tea tree oil tincture soaked into external skin I'd be interested in your findings.  Of course it doesn't have to be as refined as an oral tincture but since it is uncharted territory one much be careful.

Edit:

4:36pm CST: there are 2 more leaves on Xd013 I never noticed before.  They are hard to see, coming from node 4 right at the boundaries above the 2 leaves and the stem.  And looking very closely at node 6, where the badly curled leaf hangs down, I see 2 tiny growths on opposite sides (one just above the curled leaf).  As tiny as peach fuzz, but I believe they are new leaves.

Now that I know what to look for, I see 2 like that on Xd016.  1 on node 6, left side, above the leaf stem.  1 above the leaf sticking out of the "right angle" of the stem.