SD Office Cube Grow Log

[Arcygenical]

Have you been pinching the tops off the tallest stems to promote side-branching? I bet you could easily get a cutting from the side-stem if you pinch the top off the main stem... I give it a month.

[5010]

Julian's top leaf makes him 14.75" high.

I haven't pinched yet.  I wonder if I should wait until he reaches the top of the pole before I do that.  I want Julian to get tall and put him on the floor in the corner.  By then I think I'll get a pretty red LED light.

Julian's node 3 has a very small lump that wasn't there before.  There was already a bump there kinda like a tiny snowman with 2 short black fibers sticking out (possibly the remains of baby leaves that didn't make it).  Now there is a lump at the base of that one that looks like a pre-leaf growth.  I watch the bare nodes more closely than the others always hoping for foliage.

Node 4 has something growing on the shoulder of the plant's biggest leaf.  Maybe a branch will come of it.  The other shoulder has the remains of 2 baby leaves about 1/8".

[Arcygenical]

We need more pictures 

[Sea Mac]

I AM absolutely SO Glad that you have a green thumb for Salvia!

It's really cool to see that Salvia can grow in a 'Cubicle Farm' so well. I gave you an Expertise point this morning because you HAVE demonstrated expertise in growing them!

Keep up the good work! I AM so proud of you!

But, in all honesty, it may be more than a year before they get this big:


Happy Growing!

[5010]

Thanks!

Well today I measured Julian and he hasn't grown any taller this week.  On the other hand, his leaves are steadily getting bigger.  What were baby leaves at the tip are now 3 inches long and the new tip's leaves are spreading out and growing.

Today after his bath (this time including MG All Purpose), I saw a millipede crawl out from under some cedar bark mulch and catch some air.  I think it will be a helper.  Wikipedia sez millipedes are detritivores, but can be a pest against seedlings.  No seedlings here and the less dead stuff the better for starving our fungi enemies.

If anyone has had problems with millipedes let me know.

[Sea Mac]

Fifteen Inches Tall and you note how rapidly the leaves are growing. 

Good: It's a vicious feedback loop now. The more leaf surface area Julian has the larger the amount of glucose molecules he can produce in a 24 hour period. And with the 'Extra' Glucose molecules he can rapidly grow more leaf surface area ...

So his strategy at this point should be to stop increasing height (he knows he is close enough to the light) and to triple the size of every leaf at once! Then once the leaves are all 'hand sized' that explosive "Galloping Growth" will begin where every branch is born with more branches coming out of them. It's wild how fast this plant can grow when you get the formula JUST Right ...

Please note the darkening of Julian's color over the weekend.

I wish you had taken a picture of Him just before the Miracle-Gro bath - and then a picture when you came in on Monday morning.


I Wonder if that Millipede was born in California or Texas? 

I don't think there was a hiding place for a millipede in the box I sent you: I pack them very tightly ...

And he didn't show up in the last soaking: I'll bet he broke and entered into your building sometime in the last week and accidentally got trapped in the sterile foodless corridors. And only finding a flourishing ecosystem to hang out in saved him from death ... YOUR Green Sanctuary!

So: you're running a nature sanctuary there on the side, huh?  Your boss might start to wonder when he hears the Elephant trumpeting ....   

But you started with properly ripened and packed and shipped plants that came from healthy vigorous stock themselves.

In a few Months, maybe 6, you'll have a regular "Cuttings Factory" sized plant going strong and will be able to start making more baby plants yourself.

Have a few spare plants ripening as a contingency ...

And, let me confirm this: your desk lamp is on 24/7 and this plant doesn't get a "Night Time"? It's essentally growing 24/7? 

[5010]

I don't know how fast millipedes grow.  This one is bigger than my thumbnail.  Maybe someday Julian will tell me where it came from.

The lamp has never been off while Julian has been in the cube.  Right now, it is the only light except for a couple of distant ceiling panels.

[5010]

The other day, I wondered how strong Julian was.  I gave him a test, reducing the daily mist to 4 times.  He dropped a leaf.  His newer leaves droop.  I hear him.  7 is the way.

[MstryShovel]

over like 2 weeks you should reduce it to 4 and then none, aka, for three days mist 6 times then notch it down next three days and so on and so forth, not all at once, thats like taking it out of a 90% humidity chamber into 30% normal air

[Sea Mac]

Alright!

It sounds as if you are 'hardening him off' to get him used to normal humidity air ...

No, wait: doesn't Air Conditioning dry out the air deliberately to make people more comfortable?

Perhaps Misting is a must for an office grow ?  How does he look when you've been away a whole weekend without misting him? Does he look droopy?

Did you notice any change of color in Julian over the week end? Darker green perhaps?

My plants darken to a rich deep emerald green a few days after fertilizing ...   

[5010]

The weekend tends to curl leaves and make him a little droopy but the base of the leaf stems doesn't seem as much effected by misting.  I think the color is a bit deeper, but subtle.

Something I didn't mention before: Whenever I mist, I spray the bottle at my hand and let the reflected mist dampen the plant because the direct spray seems like a lot of pressure and sometimes it jets instead of sprays.  When I do this, water always drips from my hand into the pot.  The soil stays somewhat damp on the side closest to me during the day.  I rotate the plant each friday so it is a different half that gets dripped on each week.

I am noticing some specks under the leaves smaller than coffee grounds.  They moved like bugs when I blew softly at them but otherwise seem to just sit around.  I looked very closely at the recently fallen leaf and think I saw wings.  Unbelievable something that small would be able to actually fly though.  There are 3 or 4 per sizeable leaf.  None on baby leaves.  I could probably remove them with a wet q-tip if I thought Julian was threatened.  They aren't eating any holes as far as I can tell.

[MstryShovel]

I noticed after adding a miracle grow to my water that the leaves turned a DEEP green, almost bluish in hue, but they seem to be loving it, 5010 those bugs you should get rid of them try getting a smaller water bottle(its what i have) and fill it with a 5-10% soapy water solution, and spray the entirety of the leaves, the bugs will eventualy start hurting your plants, so it would be good to get rid of them now. otherwise if that doesnt work try the BT that seamac and para promote so mch. good luck!

[Sea Mac]

I noticed after adding a miracle grow to my water that the leaves turned a DEEP green, almost bluish in hue, but they seem to be loving it

Yeah, I noticed that too. There is something IN Miracle-Gro that Salvia plants can't do without AND THEY LOVE it!

It works for ME! 

[5010]

Been a hard week for Julian.  Being away for 4 days last weekend was rough.  I've been misting him as usual sice monday but he keeps shedding leaves.  He is now down to only 2 leaves  of noteable size.  All of the baby leaves dropped except the 2 tip babies which are about 1/4 inch.  I just got done soaking him.  Hope he survives the weekend.

[Sea Mac]

Oh, I hope He's OK ...

He's survived months it seems ...

How is the plant you gave away doing?

Is it living outside some where?