Spindrifter's Dungeon and Phytolab

[spindrifter]

I've made a lot of changes:

First, I repotted again. I'm not thrilled with that cactus/palm mix I was using. It's fine if you don't have to water often, like for cacti, but for Sd, it sucks. Too much peat. Peat + constant moisture = slime & gnat larvae. So I put them in some bigger 8" clay azalea pots and used a 1:1:1 blend of special orchid mix, perlite and vermiculite. It drains very smooth, and has lots of tiny air spaces for the roots to breathe.

I also blended some Bio-Tone into the mix. This stuff stinks to the Devil! It's made from chicken feathers, crab shells, manure...etc. Yeesh! I have high hopes for this stuff, though, because it also contains a laundry list of 'beneficial bacteria' and micorrhizal fungi spores. Has anyone ever used this product on their plants? I guess I should have asked that question before I repotted.

I've also boosted the lighting bigtime with 2 42W CFL's in brooder fixtures, and I'm using them to illuminate the plants from the tops and sides.

Well, I'm happy with the results. There's lots of new growth from all of the nodes on each stem, though the leaves are still small. I think they are about to really take off.

One thing is disturbing me, though. The old original leaves that came on the cuttings all curled up like cigars. Whatever, right? I figured it was just from the original transport stress, or from the cutting reorganizing itself hormonally as an independent plant. But the new leaves are doing the same damn thing! They just won't grow out nice and flat. Instead, they hang downwards and curl inwards over themselves.

What causes this, and how can I fix it?

[darjeeling]

Maybe they do still want some more humidity in the air.

[zaorr]

Fertilizer and or a response to humidity changes.

Michohorrizae will solve them both.

[Will]

Fertilizer and or a response to humidity changes.

Michohorrizae will solve them both.

Mine looked just like that.  After getting some Michohorrizae its made a world of difference. Its only been 2 weeks and the 2 new sets of leafs have no curl in them.

[spindrifter]

Thanks very much for the info, guys. I've already added mycorrhizal fungus spores to the mix, I'm not skimping on ferts, and the humidity is around 85%. My concern at the moment is temperature, which is around 82-85 F. That might be a tad high, and I don't have a practical way of getting it down, so for now I'll just wait and see how they do.

[Nachtkrieger]

Maybe i have a good tip for you! Nobody says anything about your plant getting used to new light environment!!!
i have found when sally put under differet types of light (spectrum changes) she reacts showing curled leaves deformed growth. I seriously think this is the problem. My advice: give it some time and lower temp (18 - 20 C), low ferts. ive u do this all will be ok.

greetz

[spindrifter]

Well, I've tried to get the temps a little lower the only way I can. I moved my cacti outside and shut down the HPS/MH fixture they were growing under. This has made a small but significant difference. Also, the medium has been innoculated with Epsoma Bio-Tone, which contains mycorrhizal fungi spores and beneficial bacteria. I've also cranked up the humidity to 85%+. Result: the newest leaves seem to be coming out normal-looking. Thanks for the tips, guys.

[spindrifter]

Well, I just don't know. Yeah, the new leaves are coming out normal-looking, but then they start to cup inwards. My temps are in the 81-85 F range, my humidity gauge always reads between 85% and 'HI' (90%+). I'm wondering if they are being exposed to too much ethylene, because I store gasoline and gas-powered yard equipment in the Dungeon. There's also the possibility they may have some kind of trace element defficiency. Has anyone tried that Superthrive stuff in the tiny bottle? The copy on the cardboard backing was so over-the-top superlative that I held off on buying it.

[DrYRHead]

Penumbra, I found one species for sure, and one definite maybe. The 'for sure' one is actually in widespread cultivation in the US!!!! It's called Salvia madrensis (Forsythia sage), and it seems to be able to survive in zone 8b (where I live). Here is a link:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/586/

The 'maybe' is Salvia cyanea.

JDogHerman, I've also heard of something called a 'graft hybrid', where one species is grafted onto another in the same genus, and somehow the tissue where the two are fused gives rise to shoots that can be rooted and grown into plants that have characteristics of both species. I thought that was very cool when I read that.

This "Salvia madrensis" looks like something I'd seen growing in the southeast before.
However, I live in the southwest, so it may not grow well where I'm at.

[spindrifter]

Hehe, I think someone didn't like you doing that, DrYRHead.

I haven't posted in a while, but here's an update:

I took a cutting for the 'summer grow-off' and...

...promptly grafted it onto another salvia species! What?! I'm not allowed to do that! Cheating you say! Well, I never...

I thought we were supposed to be innovative and think outside the box!

O.K., here are some (lousy) pics from the procedure.



Sadly, I don't think it's doing so well. Now, a few days later, it's starting to droop. I'll keep watching it. If this works, I will be very happy!

[Bayrat]

That is pretty cool!  I wanna see it grow!

[darjeeling]

WOW the more i learn about plants the more they seem so crazy.

Imagine getting an organ donation and a few weeks later getting features of the donor. Wicked crazy.

People who get a bone marrow transplant from a person with a different blood type will switch over to the new type blood.

[spindrifter]

Here's an update now that I'm living in a state that hasn't criminalized my behavior.

My Summer interspecies grafting experiment failed, and I think I know why: the stock was too old. As Salvia splendens gets older, the stems get lignified (woody). It just wasn't 'juicy' enough. I will try again using a different, more herbaceous species, and on a stem farther up on the plant. That will have to wait until Spring. Right now, I have other stuff going on.

One of my early goals was to produce seed, and I am now one step closer to this. I have moved my plants back into the Dungeon from out on my back deck, and for the past 3 weeks they have been on a 12-hour on, 12-hour off lighting cycle. I gave them some african violet fertilizer for extra P and K. Now I am seeing flowering structures at some of the branch tips, and creamy violet floral parts developing within. Very exciting! Within a couple of weeks I will be hand-pollinating with my tiny paintbrush. Behold...



I noticed spider mites on the plants, but now I am seeing vermillion pinhead-sized predatory mites crawling rapidly all over them happily munching on the spider mites. Problem solved, and for free!

I'll keep y'all posted regarding any milestones. Stay Green.

[carnivorous4pie]

Well I'll be watching closely because if we/you find a suitable grafting plant then there will be no need for waiting for a plant to get roots just mass germinate the graft stock! Does the graft stock you tried have a square stem? If it didn't ,would it not be extremely difficult to line up the phloem/xylem?

[DionysusMurphy]

I'm not sure about grafting plants, but when apple and pear or cherry trees are grafted it's done at a branch. Maybe you would have more luck that way. Cut a small sliver into the larger stem just about a node, then stick the stem of the plant you want grafted into the sliver thats been cut out. I can see how this method would be tough with a salvia stem, but it has about 30% success rate for trees.