Hello,

I was looking for a topic on how to handle little black spots on my salvia plant, but couldn't find it so I decided to create a new topic.

The problem I am having started off on the leaves only, but lately has gone to the stem of the plant aswell. I am pretty worried about this.

I keep the plant on the windowsill where there is only a little bit of sun in the morning (only in summer). I water it when I notice that the leaves are a bit weak.

Does anyone know what these black spots are and what I could do to heal my plant?

Also, I have noticed a new little plant growing from the soil of the same pot, this one looks to be in perfect condition but I feel it is too small to place it in another pot. Any advice on this?

Thanks
Elpo

Is it possible its blight? I know next to noting about blight, but a lot of plants around here get it and have dark spots on the leaves

I think we need more information for a diagnose, and one or two clear pictures would be nice as well. It might be some infestation, but it's difficult to tell.

Which water do you use? Which humidity do you have in the place? Do you use any fertilization? Is the plant root bound, is the soil packed?

As for the little sprout, if you only have one plant in that pot, it's growing from the main stem just under the surface. Very common in salvia. Leave it there, eventually it will become a secondary stem.

I use simple tapwater, it is pretty dry in here, but I am not sure what the humidity is like. The plant is in my livingroom on the windowsill above the heater. I don't use fertilazation. It is not root bound, the soil is pretty packed.

Here are some pics:

pic2

pic

Thanks for the pics. It's difficult to tell the color of the plant because the photos are pretty washed out and not too clear, but I can make a few guesses.

No one better than yourself, though, to figure out the problem since you know how often you water it and for how long has the plant been there before it started spotting. I'm assuming it's progressing quite fast. And I suppose there is no visible pests like spider mites, so I can think of a few possibilities. In order of likelihood,

1 - The plant has trouble acquiring nutrients from the soil. If the soil is pretty packed as you say, it might need some aeration for the roots to work, or the nutrients levels in the soil might be scarce. It's difficult to say without seeing the whole plant, but if that was the case and it was my plant, I'd take the healthiest cuttings I could and I'd re-pot the main plant in lightly moist, fresh, spongy-ventilated soil (use perlite 30% or more) making sure that any dense clumps of wet soil did not stay stucked to the roots when moving it. Then I'd give it some humid micro-climate for a couple weeks putting it inside of a large transparent bag with a few tiny ventilation holes in it.

2 - Fungal disease, similar to the black spot in roses. This is more likely if the soil is generally very moist, and if the spots seemed to extend rather than appear randomly. This would be the trickiest to solve. Taking any healthy cuttings first, and then misting the main plant with a diluted fungicide (grannies used one heaped teaspoon of baking soda per liter of water, but I'd use pyrethrum) might be a good idea, while making sure that the soil is not too wet, and if it's very packed, use a thin needle to make carefully a few holes for ventilation, decrease the watering frequency and improve air flow around the plant.

3 - A too dry environment can make brown spots appear, and you would solve it by making a little greenhouse for her. Putting her inside of a transparent bag with a few little ventilation holes to sustain a humid micro-clima. But I think this is the less likely cause for your plant, since a dry environment will change the shape of the leaves and brown their edges very visibly before further spotting occurs, and a couple of leaves in your pictures have quite clean edges.

Let us know how it goes, and feel free to add any relevant detail you haven't mentioned so far.

Thanks for the answers guys.

I have made some more pictures and I can say that the leaves of the plant have always turned darker around the edges before as you can see in the new pics. I also tried to post a pic of the whole plant, sorry for the low quality, make my pics with the wabcam. The black spots have appeared pretty recently and are indeed spreading quickly. I am afraid that the only healthy cutting I have is the small sprout, but would it be safe to repot it at this stage when it is still so small?

It's hard for me to tell which of the three options it is, but I think it might be fungus. Some of the spots seem to be on the inside of the stem and some on the outer side, these you can even scrpe off.

I will try to get other cuttings from it and repot them as quickly as I can. I had no idea that it was better to let the plant in a plastic bag, but it does sound logical.
I water the plant whenever I see the leaves starting to wither, I am guessing this is about 2 times a week.

If the pictures help you to make a further diagnose, please let me know:

pic 1

pic 2

pic 3

pic 4

Yes, I'm afraid it looks like a fungal infection.

The soil you have there looks too red and loamy, too thick. That helps fungi to find a good micro-climate. And the little shoot looks clean, but it's probably too small to root by itself.

The dark edges in the leaves are normal in salvia plants growing in not very humid environments.

My two cents on how I would proceed, and try to salvage as much as possible. It might be difficult, but won't hurt to try.

- Get some fresh spongy compost mix, some perlite and a good fungicide that can be dilluted in water, like Daconil or Neem Oil.
- Prepare a dillution of fungicide in sterile (bottled) water in the right proportions, and have a glass cup with around 200ml of that solution ready. Add to the cup a few drops of peroxide.
- Take a cutting of the top of the plant with a disinfected razor blade, an inch below the lowest pair of big leaves.
- Remove those two last leaves, and I'd suggest to cut half of the other large leaves on top as well, leaving the new pair on top intact. You are trying to heal and root this cutting, and reducing the amount of leaves decreases loss of water by transpiration, until the cutting develops new roots. The leaves you removed (or at least the clean, un-spotted parts of them) can be kept and dried for consumption if you want, but I would only keep the clean bits, if any.
- Place the cutting immediately inside of the water cup. Mist thoroughly the cutting with more of the fungicide solution.
- After a couple hours or so, once the leaves have dried a little, cover the cup and cutting with a transparent bag, let it rest in a not too cold place with indirect sunlight and cross your fingers.
- Now, for the main root ball and the little shoot: everything done gently and trying to damage the roots the minimum, you want to rescue it from that soil, remove the excess of soil stuck to the roots, soak the roots for a while in more of the water+fungicide solution (again with a few drops of peroxide), and mist well the little shoot as well.
- Prepare a new container (throw everything in the first one, and if you want to keep the container itself sterilize it by boiling and wash thoroughly your hands) with some compost and at least 30% perlite mixed in it. Mist a little of the fungicide solution before mixing, just to leave it slightly moist. Fill the new container leaving room for the plant, avoid to pack the soil at all. The soil should be spongy.
- Place the washed plant in the new soil, cover it gently with more soil mix so only the shoot peeks out, and keep it for a few days in the same environment as the cutting (but not together), also protected by a humidifying bag the first 3/4 days at least.

Have the fungicide ready and keep a close eye to the little shoot. If any fungal stains develop again, apply more fungicide by misting.

If you are lucky, the plant will establish and recover. If you are very lucky, the cutting might survive the fungus as well and start to root. After ten days or so, if the cutting looks in good shape, move it to a new pot like you did with the little salvia, and at least for some time, keep them separated.

So good luck.

I will try this today. Thanks a lot for the advice.
Just one question about the sedond part: " Now, for the main root ball and the little shoot:"

Does this mean I can cut off the stem that remains and just repot the root ball and the little shoot? Or shoud I repot the remaining stem aswell?

Yes, I would remove most of the remaining main stem. It appears heavily affected and it might be just a source of trouble.

I have found everything that I need except the Peroxide?
Can I try without it or is this necessary?

It's okay, Elpo, don't worry. The peroxide would just be a little sidekick that also has fungicide properties and oxygenates the water, but it's not that necessary.

Good luck, tell us how it goes in a few days.

The little shoot seems to be doing fine until now. I was unable to save the cutting unfortunately.

I still have the shoot inside a humidifying bag. I will be removing it this weekend, I still see the black spots on the part of the stem that I left over, but not on the shoot itself which seems to be doing pretty fine.

Should I water it only when I see the leaves going weak or more regularly at this stage?

I'll be posting some pics soon.

that looks bad, concidering its on the stems and not just leaf..I have never seen that on stem ever with salvia. Cut it off.

Water lightly when inside of an humidifying bag, specially if you managed to re-pot the root system well. Chances of molds would be too high and the plant immune response is probably weak now.

And what jamie said, if the stem above the shoot has spots, cut it off - at least one inch under the lowest affected tissue.

I have cut the stem as much as I could like you guys told me. Noticed that the bigger leaves are getting a bit black at the sides and shrivelling, but I've always had this. Until now I don't see any trace of the fungus on the shoot. The blueish spots on the leaves are remnants of the fungicide solution.

I have also watered the plant very lightly and left it inside the bag. (the pics are taken with the plant outside the bag).

Here are some pics of how it looks now:

pic

pic2

Any further advice is welcome.

I think it looks fair enough considering where it's coming from. You can gently clean the dry blue stains with a moist cotton so they don't hamper the job of the leaves, and slowly renew the air until you bring it to the environment the plant was used to, but no hurries.

I wouldn't worry about the little darkening in the tip of the large leaf for now. Just keep checking the stem stump making sure it doesn't show symptoms of rot (soft and wet tissue) and keep the soil loose and slightly moist. Maybe watering from below the next time (from the plate, letting the soil suck up the water) might be a good idea, to encourage the roots to dig and prevent excess moisture in the surface.

Your plant looks generally under ferted and under illuminated. How long have you had it? To state the obvious, weak plants are more prone to problems like you are having. You might want to re-evaluate where you have it placed or possibly supplement with some flouros.

You mentioned that you can scrape off the black dots? If so, my vote would be for scale insects not a fungal problem. You can't scrape off a fungal infection... Some pyrethrin or insecticidal soap should take care of the immediate problem, but I think your real problem lies in the cultural conditions the plant is experiencing.

Also, you mentioned you keep it above a heater. Do you have any provision for humidity? I'd move it away from the heater. If you maintain indoor temps anywhere in the 60s to mid-70s F she'll grow just fine without supplemental heat and it'll be easier to maintain some humidity away from a heat source.

Salvia is not a particularly difficult plant to grow, but as you are finding out it can be a little tricky for new growers to find her sweet spot. Keep at it and you'll get there!

doesnt look like much light to be honest. Get that thing right in a window cill if not already. Salvia likes shade but thats like full outdoor shade..not indoor away from the window shade. They can survive like that but IME they dont thrive at all. They like a lot of indirect light so as close to the window as possible. Saliva is prone to way more infections IME if it's not getting proper lighting.

The plant was indeed at a windowsill, so it should be getting enough light. I think I made a big mistake taking it out of the bag for a day, cause this is what it looks like at the moment...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lrhk27...012-12-23%2011.27.15.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h7fy6o...012-12-23%2011.26.57.jpg

I don't think there is something I can do at the moment unfortunately. I have tried giving her some more water hoping this will revive her, but I doubt this will work.

Ouch.

Changing humidity should be a progressive thing. Taking the plant completely out of the bag for one whole day, as you have found out, is a bad idea with salvia when a plant is weak or small.

I don't know if you will save it. Put it back in the humidity bag, and if the soil is not very wet already, give the plant (not the soil) one light misting (not a soaking, mist at a distance) a couple times a day. And even if the leaves look mostly dead, don't give up on the plant for at least a week or two. Sometimes salvia surprises you with a new green little unexpected shoot.

And if you have any fluorescent tubes, put the plant close below them.