Hi everyone, this is my second attempt at growing Salvia Divinorum. I mothered my first cutting too much, ending in overwatering, fungus gnats and root rot.

A month ago I was able to get hold of a second cutting and I have taken the opposite approach to my first cutting. I have basically just given her only what she needs, I only water when I notice decent wilting and limpness in the leaves and dry soil on top. I have a layer of small pebbles on top of soil to stop any fungus gnats and so far it seems successful. Soil medium is a mix of 1/4 all purpose potting soil, 1/4 cactus mix and 1/2 perlite for good drainage. She is potted up in a 4 inch diameter terracotta pot for less chance of wet feet and quicker drying out.

The problem I have is that I have noticed minimal to zero growth with her since I potted her up a month ago. She came in the mail as a rooted cutting in a peat pellet which I kept on and potted straight into my soil medium. She had been kept in an open greenhouse in a temperate climate by the donor. My climate is sub-tropical and she happened to arrive at the start of a two week heat wave of 30 degree celsius plus days. I haven't mucked around with humidity tents or anything and I mist once a day (twice if it is really hot).

She has gotten browned edges of the leaves, which I expected from the climate change. A few side shoots have died off but there is at least two that are still hanging in there, they just haven't shown much growth yet. She did have a few scale insects when I first got her which I picked off and haven't seen anymore since. I haven't fertilized her yet, I want to wait until new growth has shown and the roots have established themselves more. She is kept indoors next to a big north facing sliding door that looks onto a verandah that gets plenty of indirect sunlight.

My question is, should I be worried about the lack of growth or is she still just adjusting to the new environment and establishing herself?

Here is a photo of her one month after arrival and being potted up:

Plant is in shock. maintain holding pattern for 30 days and post progress.

Thanks Ringworm, I was suspecting that might've been the case.

As long as I water and mist when needed and don't do much else, is there a good chance she'll pull through and go on to live a happy life?

Sure. Most people mess with plants and kill them with kindness.
Plants grow just fine with only their basic needs met.

That's what killed my first cutting, I messed with it too much, too much mothering and fussing over her.

I've been doing my best not to go overboard with this new one and just leave her be. It's hard though, I'm in Australia where it is pretty difficult to get hold of cuttings. The guy I got the cuttings off said he could sort me out again if need be but my connection with him is through another forum and you never know when those connections will just disappear.

I just want this one to grow into a healthy mother so I can make further cuttings and propogate and spread the shepherdess further around my country. I have developed a good rapport and relationship with Lady Salvia so far and would like to be able to keep that connection for my whole life through growing and consuming her when it seems prudent.

Thanks again ringworm. Anyone else is welcome to offer their advice too

I would guess shock too. Give it some time and I bet it will recover. Also just make sure that your top dressing isn't inhibiting evaporation too much.

Cool Entheogenerator, thanks for the advice. What would be the best way to gauge if evaporation off the top soil is inhibited by my layer of pebbles?

Stick your finger into the soil and see if it feels wet. If the plant isn't wilted and the soil is moist in the top inch or so of soil then don't water it.

That applies mainly to smaller plants as they are establishing their root system, once they get a bit bigger they love heaps of water especially in hot weather.

What climate are you located InnerPaths? I'm in Aus and I find that my Salvia seems happier and requires less work outside when placed in the right microclimate. At that size they don't do a whole lot but give it 6 months and that plant has to potential to be quite a monster which you will be able to make several cuttings to multiply your numbers. I agree with the above posters that the plant is just in shock and that you should make sure that not only is due for a water but also make sure that it's not soaking, they don't like wet feet for prolonged periods.

A.

@TheAwakening: It's good to see there is more Aussies with the shepherdess. I live east coast sub tropical. We just went through a 30 degree (celsius) plus heatwave but things should start to cool down soon. Relative humidity tends to go between 50-90 at the moment. Fingers crossed that she'll thrive in a few months and I can get a good amount of cuttings to propagate off of her and be set for life and spread her further amongst the Oz ethno-community.

@Heironymous: I usually wait until the leaves lose their turgidity and wilt significantly and also check the soil with a wood skewer to gauge soil dampness before I water. She doesn't use a lot of water at the moment, maybe 50-100 ml of bottled spring water around once a week before she shows significant wilting and dry soil. The terracotta pot helps avoid wet feet as the pot soaks up any excess water and allows quicker drying.

You state that Salvia divinorum is difficult to attain in your location.

For future reference, Coleus are fairly common and cheap horticultural plants with roughly the same growing conditions. Buy a few and try to grow them in the same area. If you kill them, whatever, adjust and get another one.

Good luck

You make a good point Ringworm, I kind of jumped in the deep end with having a Salvia as my first plant, steep learning curve for someone that hasn't gained there green thumb yet. The opportunity popped up to get a cutting and I didn't want to miss the chance in case it didn't present itself again. I learnt a lot with my first cutting and subsequently killing it, so the second cutting should have a much better chance of survival hopefully.

The coleus I have is way less finicky. Though I bought the coleus with a way more established root system so that might help. Nursing a sally cutting into developing a good root system seems like the hardest part of the battle, then after that she'll take care of herself much better, at least that's what I have gathered from reading up online.

Thanks for the advice so far nexians

I went through the same thing with my Salvia. Eventually it woke up and started growing.

There is one question though: how do you encourage branching? My salvia is, so far, just growing straight up, and while it has little baby pairs of leaves at a few points on the stem, they refuse to grow, and I'm running out of vertical space.

Blessings
~ND

Nathaniel.Dread, that is exactly what mine is doing. I have a few side shoots that are just stalled at the moment. A few have died off but two of them look healthy other than the fact that they haven't really grown much. The top apical shoot is starting to shoot up a bit more so hopefully the other side shoots start their march towards the sky too and create some nice side branches.

I haven't done anything to encourage growth yet, I've only been watering when absolutely necessary and mist once a day. She has a received a neem oil treatment earlier on too to ward off any pests. When she shows some extra growth and root establishment I will give her some seasol/powerfeed. The soil she is in has slow release ferts too so that might be taking effect.

From what I have read, pinching the top shoot should encourage more side growth and bushiness.

NathanielDread,
Salvia will naturally branch once it is a certain size but if you want to encourage branching before the time comes then, depending on the size of your plant, you can take a cutting or simply pinch the very top of the plants growth stem. You say you are running out of vertical room so I will assume that your Salvia is of decent enough size to make a cutting. Take the cutting at the node which you want it to branch out from. Remove the larger leaves to conserve energy, this is harvest! Place the cutting in moist soil and give it a fortnight or so and you should start to see new growth. I try not to 'space suit' my salvia by adding all sorts of humidity domes where possible because in the long run you'll only be waiting longer for your plant to strengthen because of the lack of airflow etc in a humidity dome.

InnerPaths,
That sounds like a very similar climate to me so you should be right for an outdoor grow if you have a garden to plant out in. Just find a nice shady place with quick drying soil and she will love you. Also if you do choose to do an outdoor grow try planting a couple together, experience tells me they like this much better than being planted on their own.

A.

More light will also help with branchiness [not full sun, ime]; I use high output cfl (532 watts).
Also, you can take 1-2 cuttings at a time from the tips, which encourages branching [upon healing].

https://www.dmt-nexus.me/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&m=445684#post445684 (good thread; I'm no expert)

http://sharetheseeds.me/forum/index.php?topic=421.msg1476#msg1476 (input from others)

@TheAwakening: If I can get her to mature into being my main mother plant, once I get some cuttings going I will dedicate a few to outdoors growing. I'll be moving into a new place in a month that has plenty of space and potential for outdoors gardening. One spot in particular under a real big old tree for constant shade would be a great spot for an outdoor sally garden.

I want to get an outdoor cactus garden going too, get some nice san pedros and other trichocereus going. I also have a lophophora williamsii at the moment as part of my small indoor garden, it's only 4 years old so still pretty small. I hope one day it'll grow to be a wise old ancient and large peyote

Just a new question regarding my Salvia grow. I did the math and realised my cutting is getting about 9 hours of indirect sunlight a day, would she benefit from a few extra hours of auxillary light from an overhead CFL lamp or similar?

I do think that a few extra hours of auxillary light from an overhead CFL lamp will benefit Salvia; might speed growth somewhat, if nothing else.

Cool, thanks Cosmic Spore. I will look into this and source a suitable lamp to give her an extra couple of hours light a day