Wow... what work for some salvias! I dunno... they are from Mexico, so like it a little dryer during the winter, maybe? They can grow outside where I live, but if you are trying to imitate their growing conditions, Mexico has like a winter temp of 21C - 32ºC and it is the dry season... which is when I'd go down and visit. :o) Because the southern Mexico temps during the summer were entirely too hot and rainy... 43ºC to 48ºC.....
So, I'd cut the humidity and water a bit, up the sun/light, until summer. But that is just a guess.

i live in central-east europe, so its pretty cold now. It started snowing, and in my room i have around 20% humidity so its definitely to low for Salvia. I think thats why my previous grow didnt work out, a year ago.
I shouldn't water them.., but now its too late:( tomorrow i hope i'll manage to put at least some of them in bigger pots, new soil-perlite mix. And just in case i will use water with antifungus powder to irrigate new soil-mix.

I also killed two very small green flies, but they didn't move, so don't know if they were alive, but they might have caused those holes in the leafs.

It does depend on the reason why you are so keen to grow Salvia divinorum. Anyone who has this Salvia, with the slightest knowledge of growing frost-tender plants, should be able to grow healthy plants, they will always have foliage with apparently burnt/brown areas. This plant is very difficult to grow as it needs constant humidity, warmth, and no direct sunshine. I believe that it is endemic to remote cloud-forest areas of Mexico.

It can grow into an enormous plant, with plentiful foliage for those growers who wish to use this for their own purposes..there are many websites that will offer more info. The plant can get very sprawling and untidy, but IF you can provide the right conditions for it to flower, it is stunning! Huge, furry, white flowers within a purple calyx. Not so different from S. 'Phyllis Fancy'.

But, this is perhaps not the correct forum to discuss this particular Salvia, as most of us are not into hallucigenic plants. Apparently, S. splendens (true species) has similar properties!

Many other Salvias with interesting scented foliage might have interesting side-effects if eaten/smoked, etc. I have never experimented...leave this to others who might be inclined. The divinely beautiful scent of the foliage of S. gravida and S. dorisiana indicates that there might be something interesting should they be dried and smoked, but I am not about to try this. Younger readers...let us know of any experiences. Another Salvia, S. confertiflora, which, although a beautiful plant, for me it has the most unpleasant-smelling foliage of all. Maybe this is poisonous?

Let us concentrate on the beautiful-flowering Salvias....ok S. divinorum is one of them...but for those into drugs, please write to other sites.

Sincere regards, Robin.

I tried, awhile back... I am a tropical plant freak... but I dunno... didn't do well for me, and I can grow mangos and papayas.

Most likely what you have are cuttings and not seedlings; from everything that I've read this plant does not produce viable seed.

There are supposedly two different strains of this plant; one very difficult to grow and the other almost impossible to kill. I have the latter and the plants are kept outdoors all summer in very low humidity in dappled shade, although they are watered every three days during the 100 F summers. They generally grow to 7' tall over the summer and start blooming about this time of year when I bring them into the cold greenhouse, (minimum temp of 40 F.)

But, please don't ask me for any cuttings, (someone always does when I post about them), as I had to treat them with Bayer's Shrub and Tree systemic pesticide a week ago due to a bad infestation of mealy bugs. I wouldn't want to be responsible for sending anybody these pests or having someone try to smoke the leaves and poison themselves sick or worse. The pesticide is supposed to be active for a year or more...

Mike

After several weeks i'm back with my story. unfortunately as i thought all eight salvia cuttings (they were rooted) died:( it started with the leafs turning down:
{{gwi:1249052}}

On some of them i noticed cracks and holes:
{{gwi:1249054}}

I was even trying to save them by making new cuttings from still healthy parts of the plants:
{{gwi:1249055}}

As i wrote in my first post, i watered them only once! but it seemed like the plants started to feel really bad after this, began to rot
{{gwi:1249056}}

Salvia cutting died within a day, i guess the cutting was to small, stem to thin. Because long time ago i used to make such cuttings and they're growing new roots just in a glass of water! but had much bigger stem.
{{gwi:1249057}}

leafs dropping, to much water i guess
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The whole grow went down:(
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***************************************************

Anyway, i got a second chance!! i ordered another 8 salvia cuttings!! its cold outside (around 0C) but somehow they survived the journey:
{{gwi:1249061}}

I just unpacked them and put in the same growroom, but of course i took everything out what could be infected from previous grow.
{{gwi:1249062}}

They look ok, right out off the box:
{{gwi:1249063}}

But i'm so afraid that i will fail again. This time i'm planing not to separate the grow-room from the rest of the room so well, i left the door open, so there is an air flow. This way, there will be no need for any CO2 feeding, cause there is a constant ventilation now.
I set the humidifier to make some steam around the plants, but it doesn't make the grow room to humid because its open now.

I really don't know if repoting to a bigger pots would make any improvements at this stage?? while the cuttings are still very small. The soil in those pots is rather lose and kind of wet , so i'll hold on with watering.

any advices appreciated, cheers.

i just transplanted four of my salvia cuttings to bigger pots.
{{gwi:1249064}}
i still don't know whether they accommodate.
I'm really worried about those leafs turning down, like a circle, see the pics:(
{{gwi:1249065}}
{{gwi:1249066}}

one cutting have two strange leafs, they look like were eaten by some bugs, but i didn't notice any, is it some disease what could spread to other plants?
{{gwi:1249067}}

The second picture down, I see whiteflies... that could be your problem...

those little tiny white spots?? i didn't know that those bugs could be so small!
{{gwi:1249068}}

i read about soup solution, but i'd rather look for some spray in a gardenshop

As i wrote previously i don't see any bugs, whiteflies or other insects in my growroom, but something is definitely wrong with the plants, thats for sure. Leaves are getting more twisted.
{{gwi:1249069}}

I found such description on the net, and it could be it!!

"Cyclamen Adult mites are too small to be seen with the naked eye. Adults are amber or tan-colored and semitransparent while the young stages are white. They are found mostly in protected places on young, tender leaves, buds and flowers. Damage, caused by removal of plant sap, will result in leaves becoming twisted curled and brittle. Buds may become deformed and have a streaked and blotchy appearance. Blackening of injured leaves, buds and flowers is common.
Houseplants lightly infested can be immersed pot and ali, for 15 minutes in water at 110oF. May also use Kelthane as a spray."

So i bought an antinsect spary, (scotts brand), it says its very strong, even poisones to humand and bees. I sprayd a few cuttings, will see what happens.

On the top left hand leaf of the plant in the picture I was talking about, on the bottom, I see white flies... they don't stick around for you to look at them often... but I see them in your pic.

Hi, thanks for trying to help me.
Sprying didnt change anything, especially that i don't even see what am i fighting with.

Here is an update to my grow log:

the problem with leaves is developing:( and i noticed that leaves started geting small brown spots, like from burns or something. I dint add any fertilizers! i use only pure distilled water (from the store).
The more the leaf is curled, twisted, the more brown spots it gets.
Here are some pics if sb would like to study them:

{{gwi:1249070}}

{{gwi:1249071}}

{{gwi:1249072}}

Those new light green leaves look like from overwatering, but thats impossible because i didn't even water them, since repoting to bigger pots. The soil is dry, and i even built a wicking system to avoid overwatering, don't know how will it work out, becuase i just made it today.

Metal rodes as a 'table' for pots:
{{gwi:1249073}}

{{gwi:1249074}}

Polypren ropes come out of the pots and go to the water cointainer below:

{{gwi:1249075}}

{{gwi:1249076}}

{{gwi:1249077}}

And i stil have 4 more cuttings but they need to be transplated to bigger pots. I don't know what to do, maybe i should try hydro? i already bought all the equimpment, maybe i'll try, at least one of them.

{{gwi:1249078}}

I don't think my ligting causes any problems, its two tubes, 1350lm cool white and 550lm fluoro (pink light).
{{gwi:1249079}}

Thats all sucks:( i'm doing my best and finally they will be all dead:( most probable, because of the same things, leaves curl, brown spots,.. i experienced with my two previous grows, and now the symptopms are the same:(

the only difference is, that now i dont have any problems with rot and fungus, thats because i cut on humidity, its self controlled at 40% in my room.
Previously my almost sealed growbox had about 90% which did not work at all!! caused stem and leaves rot. Now the stems look ok, but leaves are terrible :(

Good luck with this. I have a cutting I've rooted about 8 months ago and it's the same story. This mysterious black spot will appear mid leaf, spread a dry black spot, and wilt the leaf. New leaves, big leaves, and no noticeable bugs. The nearby houseplants aren't stricken with it either (thankfully). I treated Sallie with some organic pesticide, but no effect. I just keep up the TLC. Peace.

Overwatering ..... Period. An H2O2 treatment may be benificial/ Overwatering reduces the amount of Oxygen available to the roots. This particular salvia can grow easily with little water and indirect sunlight.

I can solve your problem. Here's the solution:

Take each Salvia out, and get a plastic shopping baggie, not the opaque kind, but the ones you put fruits in that are rather clear.

Now for each salvia you'll be using 1 bag.

Take the baggie and breathe in it, as though you were hyper-ventillating, until the bag is completely fogged. Your trying to get to near 90% humidity, and better yet, a huge concentration of carbon-dioxide and nitrogen. Place this baggie over your Salvia, make sure its really puffed up, really foggy, hot and humid, lots of CO2, that's the key, and most importantly that its sealed around the plant so as not to mix with the outside air. Repeat the same procedure every hour or so.

I will gurantee that your plants will REALLY spruce up, and the leaves will become erect and firm.

The key is in the HIGH concentrations of CO2 and atmospheric nitrogen. I was told by a very experienced botanist that this plant will absorb alot of it's nutrients through the LEAVES, as well as the roots.

From the set up you've shown, I think that your plants we just simply suffocating! You breath oxygen, they breathe carbon dioxide, get a clue!

I have some brown spots on my Salvia plant and have taken one cutting so far...but the plant seems to be doing Great! Growing faster than I thought. It's about 3 feet tall. I am not paying very close attention to the plant, all I have done so far is staked it to the potting soil and put some crab meal into the soil. It seems to me that Salvia will grow just fine with minimal watering. I water my plant every 2 to three days and it seems to like that very much. Misting is probably most important.

As far as bugs and pests go I would try spraying VERY small amount of soap mixed with water on the leaves.... dont forget the underside as well.

My plant does have brown spots on the older leaves but the new growth does not. I think this may be the initial shock from being mailed 2,000 miles. Haha.

I believe it is a very resilient plant, you just have to keep it in one spot and give it ample time to adjust to its surroundings.

Also you dont need to water it every day unless it is in very hot temperatures. Over watering seems to be the cause of your problems but then again I am no expert. Maybe try not using a humidity tent on one of your cuttings.

Anyways I'm sure you will get it down.

~Seth

PS
Im not sure how to put photos of my salvia on this site but I would be happy to if someone were tell me how it's done.

Also how much fertilizer are you using? And what kind?

Seth, to attach a photo that's over GW's 60k limit (which is pretty small), you need to sign up for a free account at an image hosting site (Photobucket.com is one of several), then upload your pictures from your computer to your album there. To embed them within a post, you would need to copy the TAG line, which will be under your image on Photobucket, and paste it into the message box here at GW. This option will allow you to post more than one pic in each message you post.
Or you can just copy and paste the URL line from Photobucket into the "Optional Link URL" box at the bottom of the "Post a Follow-Up" area here at GW.

Hope that helps! :)

Brenda

I dont know about the kind of salvias you have but the ones I have were all going limpl also, when I went to some of those out and repot mysoil was dry as a bone , I hadnt watered much cause everyone said back off on watering . So I went back to what I started with when they looked healthy. I have mine in pots inside of seed flatts that have ridges and I water from the bottom. I use the expert gardner 24-8-14 1/2teaspoon + a couple drops of superthrive in a gal of water and they are already looking better. My biggest problem at this time it seems is trying to get them hardened off.

Thanks for the post brenda im going to be trying to get some photos up soon. I just gotta upload them :)

Hi

I have been growing coleus for the past year and I am considering getting salvia.d.

Regarding difficulty, How different are these two to grow from each other. I live in South Africa and our climate here ranges from warm summers and freezing winters.

Things I have noticed from coleus:

They are hyper sensitive to seasonal change, they get the seasonal info from photo periods. Shorter periods kick them into blooming.

I found that having a grow light does not change this behavior if they are exposed to the outside light as well.
Theory:When creating a false season, NO TRACES OF THE SUN SHOULD FIND IT'S WAY TO THE PLANT. Can someone verify this??

Cuttings:
Automatic on plant cuttings that has new leaves in progress.

Cuttings die if they are busy growing flower heads. Not conclusive, can someone verify??

It takes a considerable time (a week, half a week) to change the plant from flowering mode to new leaf growth mode. How much exactly???

If I pinch the flower head from the plant, the plant sprouts flower heads on other nodes. If I pinch a whole chunk along with the flower heads the plant starts new growth instead.

What I would try in this situation is supplying each plantlet with its own humidity hood,
...Remove all traces of sunlight from the growing area
...Put the lights on a timer for 11-12 hour light cycles.
...Make sure the light strength are enough for vigorous growth.
...Regulate the temp to 20 degrees Celsius.
...Water smaller amounts, about 100ml per plant, every second day.
...Do not touch or move the pots once they are placed the way you want them. Not until I see any new growth. Even if they wither completely.
...How cold is your water when you water them? Wont hurt to get it up to 20 degrees Celcius before watering.

That is what my thumbs tell me.

Regards
Zaorr

go to the forums where people have years of experience.

Entheogen.com, and the 4 or 5 Yahoo groups are a good starting place.

Plant needs air movement, and cool (66-75F) temps to thrive, free draining soil, bright cool blue flouros or partial "cool" sun outside.

good luck to all, Jupe

The plants give subtle signs as to what may be causing the problems. If the internodes are exceptionally small and the leaves are brittle and curly, this usually means too much sunlight or fertilizer burn.

I did over 600 cuttings this year, and only have a 2-3% falure, with top branches. what you have is mid stem cuttings, which I did a few just to try, but have found 10-20% falure plus they grow super slow. usually when the stem turns black, your done. but you can cut inbetween nodes and try to root each branch. bugs like whiteflies, aphids, and spider mites generally wont just kill them, just stress them a little. how I do it is a foam box 8ft x2ft x2ft with 2 4ft shop light, I make the cuttings, and put them into 3 in pots of mirical grow seed starting mix, 18per flat, keep at 80-87 deg. I open and spray 2 times a day, once the roots are established I cut down on the leaf spraying. and just water when dry. from one cutting smaller than yours, froma aug of last year, I have 60+ mother plants that were over 5ft before cutting for winter, and at least 600 cuttings from them.
I like to let them fully root out a 3 in pot before I move them into a bigger pot,mostly for shipping reasons but still has worked out well, get 20+inches in a 3 in pot. these plants in the right environment (my box contraption) can live without roots for over a month, and I have seen picked leaves which I pick in piles, stay green and plump for over a month, at the center of the pile. when I move the plants to bigger pots I use 60% peat moss 40%dirt and a few handfulls of perlite per 5 gal bucket. all I can say is check the roots, and replant if the stem is rotted, plant the stem sideways, and hope the nodes will root, in that event you will need to spray the leaves at least 2 times a day.
Jeremy

I posted another topic on this problem, I was instructed to let my plants get some sunlight. Well, they sat out for maybe 20 mins in the sun, and now I have burnt soggy plants. I'm really upset this happened, is there any way to rejuvenate these plants, or are they toast. Right now they are in tents, very moist, in the shade...help?

I'm having a serious problem....

My plants are dying like flies...

this is my second one now....

it seems to have died today.

the reason i had humidity so high is because the last cutting i had seemed to like it....
any time the plant was looking a little weak, some humidifier would perk it right up...

i'm just feeling really let down....
if anyone had some tips for me, or some cuttings that they would be willing to sell me cheap, i would be grateful....

i already spent way too much on this crap, and now i'm about to give up...

my humidity was at 99%, and the temp was at 90*....

i assume i cooked it.... problem is... ambient temperature in my room is 88* right now....

today i left my humidity tent loose... and i come back to a dead plant....

HELP!!!

Salvia divinorum likes mild temps. I'll bet 99 degs just got you a fine bacterial infection! S. div. grows well in the fog belt of San Francisco - in full shade, with irrigation, with temps about 60-70 degs. F, and rarely below 40.

I'm surprised you got seed. I was sure there were no pollinators - that it's a cultogen...

All y'all are growing bacteria! Set your plants free!!!

Why doesn't anyone use the method Vincent suggested, hyperventilate and cover your salvia with it? It might save their lives.

Has anyone managed to get this salvia to flower? ANYone? I've seen large plants at a college botanical sale, and passed them up because I'm not interested in its other properties. But now I might be interested in the challenge of seeing the flowers, since this is apparently so difficult.

Salvia divinorum has bloomed in Seattle, and Orlando. It has also bloomed in several university greenhouses in North Carolina and Wisconsin.

The flower display is supposed to be quite nice, with white flowers and electric blue-violet calyxes and floral stems. I suspect the flowers have led it to be associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary.

I gave up with this Salvia years ago, I got buds but they always aborted as I could not provide enough humid warmth in winter......which would have probably killed all the other Salvias! I did see this in full flower in a large, shaded, warm glasshouse in Germany, the flowering stems were spectacular. One of the most beautiful Salvias. If you can provide the right conditions, you may be lucky, but the downside is that the plant is very large and untidy. Large pure white furry flowers from a purplish calyx. In a way, similar....only in colour...to Phyllis' Fancy.

Salvia divinorum isn't the only one of its section (Dusenostachys) that has brilliantly-colored stems and petioles. Salvia recurva is very similar, and Salvia madrensis `Red Neck Girl' has deep burgundy stems. The intensity of the pigmentation depends on how big a spread there is in the diurnal temperatures. This usually implies Mediterranean and/or cloud forest conditions, with lows around 40 degrees at night and daytime temps in the 70s

I've seen S. div. bloom in the SF Botanic Garden. It doesn't bloom every year, but it's pretty when it does! It's in a very shady place; unlabeled, for reasons you might expect.

Well, I found the plant at UCBerkeley, during their 20% off for members sale, so 6 bucks for one gallon -- a steal! This plant is all over Craigslist now for a much higher asking price. *rolls eyes*

Could be cyclamen mites - I've had the same problem on a few different plants incl. an S. Divinorum, pretty bad, actually, and very similar to the pics posted. Well, curled leaves to me is the first sign of someone nesting underneath, so I looked. And saw nothing. Then looked again. And a tincy-wincy whitish thing appeared to move across. Well, out came the microscope, and yep, it's a cyclamen mite, positive ID on a few female species from different plants.
Now, saying they're small means understating things by a few orders of magnitude: you need a 100x microscope to count legs, so you get the idea. At this magnification a pin tip looks like a sphere, and you still couldn't read what's tattooed on the mite's butt.
Interestingly enough, they manifest themselves sort of differently on mango plants that have heavy, waxy leaves, but the idea is still the same - browning (like in case of a bad burn) and crookedness of the young leaves.
At any rate, I've searched the web and those mites seem to be fairly common and - bad news - fairly hard to get rid of, the last resort measure being soaking them in 100-110F water for half an hour, something I am trying literally as we speak (just put plants in pots into a bathtub full of hot water). I'll see how it goes, but I've seen those mites dying in a drop of water under the microscope in about a minute, so it might work. I'm hoping I won't kill the plants.
Makes me think - I've read on some funny sites that those symptoms are very common to S. Divinorum, but "it's a bit of a mystery" - nobody's certain, most authors contradict one another and the best advice I've seen was to try changing every variable one by one to see what works. Now, given that they are all derived from a small progenitor stock and the number of places you can get cuttings from is limited - could it be that they are all infested with mites? It's hardly surprising that mites haven't been notices in the past: as I said, it takes some looking. Thinking about the spread of infestation across my plants and its apparent chronology, I can only suggest that mites were brought on the cutting I planted, there are no other possible sources like other plants or soil.

If you want to check your plants, get a really good magnifying glass and check the undersides of the leaves for tiny, 0.1mm or less, bugs. Some are moving fast. And BTW, it appears to be highly contagious, so as most sites suggest, step one is isolating the infested plants.

OK, so first results are in. On mango, not only the hot(ish) water burnt one leaf giving it a big patch of necrosis, but it also made - interestingly - no effect on mites: last time I've looked they were pointing their fingers at me and giggling their tiny little socks off. Browning of the leaves continues, although no curling evident yet, since they are very stiff, but I think it's just a matter of time. There is no growth evident anywhere else on the plant.

The good thing is, the effect has been totally opposite on salvia - visually clear and a remarkable increase in new leaf growth. New leaf comes out straight and with no brown tip; before that they all were crooked and from the very young are, brown-tipped. And when I say remarkable increase, I mean orders of magnitude, I've got fresh big leaves (3" length in a week), new tiny leaves, and new stems springing off all over.

I am a bit puzzled as to why such a difference. Both plants were in the same bathtub, next to one another for the same amount of time. The only thing I can think of is that the rosettes, where little buggers squat, are different in shape and more dense on mango, so perhaps giving them a little more shelter.
Got a big bottle of BugClear spray that is supposed to act on red spider mites and should, in principle, do cyclamen ones as well, since it's a miticide. Sprayed the mango and holding back on salvia, but the spraygun is on the ready, should first signs of infestation arise.
Having said that, there seem to be no adverse effects of hot water dipping on it, well, apart from a blocked drain, so I guess it could be used again, the need be.

Bad news: they're back on Salvia, so the hot water dipping had only temporary, although admittedly quite remarkable effect. I've been checking her regularly and noticed first signs of curling and alligator-skinning on new leaves as well as brown tips yesterday, so got the optics out and found them again. Looks like the water knocked the population down, but it's back in growth.
More bad news: I've tried dropping mites into soapy water and supposedly miticidal BugClear (acetamiprid suspension), and saw no effect whatsoever - in the latter a male species lived on for ten minutes, until I stopped watching, without any apparent ill effect. Not bad for swimming in poison, eh. Similarly, there's been little improvement on the mango since the spraying. Well, obviously, there's a lot of acquired tolerance in the pest world towards popular pesticides, so I guess I got a resistant strain, which ain't good news either.
Not sure what to do now, to be honest. I took a seemingly healthy cutting, checked visually, chopped old leaves off apart from the very crown and dipped it in slightly hotter water for a little longer, then put it aside to root. Not the best time of the year, but we'll see. Methinks I'll probably give the remaining plant another dip, too, since pesticides are of little hope.

Has anyone else successfully dealt with cyclamen mites on any plants?