Starters Guide to Growing Salvia

[qwerty420]

So, im probably putting this in the wrong area but im gonna put it in in growing to. O WELL ^_^

So, I made a post a while back about salvia. After that, I got more than a few pm’s about suggestions on growing it and all that fun stuff. So, I figured I’d make a short “start up” guide for growing salvia.
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Getting Started:
In the wild (<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1lace w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Oaxaca</st1:City>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region></st1lace>), salvia propagates by cloning itself. Salvia rarely goes to seed (some miniscule %) and when it does, of the seeds that do come out, there is only a 5% germination rate. Of those 5% that germinated, some small number of those that germinated (like 20%) survive naturally. Thus, to get yourself started, you need to get a cutting from someone else (the start of a clone). This can be attained in a few ways but the two most common are: 1. from a friend 2. from a website. I’m going to assume that you don’t have a friend that has a cutting (or you fail to ask someone that does) so let’s work on the best way to get one form the web. It’s simple, google something along the lines of “Salvia Divinorum cuttings” or something along those lines. You should get a ton of hits. Whatever you do, don’t get one from a big website. These companies don’t care about the health of the plant, so long as it survives the 2 or 3 day guarantee time (you can keep it out of soil and not water it and it will survive for about 4 days ^_^). Therefore, go for a small, reliable site. I say this because these small companies need the returning costumers to boost there income so they take VERY good care of the cutting. Now, you can take my advice on this matter or not but in the end make sure that the site you order form is lagit.
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Your Baby:
So you got your baby salvia plant in the mail and your ready to harvest it and dry some leaves. Don’t be stupid, you can’t do that yet! (^_^) Put your little baby into a pot with some sandy soil. The sandy soil part is very important. Salvia is extremely susceptible to root rot so it requires well drained soil (sandy soil is hands down the best for this purpose). By the way, the plant is kept inside for at least the first 3 weeks or so (personally, I keep at least one inside all the time because in most climates, salvia will die in the winter time so you should keep a perpetual mother plant so you can clone it (and it makes very nice flowers at certain times in the year) or just to have a extra mother). After your baby is set in some nice sandy (not too sandy though) soil, keep it in a well lit room, not under full sunlight. It likes some full sunlight but if it has too much it will die. Therefore, you need to keep it in a shady area near a lot of sunlight. While your baby is growing, make sure you do one of two things: 1. keep it in a humid environment or 2. spray it with water about 3 or 4 times a day with a spray bottle (you should keep this up its whole life to keep the leaves in tip top condition). Finally, if you want to keep the one u currently have growing as a house plant, just cut off the top. It will stop growing up and become more of a bush. If you want to move it outside, then proceed to the next section.
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Moving the Child Outside:
When you decide to move your child outside, do it SLOWLY! We’re talking about an hour a day extending this time every other day. Make sure it’s warm enough outside or else the child is going to die. Once again, make sure it is in a well drained area with sandy soil (or else the dreaded root rot). Well, once it’s outside (and if it’s the summer), similar to weed, it will go in a vegetative state and do a MONSTER grow (we’re talking about 7 ft for a full grown plant). The difference is, unlike weed, if your salvia plant can survive outside year round in your climate, then it will never die. It just has a slowed growth rate during the winter. This is why I suggest keeping one inside year round; it will never die (except of old age and negligence) and will constantly produce a yield of something. While the plant is outside, remember to make sure it is still in a humid environment or keep misting it (the bigger it gets, the more you’ll have to mist it).
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As far as fertilizers are concerned, don’t give it any fert the first 4 weeks you have it. After that, you can give it some, but not too much. If you give it too much then it will burn the leaves and make it smoke funny. Remember, you can never under fertilize it.
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A common question when you first start growing is, “why do some of the leaves have brown around the edges? I haven’t even fertilized it yet!” The answer to this is actually one of two things. The first is that you aren’t misting it enough. The second is that it’s just a natural part of the plant. These brown spots just look like the leaf has been dried while still connected to the plant. This will not change the smoke at all if you smoke these leaves.
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Now, as far as harvesting the leaves, there are a few ways to do it. You can just wait for the plant to shed its leaves naturally or you can take them off at will. Just remember, if you take too many off at once, you will be taking away nutrients your plant needs to survive and grow.
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When your ready to dry the leaves you’ve harvested, there are a few way to do this as well. The most basic way is to simply put them on a plate in a darker area (not humid obviously) and just let them dry. The next way is to cut the leaves into strips (like they do with tobacco) and then let these strips set out to dry just like you did with the whole leaves (this method dries faster but is a little harder to pack a bowl with). The last way (which takes a long time but is very different than any other method while smoking it) is something I made up myself. Not rocket science but it was very different. You put the leaves in-between four pieces of news paper (two on the bottom two on top) and then put one or two heavy books on top of that. It preserves the whole leaf (i.e. it doesn’t curl them up and make them really small) and makes a smother smoke. In the end, the pressed leaf is almost like paper in its texture and thinness (is that a word?). Whatever…
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So, I think I covered everything for your basic start up guide to growing salvia. If you guys have any questions please, don’t hesitate to ask via pm or just post. Maybe this will become a sticky (I’d be so happy with myself lol)
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Gl all!!!
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SHIBBY
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-Q

[qwerty420]

sorry about the beginning...i dont know why it did that to the first ( ) thing...so this is what it was suppose to say (Oaxaca, Mexico)

By the way, instead of using sandy soil, you can use a tropical soil mix...simialr to what is used for orcids (sp?)

[qwerty420]

bump!

[enevitable]

id be interested in growing some but the only place i know where to get cuttings from sell them for 35$ :/

[qwerty420]

is it worth the $35 or is it an unhealthy lookin small cutting?