Salvia arrived-I might have done something wrong. Help please

[Infineon]

Hello my friends

Long time no see...I will cut to the chase as usual if you do not mind

I recently bought a Sally and it arrived yesterday. Because I am new here I did not have the necessary number of posts to put this in the Salvia related area. I am sorry about this, but I need the information and I am sure that some of you might be able to help.

The cutting arrived in an envelope inside a container. The base with the roots was in an "improvised baloon" with some soil. Afterwards, I went to buy some potting soil. I took a pot from the basement when I came back. Took sally out of her container and without realizing it yesterday, I potted her in the new soil with the roots in the soil that it came with...watered it and put a plastic bag over the pot...In the morning I took the bag off for about 10 minutes. Before putting it back again I sprayed her(I think it's called misting) with some water and put the plastig bag back.

Now here come the questions:

1. Is it a problem that I didn't wash off the soil that it came with around the roots and planted it into new soil like that? (read somewhere that it's good to take out the plant, wash the roots, put it in some lukewarm water for 30 minutes before potting because the plant went through a lot of stress while being transported in the envelope in darkness with little soil )

2. How often should one mist the plant while in this improvised humidity tent?(once a day? twice? three times a day? )

3. Is it really necessary to keep it in this humidity tent? if so, for how long? (what are the signs to look out for? )


For now, these are my questions...the first one is important for me, the rest are relative .

I will try to post some pictures tomorrow.

Thank you in advance.

I look forward to reading your replies(and to take notes).

 

[sidefx]

do a lot of research bro, i some how got hold of a salvia divinorum Rooted cutting.

And she died, they are very very hard to grow out of climate even with a tent, i have seen awesome pictures of glass house sallys.

I know they love a soil that is full of decomposing leaf matter..

The soil left on the roots will be fine, do not try and do more to her for a while as they dont like to be moved and shock longer than usual.

They originate from the Amazon rain forest aye so thats the climate you want pretty humid and relatively constant.

I was going to grow my Sally in a big tent!
Slugs and snails can sense this plant from all around the property, be aware they will take a big chomp.

And if you get any black bits dying shop them off or it will spread, use sterile blades.

 

[Ringworm]

A few thoughts:
don't wash the soil off the roots... this would stress the plant more than needed.

Misting is ok, but probably not needed unless you live in a very very dry area. Putting a bag over a plant is a good way to encourage rot and stagnant air. It *may* be helpful when you first got the plant to help deal with some of the shipping stress, but I'd wean it off as soon as feasible.

Salvia is weird about humidity, it readily adapts to a less humid environment. The old leaves will probably be angry about the situation but the newer leaves will grow thicker and somewhat tougher in the lower humidity.

Please don't listen to that other fella "sidefx" he means well I'm sure but has given you some oddball advice.
Please do not add composting leaves to the pot you are growing a plant in. Composting matter is fine outdoors in a bed, but you don't need or want a compost pile in a pot.
Salvia divinorum is NOT from the amazon jungle. It is from central america, specifically southern mexico.

Good luck, and if you have a more specific question, feel free to ask.
Rw

 

[Infineon]

Thank you for the advice...

But there is a question that is bothering me a bit.

Over night I was expecting that the plastic bag's wall would be full with condensation, but there was none. Is this a bad sign?...It just sits there since yesterday, looking pretty good all in all, but I'm afraid, it looks too good(maybe)...or maybe that's just me being way too careful?

I will post a picture tomorrow.

Let me know if this idea is good. If tomorrow the walls of the bag are not with condensation I will take off the bag and see what happens.

---there are also 2 leaves at the very bottom and they are pretty much on the earth...will they die off? or should I cut them off to help the plant concentrate on the 3 top leaves and growth? or should I just let the plant be and do what it knows best, to adapt and survive?

 

[Infineon]

changed my mind...and I will stay with it to see what happens, I hope I am not stressing her too much... see the two leaves at the bottom...is that ok?...also the dirt on it is because of the shipping and I didn't want to put her under a water flow to clean it off as I thought it would be a little bit hard hitting for the fragile cutting...

Any advice is more than welcome...I've read a lot about them, but one thing is reading and a whole other thing actually growing one haha...I think I might be a little bit insecure on how I should handle her...

As I said I removed the bag that you see beside her because the humidity around here is pretty high if you ask me...hope it was the right call.

 

[Ringworm]

your plant is just a really young healthy cutting.

relax. remember to breathe, everything is fine, just leave it alone and let it get used to it's new world.

 

[Infineon]

haha will do...thanks for the support.

Hope she can forgive me for the constant checking and worrying ^^ I just want her to grow healthy and strong so she can take care of herself. Once she's on her "roots" I'll give her privacy

 

[Tek]

The plant can sense your worry and affection for her. I can only assume it would aid in her growth. Be sure to post pics along the growth cycle I'd be interested to see your progress

 

[Infineon]

sure will if everything goes alright...I took off the humidity tent, ringworm was pretty right, 2 hours in and no sign of bad stuff...

I'll keep you guys up to date. Thanks for the support

 

[jamie]

misting and little plastic bag tents are one of the best ways to kill an indoor salvia plant. Trust me I have been growing them for years and killed a few cuttings that way.

 

[Ringworm]

yeah man.... I was trying to say that in a subtle way Jamie.
Whoever came up with the idea of putting a bag over a plant should be forced to walk around all day with bag over their head.

 

[Infineon]

Thank you for the advice...she's been out 4 hours now, no humidity tent, but I did spray the leafs a couple of times from above so a few drops hit each leaf...I thought it could help her stay hydrated a bit until the roots spread in the soil and it can take its water from the soil...No signs of wilting or browning of the leafs.

I think she's going through some period of accommodation.

Because I don't know in practice very much about the plant I will just observe her every now and then and try to let my instincts take over if something happens.

It got dark now so I'll just let her alone...can't wait to see her tomorrow hehe I haven't been this excited since my neighbour's cat...he used to come hang out with me the whole day in my room, he only went back to eat and sleep over night haha...good ol' bozo(r.i.p.)

 

[gibran2]

I agree with the opinion that humidity tents are not only unnecessary, but actually harmful to salvia plants. They encourage rot and disease, and really don’t do anything positive for the plant. Same goes for misting.

With salvia – more is less: Just leave the plant alone and let it grow!

 

[Infineon]

just watering? let's say once a week when the soil shows signs, or 2 times if the humidity is low?

basically leave the misting be? completely?

gibran, I've read your posts on the topic, but I cannot help myself to be a little bit excited because it's my first face to face encounter with a live salvia plant...good work by the way, they helped a lot

 

[Tek]

I really want one. They are such beautiful plants...

 

[Infineon]

you know how everyone wants to have the rich neighbour's car or house? my wish is to have my sally grow like gibran's...he took it to the next level his plants look like the ones depicted in the books

 

[Parshvik Chintan]

you know how everyone wants to have the rich neighbour's car or house? my wish is to have my sally grow like gibran's...

yea here at the nexus there is only garden envy, but there is much of it

 

[Ringworm]

On another note to people that wish to grow a plant like Salvia D.

Why don't you go down to a plant nursery and buy a $1 Coleus? it grows in a similiar manner, and you could use the plant growing practice.

I once had 180k plants under my care that I had grown from seed and cutting... i assure you I did not stand next to the plants staring at them all day, they grow on their own.
Good luck infineon!

 

[Infineon]

you're right, too much worrying is not good, the plants know what they have to do, I just have to provide for some basic stuff and they'll do the rest, I think I owe her that much taking into consideration that this is not her natural environment

The taking off of the humidity tent was the best thing for her. I woke up this morning and she either lifted in a more straight position or she grew...in the photo that I posted yesterday the leaf was touching the pot, this morning there was a finger and a half clearing...the change is not drastic, but it's there...

She shows signs od browning, here and there, on the edges of the leafs, not much, but I would not want it to take over all of a sudden.

Now I am well aware that there is a lot of debate going on as to why this is happening to the leafs and that no one has a straight answer. I, myself, believe that it can be caused by more than one factor...

Do you guys think this could be because of the accommodation period that she's going through?

 

[Infineon]

also, my room has two windows...she gets indirect light in the morning from the northern window and again indirect light from the west window when the sun goes down, so she has light, always indirect and never on her...

so the question is this(and sorry if it sounds stupid): Should I turn her, let's say every two days, so that every side gets the same amount of light? the light comes from the left and front towards the end of the day...so that's why I am asking if I should turn the pot so that the right side and the back get the chance to have the same amount of light...maybe it's a stupid question