|
Salvia divinorum Cultivation The Easy Way |
|
|
Written by Dan McDonley
|
|
Monday, 21 December 1998 |
|
Page 3 of 5
Humidity
One thing about Salvia divinorum is that it is readily adaptable to many different growing conditions. Everyone seems to think this plant will just keel over if the humidity is any lower then 50%. This is just not true. Salvia divinorum does like humidity, I'll admit that, but she doesn't NEED it. She will adapt to very low humidity situations if given time to adapt. The amazing part is that she makes a magical transformation in the way she looks when grown without high humidity. The picture of one of my plants below is a good example of this.
Notice the difference in the upper and lower leaves. The lower ones have a silvery haze around the main vein and are much darker green. They also seem to droop a bit more. Then there are the upper leaves that stand out flat and have a distinct shape and visible texture. Also they tend to be a bit lighter shade of green. These are not leaves from two different plant. They show the difference in leaves when grown in high and low humidity. The upper leaves were grown with low humidity and the lower leaves were grown with very high humidity. It's absolutely amazing to me that a plant can completely change appearance with different growing conditions.
One interesting thing is that once a leaf has changed its appearance to a high humidity leaf like in the picture It doesn't go back very easily. When adapting your plant to a new humidity or growing condition it actually needs to grow a whole new set of leaves. That's why we adapted it in our system above so slowly. Those high humidity leaves will ALWAYS brown at the edges and tips, some more then others. There's nothing you can do about it. Pick them off once you get a set of adapted leaves about medium size. These new leaves will be much more resilient to lower humidity conditions. Yet if you want them to go back to being high humidity leaves put them back in a humidity tent and they will slowly become much like the high humidity leaves. They just don't go back... I've always wondered if the potency is different between the two types of leaves. Maybe I'll find out in a future experiment.
So if your leaves are browning at the edges and tips you are either adapting it too quickly or you are looking at high humidity leaves. Are your newer low humidity leaves doing the same? If they are then you need to think about re-adjusting it slower or misting more often. Remember with each new leaf grown it will adapt better and better to the current growing conditions.
|
