What basic information and any simple test will tell you is that Salvia divinorum needs acid fertilizer and soil. Acid soil versus basic soil comes down to ph- a balanced ph for a plant is 6-7 ph (hydrogen ionic activity measurement minus a decimal logorythmn). Any measurement higher than 7 is considered to be basic or alkaline and any measurement of 7 or lower is considered acidic.
When i look at a plant to determine whether it needs acid or basic fertilizer i think about their natural environment. What is happening with the canopy, covered or open? How is leaf fall, heavy or light? Full sun or shade? Dry or marshy? A plant from the Amazon will most likely need acid fertilizer due to the constant addition of humus matter to the ground. With continual moisture in the air, almost 100& canopy (no sun to dry the ground), the dirt becomes a microcosm of organic matter deteriorating into highly active plant food. With numerous bugs and animals naturally fertilizing the dirt and with air almost like water, the atmospher itself seems to constantly compound itself, shrinking to the ground, turning itself over and rising again as rain and humidity.
Kratom, which came to me without specific growing instructions (the previous owner had been giving it both acid and basic fertilizer), needed exactly this type of questioning. I don't know the exact rainfall, flora growth of Thailand (its natural home), or type of plant Kratom is, but for it to survive, it was vital to figure out whether it needed basic or acidic fertilizer.
The wrong fertilizer can ruin a plant if not kill it. I've seen ferns die almost immediately after a normal does of basic fertilizer. Salvia d can withstand low doses (low ratio of fertilizer to water) of basic fertilizer for almost a month before it will turn yellow, and turn brown. It is by this time too late to save the plant, unless serious measurements like continual flushing and transplanting the plant (with all dirt washed from the roots) were taken in to effect.
The information i did have about the Kratom (Kratom rifat (strain)) was that in its natural environment it was a decidous plant- meaning in the winter it would lose its leaves and in a sense, hibernate until the high heat of a Thailand spring. However, a winter in Thailand is nothing like any winter in North America or the UK. Living in the Philippines as a child, i understood somewhat the type of environment Thailand could be in winter- 70-75 degrees at night, with full sun in the day. Rainfall is a fall and spring event, with spring rains reaching temperatures in the eighty's.
The Kratom's first winter in California inside a greenhouse was heated to 65 degrees F with snow on the ground outside, lost all its leaves (expected), but began to grow a black fungus starting at the base of the plant. Whether this happend in Thailand in its hibernation state was unknown. Whether it would come back in spring was also unkown. And giving it fertilizer in winter would be unkind to the plant, and so was left to be watered regularly with the others and we watched with hopeful eyes.
Salvia d needs acid fertilizer and has been killed with regular dirt that was packed with 'good nutrients.' Of course the plants were not properly shaded, with only 60% shade cloth but with the right soil, Salvia d could survive the harsh sun (shade) just fine.
As nursery owners we were beginning to tire of the plastic bottles of fertilizer. We had heard of their damage to existing ecosystems, dirt, rivers, and water tables. Not to mention the adverse effects of plastic bottles in our landfills for thousands of years. So in a move to become more aligned with our peers who were revolutionizing everything from plastic forks to hybrid cars, we decided to go Organic. And perhaps align ourselves with the plant in the process and give it soil and nutrients to enable it to grow and produce leaves with a high content of Salvinorin A. For do we not as humans gain great strength and wisdom when we practice eating and exercise at our best? And so we thought for our Salvia d plants.
This not only meant the type of soil, but the type of fertilizer we would use. This meant not spraying leaves so that we wouldnt' kill frogs and worms around the plants. We had to think of our cleanliness, waste practices and ultimately our whole way of growing plants. Did we buy plastic pots as if it was biodegradable? Yes. In essence, going organic wasn't just about not buying plastic containers of organic fertilizer, it was about going to the source of organic, using dirt and natural nutrients without packaging or non-biodegradable ingredients. (Slow release fertilizer will ultimately change the overall ph of the natural soil in your garden. While it may fertilize your plant now, the plant will not be self-sustainable). The plant will be like a crack addict, needing its weekly dose of fertilizer otherwise it will look yellow and stunted. The plant will rely on the fertilizer to grow whereas a self-sustainable plant will continue to thrive without too much attention once fertilized with the proper dirt and mulch. And with dirt and mulch the plant takes on its natural cycle and growth, usually with great results. A plant that depends on itself creates its own surge, while hands on feeding gives the plant a different psychology altogether. It will not grow until it has been fed. Without it the plant doesn't know what to do.
To go organic acidicly is almost impossible with box or plastic fertilizers. My salvia d's are in pots (making it easier to get an Organic license) and so in the first stages of our organic endeavor i looked for an easy solution, perhaps there was an organic acid fertilizer in a recyclable cardboard box? Yup. And not to mention a much cheaper solution to buying 10 yards of organic dirt (a minimum order of $400).
When i sprinkled the contents of the cardboard box, the shaking seemed unnatual but i was hopeful that the plants would like their new organic food. And as with all dry fertilizers, the effects would not be visible for two weeks at the earliest (compounds must first break down in the soil and then be taken up by the plant which then must translate the new food to growth). And the growth at the end of another breathless week, (had i found the secret, at last?) was small and ineffectual. I saw no real successful growth of the plant, and felt that i would be at the mercy of the sprinkle box every week, very much like a liquid fertilizer- i wasn't making any real headway to the road of organicness.
So we switched the dirt. And they all died. So then we put them back in peat moss, covered them like vampires (see blog Oh! The Sun!), and watched the plants transform from weaklings into giants of their own right. Although the peat moss is not made organically, does a company make it? and are you shipping to Northern California? my practices are. I mulch with redwood chips. I topdress with more peatmoss. I don't use fertilizers. And i can produce plants for sale with ease. As the plants grow I revitalize the earth by adding more dirt with nutrients. I gain by watching a healthy specimen of Salvia d and the earth is not raped of her natural nutrients. We trade, she gives, i give. And we all win.
Oh, the Kratom came back, the fungus died and it continues to do this every winter so far.
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