Lets say that you were successful in getting your Salvia D to produce seed, we can put together a seed germination instruction manual for you to successfully grow a plant. If your Salvia D after flowering produces seed, collect and brown bag in a cool, dark place where there isn't any humidity. The viability of your seeds is extremely important at this point. I don't assume its like the papaver somniferum in that it needs a cold gestation period before germination. I can't imagine Oaxaca getting freezing temperatures at any point of the year. So storing in an environment, possibly store your bag in an airtight jar? without light, moisture or heat should store your Salvia D perfectly. Unless you can chriogenetically freeze it, this method is probably the only one at our disposal to ensure that no damage can affect the seed.
Some seeds will grow if you throw them out in your soil without any problem. These are usually annuals of any variety whom have strong instincts to germinate due to its short life cycle. Perennials also easily seed though these seeds don't often create new plants in your garden due to the hybridization of most of our garden plants. The family that Salvia Divinorum belongs to, Mint Family, are all squared stems, presumably. Sage is also part of this family and most sage plants are square or robustly round with some edging. Salvia apiana, white sage, is notoriously hard to germinate, which often shares the same name as Salvia D. Both Salvia D and Salvia a. belong to the same genus. Whether these two have the same seed germination process has not been determined. But because both these plants are really hard to germinate i thought i would apply the same rules I have chosen to germinate a Salvia apiana seed with that of Salvia d seed.
A Salvia Divinorum plant abhors heating mats. In fact they'll die if you put the plant directly on the mat. They don't like their roots to be hot. I'm not aware of many other plants that detest heating mats. So i would naturally think that seed germination for Salvia d does not need a heating mat, which honestly nothing in my greenhouse germinates without a heating mat in the cold days of november to march. But Salvia Apiana will not germinate without a heating mat, unless your greenhouse doesn't fall below 70 degrees in day or night time temperatures while its germinating. Keeping your greenhouse at a constant 70 degrees can be extremely costly so the heating mat is a nice alternative.
So if I put the same growth terms to Salvia d, I would theoretically put a heating mat under a seedling tray of Salvia D the same way I would for Salvia apiana. I would choose the month of February to start Salvia d seeds. Why February? January is still a might cold at night though the days can be warm enough and the grey skies are a good shade cover for the young plants. For germination I might want to put a larger plant next to my seedling tray. Salvia D is an understory plant and while i was contemplating this list, I realized any seed that did grow in its natural habitat would not see a glimpse of sun until it was high enough to reach out from underneath its natural plant cover, either its parent salvia d plant or another plant/tree that shaded it well enough from the sun. I don't know if you covered the seedling tray with shade cover of 70% if it would achieve the same results- but that can be an extra cost. But we all have a bigger plant that we can stick a heating mat and a Salvia d tray underneath for protection from sun and cold.
I would probably keep it in this protected environment until you saw the third leaf pop out, after which time I would arrange the next size pot i would transfer my seedling. Only using peat moss I would get a pot that was very small. 2.5"x3.5" at the most. Or wait until the seedling has made a substantial root in the seedling tray (I would use seedling germination mix for the tray). Waiting for a bigger root is okay, just watch for stunting.
Once you carefully transplant your seedling keep it under the protection of the taller plant until you feel your greenhouse is safe enough for your plant- not too much sun, or cold. And no application of fertilizer just yet. Wait until the plant is two months old to fertilize at which point your plant should just be about ready for a gallon pot or to get out of one.
Comments