How to Grow Salvia Divinorum Indoors
Discovered by the modern western world in 1962, salvia divinorum or diviner's sage possesses hallucinatory properties which made this plant a sacred herb among the Mazatec people of Mexico. The plant's blue and white flowers rarely fertilize--in perfect greenhouse settings only 3 percent of pollinated blooms set seed. Growing wild in patches of damp well-drained soil, diviner's sage reproduces naturally by rooting from mature stems bent to the ground. Cultivation methods take advantage of the plant's rooting ability. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Salvia divinorum plant or live cutting
- Knife
- Water glass, 3 in. height
- Clay flower pot, 12 in. diameter
- Gravel
- Potting soil
- 3 wooden dowels, 1/4 in. diameter by 18 in. long
- Transparent polyethylene bag
- Garden twine
- Liquid plant food
- Plant mister
Instructions
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1
Select a healthy salvia branch from 4 to 8 inches in length or purchase a live salvia divinorum cutting. Cut the branch just below a node--the swelling from which the leaves emerge. Trim off the leaves attached to the bottom node.
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2
Fill a small drinking glass with clean warm water two inches deep. Set the cutting in the glass with node down. Keep the cutting in indirect light in a warm room and maintain the water level between 1-1/2 inches and 2 inches.
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3
Add gravel to the clay flower pot in a layer 2 inches deep. Fill the pot with potting soil and water thoroughly. Set the pot aside until planting day.
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4
Transplant the salvia divinorum cutting to the pot after one week or when the rootlets measure between 1/4 inch and 3/4 inch long. Make a hole in the potting soil 2 inches deep and 1-1/2 inches wide. Hold the cutting in the planting hole and carefully fill the hole with potting soil. Water to settle the soil and remove air pockets.
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5
Set the three dowels equally spaced at the rim of the pot and push them 6 inches deep in the soil.
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6
Pull the transparent bag down over the supporting dowels and tie the bottom tightly around the pot with garden twine. After five days cut slits in one side to allow adjustment to open air. Two or three days later, remove the bag.
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7
Feed the plant a half-strength liquid plant food solution after one month. Use the half-strength formula for the first three feedings, and then shift to a full strength solution.
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Tips & Warnings
Salvia divinorum prefers humidity above 50 percent. If edges of the plant's leaves turn brown, dampen the leaves with a mister or replace the humidity tent.
If rooting cuttings in tap water treated with chlorine, heat the water to boiling and let cool to room temperature before starting the cuttings.
Drooping leaves could mean the plant needs water. Soil should be moist but not
wet. Test with a fingertip before watering--saturated soil could kill the plant.
