Salvia plant very tall, not bushy.

[dopefiend]

I got a salvia cutting a while ago, and managed to bring it back from the brink of death. I wanted the plant to grow quite big, so I waited until it was quite tall before topping it off, but now it doesn't seem to be doing anything. It has some very big leaves, and some tiny leaves sprouting from where the big leaves start, but nothing's changed for ages. What should I do?

[farmux]

I reckon your plant needs some more light man. Maybe where its on the window sil and the days getting shorter. Im sure it will go mental when that sun hits it again in spring

[llamabox]

Mine look alot like that also, except I topped them alot earlier and they put out 2 tops. Not much bushyness though.

[Star]

I have the exact same problem. I'm considering just cultivating another plant from a cutting of the original but this time topping it regularly to reduce length and hopefully induce 'bushyness'.

Another problem i have is the edges of the leaves my plant produces brown very easily. I'm not sure if it's sick or might be dieing. Apologies if this problem has been addressed elsewhere on the forum.

Anyone else have any other recommendations?

[dopefiend]

That's EXACTLY the problem I have star, even the browning of the leaves. I'm wondering whether I should prune all the leaves to encourage new growth, but then I'm also worried that if I do that, the whole plant will die.

[sam101]

I always remember a hydroponic shop in Bristol had salvia growing in NFT tables (Nutrient Film Technique) under HPS bulbs. They were lush and bushy. I imagine as mentioned above they have to little light and you are experiencing the same lack of growth that cannabis would exhibit in those conditions.

More light, more air to the roots would help as well as keeping the PH stable, if the PH is out it blocks nutrient uptake of specific elements dependent on how far out the PH is out, there's some good tables around charting this. So you could be staving your plant even though you are giving it a balanced food simply by having you PH out of range. Good luck! :)

Also looking at your picture it would have been better to pinch out the top growing shoot when it was small to promote side branching, the more you did this the bushier it would have got, obviously allowing time for recovery in between pruning.

Here is a PH chart for reference, although it is only relative to cannabis.


http://www.marijuanagrowing.com/dhtml/images/lookinside/mh_ch_10.pdf

[Star]

One of the explanations as to why the leaves brown that i heard is the chemicals in tap water. I can't remember the exact details of the information and I've lost the link. That is of course if your using tap water.

I'll try and find more information.

Star*

[Star]

Found some interesting information on Entheogen. Apparently the browning of leaves may have something to do with the humidity it is exposed too.

http://www.entheogen.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-7120.html

I need to move my plant!

Star*

[rkillop]

It has been my experience with the plant that it does not get bushy unless it has a ton of humidity (65%+). you can also force it to get bushy by cutting it just above a node.

This will hopefully cause 2 shoots to come out of the joint and start in their own direction.

one way to increase humidity is to get a plastic bag and invert it over the plant using some sort of cage to keep it from touching the plant. you don't want the plastic to be in contact with any of the leaves as that could cause mold.

despite what i have read my plants do well with the following cycle that occurs naturally in the summer where the plant is kept.

4 hours ambient light
6 hours indirect light
4 hours direct light

this seems to cause the giant hand size leaves that the plant is known for. in the winter the plant continues to grow indoors but it only produces leaves that are about 7cm long and about 4cm wide.

[Wink]

Little Z sez give er light (cfl?) to bushy up your plants ;)

[Podders]

I'm really interested to read about chewed salvia.

[Podders]

Little Z sez give er light (cfl?) to bushy up your plants ;)

Bushy Up Your Plants

Sounds like a lyric from Bob Marley.

Happy birthday Bob.

[rkillop]

That is an incredible looking plant... how'd you get it that way? what is the humidity level in the area it grows?

[Wink]

Cultivar from Sage Wisdom
temps 60 -75f
humidity 60 -70%
Ph 6.5 ish
bottom water/feed only with Botanicare Pure Blend pro @e.c. 1.2-1.6
2 -62w cfl 15 hrs
wish us luck;)