Growing Salvia Divinorum Plants (when ordering online)

The postal trip can be rough on your Salvia Divinorum plant but they are well started and will quickly recover. I pack your plant so it makes it’s trip to you in a very high humidity near 100% and when unpacked it will often droop. This is to be expected and no cause for alarm. Be sure to have a spray bottle handy and as soon as packaging is removed give you plant a thorough misting. A quick fix for a stressed plant would be to place it in bathroom close the door and run a hot shower, it will respond nicely to the moist warm air. If your plant arrived droopy or wilting misting it several times a day will ensure a speedy recovery typically within a day, also be sure to keep it out of a hot draft from your heater as that air will be very dry. I would recommend you give your plant a short adjustment period before repotting. It will appreciate a good drink and frequent misting to overcome the stress of it’s long journey to you. The potting mix I use has perlite added and is very well draining so it will use large amounts of water, just avoid having your plant in standing water. It will enjoy bright filtered light, direct sun will cause your plant to burn, the leaf edges will brown. They grow well under lights and would appreciate extra humidity which can be provided by misting and placing the pot on a saucer filled with pebbles and water.

Salvia divinorum likes lots of root space and perform best in large shallow containers or raised beds. Plant in a well drained soil mix, high in organic matter. I use a mix of 2/3 commercial potting mix like miracle grow and 1/3 perlite, the perlite is important because although they like to be kept moist they will not be happy if waterlogged or soggy. They thrive in filtered light (30 – 70% shade). Salvia divinorum prefers cooler temperatures and are happiest at 45-70 degrees F. They will tolerate higher temps (mine have survived hot Georgia summers of 90+ degrees) as well as lower temps down to 32 degrees F. Frost will kill them back to the roots but they will rapidly recover. High humidity promotes more robust growth. When in active growth feed them weekly with a balanced fertilizer mixed on the milder side about half strength of label recommendations. Most plant foods will work, use them weakly, weekly about half strength once a week. I use a mix of fish emulsions and kelp extract and they just love it. Water them regularly keeping the soil mix moist but not waterlogged. In hot weather they will use large amounts of water. The tops can be regularly trimmed to force branching and maintain a more compact growth habit which is highly recommended. Pests typically are not a problem with Salvias, but spider mites occasionally attack in winter in the greenhouse. Neem oil will usually keep them in check.