This is a cutting taken on 3/21, from my seed originated salvia plant, Andromeda.
I'll leave the top 4 leaves on, and use them as indicators on how the cutting is
responding.
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| This is a picture taken two weeks later, on 4/4, after it has been
rooted and planted. Not much new growth so far, but it looks like it's going to do
just fine as soon as the roots really get going. The leaves will tell me what it
requires. |
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| I have given the above rooted plant away to a lady with a green thumb
that I met a couple weeks later who works at a greenhouse/nursery. |
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| This is a picture of the original mother plant (started from seed),
from which I took the above cutting. After I take a cutting, I plug the hole at the
top of the stem to prevent it from becoming a bug nesting chamber. I'll break off a
piece of wood cooking skewer to plug those holes. Shortly after taking the
cutting, new growth springs forth right below where I took the last cutting. And it
does so almost instantly. All those little leaves sprang forth within 7 days after
taking the cutting. |
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| Two weeks after taking that last cutting, it looks like it's about
ready for another cutting to be taken. This plant seems to react well when I take
cutting. My other plants seem to stop growing for a week to 10 days after taking a
cutting from them. Salvia seems to respond well to watering with mildly warm water,
rather than cool or room temp water (I have measured and charted definite growth
improvement). Now 15 days after taking that cutting from this plant, 16 new leaves
have appeared. So neat to watch. |
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| This is all being done in what is now a very dry climate here this time
of year. I've not placed any plants or cuttings into any humidity tent, nor do I
mist them (except maybe when I'm checking them for any signs of bugs every few days, or at
least once a week or so). They seem to do just fine in very dry warm air, with 18
hours of lighting per day, and watering when the top 1/4th inch of soil becomes dry. |
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| I'm awaiting the day that I'll have a nice short bushy fat plant cloned
from this original. Below is a picture of the above plant a month later on 5/12.
It is not as strong as it should be right now because it went through a very hot
day when the tempurature rose well over 90° F. one day, and I wasn't home that day to
take appropriate measures. |
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| Below is a close-up picture of the above plant, from it's early
beginnings. It was originated from seed. This little plant is actually taller
than pictured, because I started to add more soil over time (as it begin to settle from
watering) and the plant started to become too leggy. |
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If your main stem becomes too leggy, you can mist it frequently to encourage new
growth. |
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| I got a shoot started at the base of this plant in February just by
constantly misting a small area on the stem. If you look at the picture taken on
5/12 above in the middle of this page, you can see this growth at the 5/6 o'clock position
in the picture. |
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This little shoot will be the next
cutting I will take.
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| See some pictures
taken in the dark. |
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