Growing Salvia Divinorum Clones
An Easy Guide to Cloning Diviner's Sage
Because Salvia Divinorum rarely produces seeds, it's much easier to propagate by cloning. Clones from healthy plants can survive being shipped by mail up to four days. Rooting is easy enough that a cutting can root in damp soil within two weeks. However, there are ways to increase survival by speeding up root production. A rooting hormone may or may not be used depending on cost. A good, sterile medium can be just as effective as rooting hormone.
Growing medium for Salvia clones
Use a sterile inorganic medium such as perlite or coarse vermiculite. Both are cheap and can be bought in bulk which is good because they should not be reused. Cloning mediums such as Rockwool or small clay pellets are also good choices, and can be reused, but are more expensive. To clean them, bleach them in acidic water.
What type of pot to use
With each material, you can use just about any pot. Try and find something disposable, about two to three inches tall by two to three inches wide with lots of holes in the bottom for drainage. A good example is the bottom third of a water bottle.
It is advisable to start clones in a pot you can cut away from the medium, like thin plastic or a paper wax cup. Pots that taper are more difficult to remove plants from in the following steps.
Cloning directions:
- Use a nail or something sharp to poke a lot of little holes in the bottom of the pot
- Fill the pot about two thirds full with your medium and water thoroughly.
- Use a pencil to put a hole in the medium at the center extending all the way to the bottom.
- Place the clone about two thirds of the way into this hole.
- Water thoroughly again and place the cutting in a location that gets a medium amount of light but a good deal of humidity. A humidity tent can be used but then acclimatizing the cloned plant to its environment again may cause severe leaf drop or brown edges. If the clones came from a mother plant in a similar environment a humidity tent may actually be more detrimental.
- Water the medium at least every day and more frequently if it dries out before then. Enough water should be added to have some run out the bottom.
- After thefirst day, a liquid fertilizer should be added to the water and diluted to at least 1/4 of the recommended amount.
- Leave the clone inside the pot until you see the ends of at least one root reach the wall, or in the case of an opaque surface wait until a root is exposed through a bottom drainage hole.
Transplanting Salvia clones into soil
The next critical stage is during transplant to soil.
- Prepare the soil as you would for growing rooted Salvias.
- Make a space in the center of the pot which will be big enough to place your disposable pot inside of.
- Cut the bottom away from the sides of the pot but do not remove it until you have it in position.
- Remove the bottom and quickly tip the pot into the hole you made. Root damage is most likely to occur at this point so try to limit movements while the plant is vulnerable.
- When the plant is in position use scissors to cut down the side of the pot.
- Pull it away gently and allow the soil to naturally mix with the inorganic medium over the course of the next several waterings.
Salvia Divinorum
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