Hi all,

I rarely post on forum, as I always try to find solution by making research. But now, I am a bit desperate.

I have purchased a salvia divinorum plant (10 cm pot with roots and leaves) from Europe. But I live in Vietnam and the plant took 2 weeks to arrive!

As you can guess, with the huge shock and stress, the plant arrived in a very bad state... No more leaf and rotting on the top of stem...

I immediately repot it in a larger pot, with soil mixed with perlite to ease drainage. I water it a bit as it did not have any waster for 2 weeks.

Temperature is about 26 to 30 degrees C. I avoid direct sunlight. I mist it twice a day. I do not use any fertilizer nor humidity chamber.

Now, it's been 4 days that I have it. I watered it again only on the third day.

Despite all I did, the plant does not recover, and it state worsen (the top of the stems get browner).

I don't know what to do. Should I cut the brown part? Should I use fish emulsion fertilizer? Should I try to make a cutting and root it before it is too late?

Please give me some advice, I am very desperate. You can see below some picture:

Pictures of my salvia divinorum

Thank you so much your time! Really hope I can save her...

I think I will cut this brown/black part.

It is slowly propagating down, and I am afraid it will affect the roots.

What do you think? (sorry for the bad quality of the picture, the yellowish color comes from the flash of my phone)

It's fine. So long as it's being looked after properly (i.e. getting enough water and light), it should spring back. My sally does that pretty often, but grows like crazy on the other branches.

If you cut that part, make sure it's with a very clean knife, or you might infect it.

Thank you Philosopher!

I hope it will get better. I will definitely look after it like a baby.

I have cut the brown part with a cutter cleaned with alcohol, so it should be fine.

I will post update on this topic.

Thanks again!!!

I would definitely remove any browning tissue from the plant as it would likely spread. Most of the Salvias are pretty hardy so as long as the roots are intact it will probably spring back. If it's going to be outdoors, you might want to consider cutting at an angle so that rain will run off instead of accumulating on the cut part.

Well noted Twitchy, I will remove all browning tissue with a clean knife. I am growing it indoors for now, I can better control the environment that way.

I think the roots are still healthy as the bottom of the stem is not rotting.

Should I consider at some point using a bit of fertilizer (like fish emulsion)? Or should I wait for new tissues to spread first?

Thanks a lot for your advice!!

I use seaweed extract, but not too much. I killed my first salvia with too much fert. It's better to hold off on fert until it's established in it's home.

Alright! Thank you so much!

I will let you all know how it goes

Browing and curling usually occurs from humidity issues for me. I am not sure what its like in Vietnam right now for you but make sure its above 60% humidity. Closer to 100% my plants love it, you are even best to buy a humidity dome or a cheap pond humidifier and a fan to humidify a green house or room. The blackness can also stem from root rot (if your soil isn't well draining enough), make sure you dont over water (maybe once a week or more).

Salvia likes slow release granules, not so much liquid fertilizer, apparently quite sensitive to ferts. Soil has to be very well drained and aerated (chunky potting mix, sand, perlite, NO CLAY). Wait for it to settle in before you start adding things that may stress it (too much nutrients).

Any advice or teks on propagating cuttings. Or a source of knowledge to do so?

In the northern hemisphere, it's quite a good moment to make cuttings. I do it in drained soil (perlit and organic potting soil) in a little tent to provide high humidity. Could be also just a plastic bag on them for smaller quantities.
No need to have a nodium in the soil, i let 1 to 3 nodiums outside, depending on height, and just the other part directly in the ground. High humidity levels and daily aeration.

Not too hot. I had problems multiplying them in summer, now here in southern Europe the temperature is just perfect. 20°c the day and not less then 10°c in the morning. In colder climates, it would be wise to multiplicate them inside.