Cultural Information
Salvia CIRRUS, RHEA, STRATA, SEASCAPE MIX, VICTORIA

Plug Production
mmhos (saturated paste). Cover seed lightly with coarse vermiculite if needed after sowing.

Germination (Stages 1 and 2): Keep medium uniformly moist, but not wet. Soil temperature should be 72 – 75°F. Keep light levels <1500 footcandles. Salvia farinacea is very sensitive to high salts during germination, particularly high NH4. Germination time is 5 – 7 days.

Stage 3: Soil temperature should be 68 – 72°F. Use a good wet/dry moisture cycle, but avoid too wet or too dry. Light levels should be around 3000 footcandles. Salvia farinacea is a long-day crop, so provide daylength extension with HID lights (16 – 18 hours) for at least 3 weeks once first true leaf is showing. Feed every other watering with 100 – 150 ppm N from 15-5-15, 17-5-17, or 13-2-13, but rinse off feed to avoid burning young growing tips. Keep media pH 5.5 – 5.8 and media Ec 1.0 – 1.5 mmhos (saturated paste).

Stage 4: Soil temperature can be lowered to 62 – 65°F. Maintain light levels around 3000 footcandles, use a wet/dry moisture cycle, and feed mainly with 13-2-13 as needed.

Plant Growth Regulators: Use sprays of B-Nine (2500 ppm), A-Rest (2 – 7 ppm), or Bonzi (2 – 10 ppm) as needed once stems start to elongate. Salvia farinacea does not need early plant growth regulators, but will need growth control once stems start to elongate later in plugs. Do your own trials to avoid overdosing, as vigor of varieties, weather conditions, and cultural practices directly affect how much growth regulators to use.

Crop Time: 5 –6 weeks for 512 plugs, 6 – 7 weeks for 288 plugs, depending on temperature and use of HID lights.

Common Problems: Root rots, wilting, tip burn – not rinsing off feed, loss of roots and leaf burn – high salts, black leaves – too wet.

Growing on to finish
Container Size: Cell packs to 4-inch pots

Media: Transplant into a well-drained, disease-free, peat-based growing mix with pH of 5.5 – 5.8 and EC<1.5 mmhos (saturated paste).

Temperatures: Keep soil temperature 65 – 68°F for rooting out, then lower to 62 – 65°F for growing on.

Light: Keep light levels 3000 – 5000 footcandles. If plugs were not lit during short days, then provide long days with HID lights using daylength extension. Low light levels and baskets growing over crop will delay flowering.

Irrigation and Fertilization: Practice a good wet/dry moisture cycle, but avoid keeping too wet or too dry. Feed 1 – 2x/week with 150 ppm N from 15-5-15 or 17-5-17. Keep media pH 5.5 – 5.8 and media EC 1.0 – 2.0 mmhos (saturated paste).

Plant Growth Regulators: Use sprays of B-Nine (2500 – 5000 ppm), A-Rest (3 – 10 ppm), Bonzi (5 – 15 ppm), or Sumagic (2 – 5 ppm) as needed. When plants are shooting up, use a drench of Bonzi (2 – 3 ppm) or Sumagic (1/2 – 1 ppm) to control height without delaying flowering. Do your own trials to avoid overdosing, as vigor of varieties, weather conditions, and cultural practices directly affect how much growth regulators to use.

Common Problems: Root rots, whiteflies, thrips, aphids, no flowering – short days or low light levels.

Crop Time: 6 – 8 weeks, depending on plug and container size, temperature, and daylength. Sell packs green for best performance.