Hi everyone. As the subject says, i'm new both to here and to salvia. So i thought i'd intro myself, hopefully i'm doing this in the right place. My name is Marsha, i'm 28 and live in NW Indiana. If you would like to know anything about me, feel free to ask, i'm not shy. lol

I don't have any experience with salvia yet....i'm trying to find some. The only questions i really have is on i.d.'ing salvia....S.divinorum probably isn't the salvia that you buy at nurseries as an ornamental plant, but i do have a salvia plant, no clue on it's scientific name though. lol I also have some plants that look like salvia but the leaves smell like mint when you touch them...also probably not the same thing.

The plant i have that was marked Salvia, has dark green leaves and gets tall, stalky purple flowers on it....i can take pic's of it tomorrow, but it's not in the best condition as we are getting lows in the mid-40's right now and the salvia is dying off.

So how do you i.d. S. divinorum, when you come across plants that are just marked as salvia?

This is by no means difinitive, but I would think that any salvia plant you come across at a nursery will NOT be salvia divinorum unless it is specifically marked so. I get salvias at Fred Meyer, where they have lots of different colors. They are just marked 'salvia', while on the other hand, I once found in the gardening section of my old grocery store in Seattle a few salvia divinorum plants, which were specifically labeled salvia divinorum.

I don't see why anyone would stock such an obscure and hard-to-flower plant without intending it for those in the know. In which case, it would be labeled.

As for physical characteristics to tell them apart, salvia divinorum usually has larger, lighter-colored leaves; larger square stalks and grows taller I believe. Unfortunately I don't have any plants left, or I would post comparitive pictures for you with my regular salvias.

Welcome to SPF...heres a pic, leaves here are 6 inches, plants can have a wide range of appearances, but square stem is handy for ID.
Flowers are distinctive but rare...

Thanks to you both, for the info and the welcome.

Hi Marsha, I just signed on the forum today too (nice to meet everyone) Im 33, married lady in Indy too. I am also just starting to meet the lady and taken a couple of brief visits with her with my hubby near by. When I hear about other peoples strong reactions though it worries me. My cousins nephew said he tried it a few months ago and that I was gonna 'freak' when I broke through (he got hit immediatly but he is 20, dumb and had no clue what he was playin with) so far so good though.

Glad to be amoungst friends!

Jenn

Beautiful Lady Salvia Divinorum..pleasantly new, I might add and so pleased and intrigued with Her phenomenon that I am hoping to generate my own site on it and include petitions on keeping it legal. I'm educating myself more and more daily, and hopefully now with the help of others in my boat. Nice to meet you all

just order some rooted plants from an internet vendor. they are fairly easy to grow but have MANY pests ... Mine are always infested with spider mites and they are impossible to get rid of . other then that they are great . Good Luck ... be safe and responsible with her .

You can get rid of spider mites by applying avid as a systemic through watering. fifteen drops per gallon applied two consecutive feedings should do the trick.

Welcome to the boards, ladies.

lw

Do not use a systemic pesticide on anything that will be consumed. Very bad idea. For spider mites, just spray the leaves, particularly the undersides of the leaves every day with a solution of safer's soap. Make sure you get the safer's that is just the potassium soap. They do have safer's brands that have insecticides in them. With safer's soap you have no poison involved and no safety concerns.

It will take weeks of spraying to get all the mites. Poison works faster but do you want that in or on the sally you will be consuming?

avid is completely gone from a plant after 30 days. Not a trace remains. (I forgot to mention that part.) Don't pick and consume leaves for thirty days after getting rid of the spider mites.

lw

"avid is completely gone from a plant after 30 days"

So says the manufacturer. And they would not lie of course. But then you also have traces of the stuff in the soil which will constantly be absorbed by the plant. Use what you like but I try to avoid known toxins.