I finally got this one to germinate, and fairly quickly...8 days. (thank you Robin) Now, if I can keep it alive! I've had some trouble with seedlings damping off in my climate, has anyone out there used any fungicides on Salvia seedlings?
Salvia vitifolia
Delighted to hear that this beauty has germinated, a couple of people have had problems with this one. I have never used fungicides on my seedlings, just ensure that the air around the seedlings is not too moist. I worry a bit as to how this will perform in Hawaii, this Salvia likes shade and very little direct sun....treat it as S. patens which is a close relative. Grow it in a cool spot, if that is possible where you are! This is a really stunning Salvia...even the foliage is amazing!
It doesn't get very warm here...mid 80's at the highest. If they make it to adulthood I will make sure to give them a shady spot. It's funny you mention S. patens...I was never able to get many seasons out of that one in San Diego...probably too hot and dry.
I've had no luck with s.patens so I'm not even going to want to try the s. vitfolia...sometimes I get tired of beating my head against the wall.....3 tries for patens. That's it, period!
At least you have a reasonable amount of tries you give something...like a fool I would keep planting patens every year. Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over expecting different results? Yeah, that's me alright trying to force that square peg into the round hole!
Oh, well, Andy...I'm a lot older and I've been beating my head against the wall longer. I think I've finally figured it out......it hurts.
Sounds like me trying to grow clevelandii, dorrii, pachyphylla. etc, in the UK. They germinate but just don't flower. This year attempting texana, sonomensis, and another dorrii. Will I ever learn? Gave up totally with brandegeii and eremostachya years ago. But strangely, carduacea always does well here.
LOL...giving it a 'try' is how we find out...we just don't always get the results we want. On the first try (with failure) I think perhaps it was the weather. On the second try (with failure) I think perhaps it was not well placed. On the third try (with failure) I think..."Huh...I don't think it's going to grow here." Let's face it, we just can't have it all...
We thought we'd try some drought tolerant varieties over here for potential sale to the dry side of the island...I think dolomitica lasted about 24hrs in our climate...it came out of the box looking fabulous and was dead the next day. I have a bunch of laceolata, repens x namaensis, and chamaedryoides started...we will see. Denial really is a river in Egypt!
:),,,
Elaine
Sounds like me with Canary Island Sage, and Somalia Sage....mine are living and growing....just not blooming...so I'm going to move them and see what happens.