The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center - Shroomery

tripzine.com : Cultivating Diviner's Sage , by Will Biefuss
The parasitic wasp Encarsia formosa is very effective
against whitefly. These tiny wasps are barely visible to
the eye. They lay their eggs inside developing whitefly
pupa, so one of their young hatches out instead of the
whitefly. For aphids, try ladybugs or Aphidoletes
aphidimyza (see source on page 35 for these).
I fertilize my plants about once a month with fish
emulsion when they are outdoors in the summer. In the
winter I use Stern's Miracid as Salvia divinorum likes
acidic soil. Feeding a lot of nitrogen to your plants will
attract more problem insects to them, so cut back on
fertilizing as part of the strategy to bring pests under
control. lifespan.
For all practical purposes, the lifespan of a Salvia
divinorum plant is about five to six years. The plants get
woody as they age, growth slows, and they become
more brittle and start to fall apart. If they have been
staked and prevented from falling over and rerooting,
then it is time to take some cuttings and start again.
Cuttings from an old plant will show the same vigor as
cuttings from a younger plant.
Preparing the Leaves
Salvia divinorum leaves should be dried in a food
dehydrator on a medium high setting (130-140 degrees).
At this temperature, drying will take between one to two
hours depending on the size of the leaves. I remove the
mid ribs on the large leaves and they never take more
than one hour to dry. Drying at lower temperatures
causes the leaves to lose their green color and turn
brown. The leaves are 90% water, so ten grams of fresh
leaves equals one gram of dried material. It takes a lot
of fresh leaves to produce one ounce of dried leaves; a
gallon size plastic bag stuffed full with leaves weighs only
two ounces.
Once dry, I push the leaves through a sieve to powder
them, then pack the powder tightly into glass vials and
store in the freezer. The potency of salvinorin A will be
retained for many years this way. Fresh leaves can be
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