Stem rot dilemma

[HeartCore]

Hey all,

Please have a look at this picture:

This is my over two years old Salvia plant. She has been over 150 tall with some leaves 40cm. Since a few months she has had problems with stem rot. I tried to cut away died pieces but when I did, the stemrot started right away at the spot where I cutted. Since two weeks, new growth has developed at the bottom of the plant as you can see in the picture. I am tempted to cut away the parts of the plant that have died so more energy is directed to this new growth but I'm also afraid that this will introduce the rot to the new growth.

Another problem is that there is a pest in the potting ground, tiny insects. I am afraid to introduce a chemical to the already stressed plant.

About cutting the plant. If you look at the picture you see one vertical branch and to vertical branches. The one on the right is already lost but the rot seems to have stopped there since three weeks. The left side branch though is the last piece of the plant that still has leaves. They don't look very healthy but they stopped becoming worse also since a few weeks.

My gut feeling say leave her alone, give her lots of love and hope the best but one of my best friends feels it may be best to cut away the rest and let the new growth have all the nutrition etc..

Help

 

[restin]

tiny insects.

How do they look? Small,black, with wings? Natural (!) insecticide helped me with getting rid of it. What kind of earth do you have, what mixture?

 

[HeartCore]

tiny insects.

How do they look? Small,black, with wings? Natural (!) insecticide helped me with getting rid of it. What kind of earth do you have, what mixture?

Tiny, white to transparent. They seem to leave the plant alone (can't spot them on the stem or leaves) but there are a lot in the soil. The earth is a standard good quality potting ground which is sold for growing cannabis. She has been done very well in this mix for a long time.

Natural insecticide may be the way to go I'll visit our local garden center for it tomorow.

 

[restin]

rather Whiteflies:

or Spiter mites:

?
"Pests & Prevention The most common pests of Salvia divinorum are whiteflies and aphids. Both of these insects live on the underside of leaves, preferring the new growth on the top half of the plant. Aphids will also cluster on the stems. Whiteflies are small insects with bright white wings. Their pupa are light green and look like small grains of rice. All stages suck on plant juices, and heavily infested plants will yellow and grow poorly. If the infestation is left unchecked, the plants can die from a black sooty mold that grows on the honeydew that the whiteflies and aphids produce.

I have had good results combatting whitefly (and to a lesser degree aphids) simply by spraying the underside of the leaves with a solution of one teaspoon liquid castile soap to one quart water. The soap breaks down the insects' protective coating and causes them to drown. The plants can be rinsed off the following day with clean water. You will want to repeat this procedure once a week for a couple of weeks to kill any pupa that survive the initial spraying and grow into adults."

But:

"Caution: there have been some reports of soap damaging leaves, so don't use too much. Your garden hose is your best friend in fighting most outdoor pests. Spray the leaves hard enough to blow the pests away, but not hard enough to damage the leaves. Don't forget to spray the underside of the leaves too. A fine mist nozzle works best for this."

That's my spontaneous answer. I'll think about it

 

[HeartCore]

Good information thanks a lot for that.

I'm pretty sure it's aphides and not spidermites, I've seen them before years ago on a cannabis grow and this is different. I'll probably go along with some organic pesticide as suggested and maybe when the pest is beaten, she has a chance to re-survive.

 

[restin]

You're welcome.

Do you speak/Can you read German? There's something I have as a bookmark but which I never tried it, maybe some other user can give you advice with that.

"Abhilfe durch Spritzbrühe
Spinnenmilben, Thripse und Blattläuse erledigt man am besten mit einer Spritzbrühe, die man mit einer Sprühflasche über alle Blätter verteilt. Vor allem bei Spinnenmilben und Thripsen sollte man am besten wirklich jedes Blatt, besonders auch an der Blattunterseite, besprühen, da sich dort meist die Jungtiere und Eier befinden.
Einer Spritzbrühe kann man dabei einen, zwei, oder alle drei der folgenden Komponenten hinzufügen:

* Tabaksud: hergestellt aus etwa 10g Tabak, die über Nacht in Wasser eingeweicht wurden (Tabakreste abfiltern und wegwerfen)
* Parafinöl: etwa 5ml auf 1l warmes Wasser, sehr gut schütteln, damit sich eine Emulsion bildet und beim Sprühen immer mal schütteln
* Spruzit: Spritzmittel der Firma Neudorff, welches Pyrethrine enthält (wird ziemlich schnell wieder abgebaut)

Auf alle Fälle sollte man ein paar Tropfen Spülmittel hinzufügen, da dieses dem Wasser die Oberflächenspannung nimmt und somit die Blätter besser benetzt werden.
Das im Tabak enthaltene Nikotin ist ein gutes Nervengift, auch für Schädlinge. Im Hinblick auf das Nikotin, welches auf den Blättern bleibt, haben die meisten sicher bei diesem Schädlingsbekämpfungsmittel am wenigsten vorbehalte. Auch Parafinöl könnte auf den Blättern zurückbleiben und soll es teilweise auch. Dadurch verkleben nämlich die Poren der Schädlinge und diese können nicht mehr richtig atmen. Blätter die oft damit eingesprüht wurden, sollte man daher sicher nicht mehr rauchen. Man könnte die Blätter jedoch nach erfolgreicher Bekämpfung vorsichtig mit klarem Wasser abspülen und so Nikotin und/oder Parafinöl entfernen.
Das in Spruzit enthaltene Pyrethrine wird aus Chrysamthemenblättern gewonnen und ist ein recht wirksames Insektizid, welches aber unter der Einwirkung von Licht sehr schnell zersetzt wird. Es dringt zum Teil in die Pflanze ein, so dass es alle saugenden Insekten (Spinnenmilben, Thripse, Blattläuse) aufnehmen. Trotzdem sollte man die Pflanzen gründlich von allen Seiten einsprühen.

Es ist empfehlenswert den Spritzdurchgang 1 bis 2 mal nach jeweils 1-2 Wochen zu wiederholen. So sind neue Jungtiere aus eventuell noch vorhandenen Eier geschlüpft und werden sofort bekämpft. Vor allem bei Spinnenmilben sollte man diese Nachfolgespritzungen nicht weglassen. Blattläuse schafft man hingegen oft gleich beim ersten Mal.

Bei Anwendung gewisser Vorsichtsmassnahmen (langer Zeitraum vom Sprühen bis zur Ernte, eventuelles Abspülen der Blätter) kann man Blätter von so behandelten Pflanzen auch noch rauchen oder kauen. Am sichersten ist es jedoch solche Blätter nicht unbedingt zu konsumieren."


Sorry if you cannot understand it.

 

[GOD]

Make cuttings and put them in steralised soil .

The plants do tend to rot a bit , and to fall over , but usualy when they are much bigger .

 

[HeartCore]

Make cuttings and put them in steralised soil .

The plants do tend to rot a bit , and to fall over , but usualy when they are much bigger .

From what? The only good growth on the plant is the tiny new stuff shown in the picture. It's much to early to make a cutting from that. The whole point is to keep the plant alive until I can make a cutting...

 

[Dantediv86]

Do those little critters become really nervous when you water? i.e. they start freaking out and try to jump away from the water...
it might be fruitfly larvae, they feed on plant roots, and if they manage try to make their way up inside the plant...immediate insecticide action needs to be taken!!
i had that problem with my cannabis plants, but not the stem rot....

 

[GOD]

The stem rot could come from the flys .

 

[HeartCore]

Thanks Dante & GOD, fruitflies ... action is being taken. Will update this thread when I have more news

 

[HeartCore]

Pest seems to have gone, now it's a matter of giving love/attention and help her recover. I've put some information in the pic.

(sorry for messing up the width of the thread with these pics)

 

[restin]

Can you please tell us what exactly you did?

 

[Mr.Smith]

.

 

[HeartCore]

Can you please tell us what exactly you did?

I just sprayed the plant/leaves and earth with an pesticide tailored to vegetables. After 15 minutes, I sprayed the new growth with sterilized water brought down to a PH of around 6 to wash off the poison resin. No sign from any insects since then.

are these the insects in the soil?

It was most definite fruitflies, I should have noticed them much earlier by paying more attention to her.

the stem rot looks like the damage caused by cold draughts. is the rot wet or dry?

They are dry. I don't think cold draughts have been the problem, it looks more like an infection of some sort. When the main stem was caught by it, I cut it down to about 3 inches below the rot. Two days later the rot appeared on the stem where I cut her and moved down very quick taking out almost all of the rest of the stem. It's the part on the picture where I say 'stem rot' and 150 cm/giant leaves.

 

[Mr.Smith]

.

 

[GOD]

Smell the damage , if it smells like vinegar then it probably is fruit fly damage .

 

[restin]

But fruit flies are black and not white. I also had the same problem, as HeartCore but my insects were black

 

[Mr.Smith]

.

 

[HeartCore]

But fruit flies are black and not white. I also had the same problem, as HeartCore but my insects were black

small black flies in the soil are most likely fungus gnats (Sciarid flies) the larvae of which eat fungi present in the soil. unfortunately they also eat the root hairs stunting the plant or causing fatal disease

the white things the OP mentioned are most likely springtails (Collembola) primitive hexapods present in all damp soil. they are harmless to plants and feed exclusively on rotting organic material and fungi

Whatever they where, they have gone looking for a more friendly home (or they could be dead..). Two more branches have sprouted and I start to get a little hope that she may survive after all.