Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2001 09:09:07 -0500
From: MiriamLDavey <athena@INTERSURF.COM>
Reply-To: BB for Hummingbirds and Gardening for them in the Southeast
<HUMNET-L@listserv.lsu.edu>
To: HUMNET-L@listserv.lsu.edu
Subject: Re: [HUMNET-L] salvia stem rot, breakage, ect

Bill, Terry, Pat,

Stem rot on salvias and other plants----That is a familiar problem. Try
refraining from watering except in early to mid-mornings. If you must water
at times other than morning, it's better to use a soaker hose. Try to keep
stems and leaves from getting wet and staying wet, esp in evening when
fungal spores including the one causing stem rot are released into the air
and will collect on moist plant surfaces. Use a nice dry mulch under
them. Pine straw is good. Don't let soil splash up on the plant.

Water long and deep, and then don't water until the soil dries out or it
rains. Check the moisture in the soil---- make sure your plants arent
wilting because of anoxic or anerobic soil conditions.

Lately we've had regular rain, so I had to break down and buy some
fungicide for Impatiens bedding plants, about a third of which got stem rot
and croaked. (Yeah, impatiens. Don't ask, and I won't tell...) It has
made a big difference. No more stem rot, and the flat just set out a week
ago has had a 100% survival rate.

It can be hard to strike a balance in cultivation requirements for some of
our favorite hummer salvias. They are not desert or even semi-arid Salvias
like the S.greggi and mycrophylla groups. The S. guaraniticas like rich,
moist, well-drained soil, but can't stand too much moisture.

You've noticed some plant species and assorted variants are a lot moreresistant
to stem rot than others. 'Purple Majesty' and the wild form royal
blue S.guaranitica I found both succeptible to stem rot. 'Costa Rica Blue'
is pretty resistant. Somebody once said or wrote that it may be a
polyploid variation of a garden hybrid between S.guaranitica and another
Salvia. I like that idea.

Extra chromosomes would explain 'Costa Rica Blue' 's incredible robustness
andjumbo-sized everything.

MiriamLDavey
BatonRougeLA