Hydroponics:
Salvia can be cultivated using hydroponics. I have four mother plants
growing this way. I started it just as an experiment (started Jan 2002).
I'm not an expert in the art. In fact, I nearly killed them in their early
stages, - almost certainly due to overfeeding, but they recovered after I
refilled the tank with fresh water, and have been doing well since adding
reduced amounts of fertiliser.
My set up has the plants growing in rock wool. The pots are in a tank
part filled with water. The bottom of the pots are stood above the water
line, with an underwater aquarium pump connected to a hose, which then splits
four ways, - a line to each of the plants. A timer switch ensures that the
pump is off for 15 minutes every hour (another controls the lights, as per
section on artificial lighting)
[...^]
Results over all have been no better than growing in soil to be honest, but
good enough and this could simply be my lack of expertise. For example,
the amount of feed I add to the water is mostly guesswork (I possibly err on the
side of caution, but I'm reluctant to put too much in), and there may be more
optimum on/off timer ratios I could use on the pump.
Accounts from readers with more experience are invited.