Clickable links: Here's a close-up of the leaves/blades on young plant: http://www.flickr.com/photos/derelllicht/9387300369/ Here's a larger view of young (pre-blossoming) plant: http://www.flickr.com/photos/derelllicht/9453369918/ And here are photos of the blossoms on the plant: http://www.flickr.com/photos/derelllicht/9453370810/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/derelllicht/9684172412/

Hi everyone, I posted this on the tomato forum, but haven't gotten any help as to what this might be (except *hopefully* not late blight). The symptoms appeared within the last 3 days. Important info: -We have had hot, humid weather (highs 90's, lows 75+) and very humid 24/7 -Not much rain, if any, has fallen in the last week -I water with an overhead sprinkler, bad I know -The only plant that is affected is this one which is a black cherry (the black zebra beside it showed some similar symptoms a couple weeks ago but is still growing strong) -I have what I think are tomato pinworms/fruitworms (eating both fruit and leaves. the leaf tissue is translucent and I have found the worms in the leaves) and flea beetles. -These plants were started from seed and planted in a new raised bed out of cinder blocks with topsoil, turkey and leaf compost back on May 6 -They were last fertilized with fish/seaweed combo a couple weeks ago and prior to that with Miracle Gro about every 2 weeks -They get watered about every 2 days, although I have gone 3 days without watering this week to see if they could tolerate it. Could this be water/drought stress? -It affects an entire limb at a time usually and I have removed 8-9 limbs in the last 24 hrs -It is moving UP the plant with oldest limbs first, but the suckers at the same level of these limbs are not affected yet but I have noticed more blossom drop although that may be water related.Any other questions, feel free to ask! Thank you!!!

As you can see from my moniker, I do love Salvias, so I am embarrassed that I have something planted right next to my back door--in my herb trough, and I have to admit that I don't recall what I planted. I usually remember a cutting from a friend or a newly acquired plant; thus the confusion over this robust offering. I still wonder if I planted chia from my kitchen to see what would happen. I had a period last summer when seeds in the greenhouse went missing or switched their labels. Maybe I do have garden gnomes…Thanks to all of you for your conversations. I will stay in touch with the forum. Maybe I can clear up confusion for someone else. Peggy in the California foothills. Where is our rain? I think it turned white and fell on Boston!

I know it's too late now, but that may, or may not be the ideal product for correcting calcium deficiencies. It probably should be stated that home nutrient, and pH, test kits are unfortunately not very reliable. Especially for trying to provide the proper conditions to minimize BER, a professional soil test is the way to go. The most cost effective test is usually available through County Ag. Ext. Agents. They don't do the tests, but they usually have information that can direct you to the best source available. If you don't have a local agent (most places in the U.S. have one, but not all,) then a nearby University Ag. Dept., or a local botanical Garden might be able to help. The problem with BER is, as described above, Ca deficiency is actually rarely the problem with in-ground growing. The problem is the plant's inability to make use of the Ca already present. If your soil truly does have a Ca deficiency, and BER is the target, a soil test will give you the ratio of Ca to Mg. This can be important in helping your soil provide available Ca to the plants. Different forms of lime will provide differing levels of Ca and Mg. If though, your soil truly does have a pH of 6.5 (a very desirable pH for vegetable gardens,) and you do have a Ca deficiency, you might want to go easy on lime, or forego adding it altogether. Instead, you might look to pH neutral products like garden gypsum. All that said, we come back to the question of whether there truly is a Ca. deficiency. Ca deficiencies are actually quite rare. More often, as discussed above, it's the plant's inability to take up enough Ca for both, the fast growing plant vegetation, and the earliest developing fruit. There is a limit to how much water and nutrients any plant can absorb through its roots. And, just like humans, plants use the nutrients in some places in their structures before others. In humans, it's blood pH levels. Your body will actually absorb Ca from your bones if your diet is not providing enough Ca to keep blood pH in the necessary range. So, for the growing plant, even with oodles of available Ca in the soil, it may not make it to the earliest developing fruits. Instead of adding Ca, the fix then, is to provide conditions that offer the best opportunity for the plant to absorb as much water and nutrients as possible. In the seedling stage, you want to learn how to develop feeder roots. Early in the growth cycle, after transplanting especially (before flowers are even present,) water deeply, and infrequently. You want the roots to search deeply for water. This will make a very large and efficient root system for the plant to extract water and nutrients (including Ca) from as much soil area as possible. You want to provide an effective mulch to keep the soil evenly moist. Plants are stressed when soils go from very wet to very dry. Deep roots also help to alleviate this problem. I hope I didn't leave anything out, and BER can be very frustrating, but remember, even in ideal situations, some varieties are just more prone to the problem.