How to Grow Salvia Hispanica

Prepare a seed starting tray in spring, six to eight weeks before the last frosts in your area. Fill the flat with seed starting-mix bought at a garden center or make your own using equal parts peat moss and vermiculite or perlite. Vermicompost, from worm compost bins, also makes excellent seed-starting mix.

Make holes 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch deep and 1 inch apart in the seed-starting medium. Drop one Salvia hispanica seed into each hole and cover it with 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch of soil. Water the tray until it's evenly damp all the way through, using a misting setting to avoid disturbing the newly planted seeds.

Keep the seed flat in a bright room out of direct sunlight, or a greenhouse where the temperature remains between 70 degrees F and 80 degrees F. Keep the seed flat, well watered and consistently damp. Salvia hispanica seeds germinate in two to three weeks.

Transplant Salvia hispanica seedlings into individual 2-inch pots when they produce their first set of true leaves. The first set of leaves to emerge are the seed leaves, followed by the first true leaves.

Fill the pots with potting soil. Slide a spatula or a spoon under the seedlings in the seed flat and lift them from the soil. Separate the seedlings gently, using your fingers. Plant one in each pot at the same depth it was in the seed flat. Press the soil around the Salvia hispania roots.

Soak the pots until water drains from the holes in the bottom. Keep the seedlings indoors or in a greenhouse during cool spring weather.

Transplant salvia hispanica into the garden in a sunny spot in late spring or early summer. Dig the planting hole slightly wider and the same depth as the starter pots the seedlings are in.

Slide the seedlings out of the pots and place one in each hole. Replace the extra soil into the planting hole and press it down around the roots. Space Salvia hispanica 8 to 12 inches apart.

Soak the soil around the newly planted seedlings immediately after planting. Water when the top inch of soil starts to dry out. Fertilize Salvia hispanica once a month using a balanced fertilizer as directed on the package label.