Cultivation - Is SWIM's Salvia Dead?

[BigB-Baby]

Swim's plant lost all it's leaves and has browned, this started from the day SWIM got it as a rooted cutting. SWIM decided it was dead and was going to throw it out, but when SWIM (carefully) uncovered it's roots SWIM found that the stem that was buried under the soil developed a rather intricate root system and the roots had grown quite a bit from when SWIM first got it. The roots are still all together and hold dirt to them. SWIM's just wondering if there is a chance his plant is still alive? SWIM knows some plants in winter will lose their leaves and brown and look dead when it becomes to cold, ie poison ivy/oak. Does salvia do this? Swim's house has not been very warm, and SWIM had had problems with his warming/growing lights, so had simply moved it into the bathtub. It was planted laying down on it's side to keep it moist with ground, SWIM may have over watered it though.
Swim has now moved the little amount of stem that is left and roots, into a water bottle/humidity tent, with holes poked in bottom for drainage. Any other suggestions to tell if it's alive or how to reinvigorate it if it is? Please no inferences from anyone other than those very knowledgeable, or know SWIT that is experienced in growing salvia, or very knowledgeable of horticulture in general.

[Dracula]

The same thing happened to SWIM's specimens this winter, four to be exact and two different strains. SWIM's specimens lost their leaves as a result of improper light and although salvia does not require generous amounts of sunlight it definitely needs its fair share. SWIM would be interested to see what others have to say about this as well, whether or not these plants in question are worth saving. SWIM put his in a sunny location and cut back on the watering.

[Potter]

Considering the difficulty in getting new plants, possibly becoming nearly impossible in the near future, is there any reason not to save a possibly viable specimen?

Get some extra lights on it and possibly an under the soil heating pad. Keep it warm and see what happens. Give it a few months. It's amazing what plants can recover from.

Patients is a real virtue in gardening, especially when it comes to exotics. Last year nobody got a bunch of fresh coffee berries and planted the seeds, pretty much forgot about them, then almost 6 months later, their consort was dumping old pots of soil into the garden when they spied the forgotten coffee beans had finally managed to sprout. They were very slow growers and had yet to break the soil surface. Even with the seed coats removed, it still took a few more months before the first leafs unfolded.

So keep an eye on the roots, give them a little bit of love, and see what happens.

[TheMainException]

Potter is very right. Plants are delicate creatures, but they are also quite amazing in how they end up surviving when they are least expected to. Salvia needs a bit more heat and light than normal plants, hence the growing lights. It has a harder time growing up further north which is why it is more prevelant in Mexico and towards the equator.
For the future lives of plants: Give it enough water so that it isn't wet all the time, but give it little bits every day if necessary. If it's soaked, stop watering until the bottom is almost dry. Dead plants don't soak up water. That's when you can be nearly certain. If you watered it two weeks ago and it's still wet, there's a problem. Look at the plant, does it look dead? It's probably dead. Does it look alive? Stop watering it so much. Some plants allow you to make mistakes and let you know pretty quickly if you take notice. Other plants will straight up die without giving a single warning. But the more you know about plants and the more familiar you are to the ways they act under certain circumstances, the faster you will see the signs and be able to react.

[Potter]

Well did they survive?