Messages

Northern kurrajong (Brachychiton diversifolius) is the only one I've grown from seed - at least I think it's from a desert part of the country. It was pretty straightforward - stick in dirt and keep moist. I have a plant that's several years old now and starting to form a nice caudex. Very cool looking plant.

Has anyone had any luck cloning a Mimosa hostilis plant by cuttings (or any other method)? I've heard it's difficult, but I'd like to make couple clones of mine. Any advice appreciated.

My kratom (which only lasted 2 years) did not like being in low light. It would start losing leaves, which resulted in it dying over winter. Could be other factors, and you should still try growing it if you're interested, but after 2 plants not making it to the 3rd year, I think I'm giving up on growing that here.

Brugmansia seems to do well in low light too, I had huge plants when I lived in a non-sunny place.

Kratom grows in pretty wet soil naturally. You definitely want to water it on a regular schedule. It will also wilt more often when it gets rootbound. They're huge trees, growing them in a pot will be a little challenging.

I love cashew fruit! I wish I lived somewhere that I could grow a tree to fruiting size.

Most of the real indigenous shamans live way out in the jungle, probably don't speak Spanish or have much contact with regular Peruvians. You can probably find a decent mestizo shaman, however, and your best bet is probably to go down and ask locals - but this is a process that will probably take much longer than most vacations allow. Talk to cielo if you go to Iquitos, that way you don't have to spend months getting to know locals and finding out who isn't just trying to make money off tourists.

That said, some of the tourist shamans may be worth considering. They aren't always cheap. They probably are only partly "authentic." But, you can find them easily, you can read reviews of other people who have used their services, and they can probably give you a good experience. After all, there are so many cultures in the Amazon who use ayawaska in different ways with different spiritual beliefs, so when you say you want a "real indigenous" shaman - what does that mean, really? You just want to get some good ayawaska from someone who is safe, won't rob you, and can provide some structure to the experience. If you go down to Peru for a few weeks and start asking around from strangers, you may luck out, or you may find someone who sees a gringo with money and end up having a bad time. Unless you're there long enough to get to know people, it's a gamble.

Chocolate is a good example of a megatherm, it will die in temperatures below 40F. I don't think yohimbe is that sensitive, and I can't find any references that it can't handle below 50 - I've never tried growing it though. I think yohimbe, like kratom, grows to be a very tall tree, so it can probably handle full sun. When I see browning leaves on a plant, the things I look at before anything are insufficient water, spider mites, and then I start researching soil/fertilizer issues and other things specific to the species.

Hmm, I didnt know seeds were available even... all I've seen is dried plant matter. I'd love to grow this plant, if anyone can PM me more info.

How big do they get? Are they perennial, and do they do well in containers (or in the ground will they survive cold winters? I'd assume so considering their origin).

Nearing completion... Theres a few sections I want to factcheck, so, if anyone here has any corrections/additions/comments on these excerpts, please let me know ASAP.

Mitragyna speciosa itself reaches heights of 50 feet with a branch spread of over 15 feet. The stem is erect and branching. Flowers are yellow and grow in ball-shaped clusters, as previously mentioned. Leaves are a dark glossy green in color, smooth, ovate-acuminate in shape, and opposite in growth pattern. Leaves can grow over 7 inches long and 4 inches wide. Kratom is evergreen rather than deciduous, and leaves are constantly being shed and being replaced, but there is some quasi-seasonal leaf shedding due to environmental conditions. During the dry season of the year leaf fall is more abundant, and new growth is more plentiful during the rainy season. When grown outside their natural tropical habitat, leaf fall occurs with colder temperatures, around 4° Celsius.

    Kratom prefers wet, humusy soils in a protected position, often growing in swampy areas. Anecdotal reports from growers in Australia indicate that it prefers partial shade and does not like strong winds, although others report good results growing it in full sun. Being a heavy feeder, it requires very rich, fertile soil. It is drought sensitive, and if grown out of its native habitat, sensitive to frost. Propagation is by very fresh seed or cuttings. There is a low strike rate, due to an endogenous fungus which attacks xylem tissue. In addition to propagation by cuttings, kratom has been cloned by tissue culture. The first plant grown in this way was planted in February 2002 by Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling at Wandjina Gardens (http://www.wandjina.net.au/) in Australia. Thais believe that seed grown kratom plants are not reliable and that half of the plants grown from seed of a good kratom tree will be worthless as a drug plant. Whether this is true or folklore has not been scientifically investigated.

    In recent years, kratom has been successfully cultivated outside of Thailand from seeds and then frequently cloned. Most plants available outside of Asia are clones, as seeds have only a short period of viability. There are several clone strains worth mentioning. The best known clone is the Robert Rifat Clone. This plant was originally grown by Shaman Australis from seed collected from a research institution in Thailand by the Swiss scientist Claude Rifat. The parent plant has been used in several research studies, and presumably is the Chulalongkorn University tree used in the Chiba University research. The Rifat Clone has a reputation for being especially strong, and is the most widely available clone outside of Asia. Another clone also grown by Shaman Australis was the Craig's Clone. This plant was grown from Thai seed collected in 1999 from trees which local residents said were their preferred kratom plants. Craig's Clone was never developed into a commercial strain out of deference to Rob Montgomery of the Botanical Preservation Corps, who were developing plants in the USA from the same batch of seeds. Tissue cultures of the plant were saved in long term storage medium, but in 2001 these became unrecoverable and this clone is now lost. However, as previously stated, Rob Montgomery and other individuals in the US were able to grow plants from the same seed collection, which reportedly included approximately 100 seeds which were distributed to a variety of botanists and collectors. Finally, there is the Bumblebee Clone, which was grown by a Spiritplants member named Bumble from seeds of Vietnamese origin.

    Although not scientifically studied yet, there is anecdotal evidence that indicates kratom grown in climates which are cooler than their native habitat tend to produce weak leaves. In warmer subtropical climates, there seems to be some seasonal variability, with more potent leaves growing from late summer through autumn and weak leaves in winter and spring. Greenhouse grown plants are reportedly also not very potent. Whether this indicates a relationship between temperature and alkaloid production or is even consistently true has not been thoroughly researched, but it seems likely this is the case.

The rewritten paper is several times longer and corrects many errors and misconceptions, and there's a ton of new information - especially in pharmacology. If anyone has any corrections etc on this botany section, thats basically all thats left before publication.

Well, failing that... anybody have any info on this plant? Its growth characteristics, activity, how widely circulated it was/is? Here's the section of the paper as it stands now. If anyone has any further info please let me know.

In recent years, kratom has been successfully cultivated outside of Thailand from seeds and then frequently cloned. Most plants available outside of Asia are clones, as seeds have only a short period of viability. There are several clone strains worth mentioning. The best known clone is the Robert Rifat Clone. This plant was originally grown by Shaman Australis from seed collected from a research institution in Thailand by the Swiss scientist Claude Rifat. The parent plant has been used in several research studies, and presumably is the Chulalongkorn University tree used in the Chiba University research. The Rifat Clone has a reputation for being especially strong, and is the most widely available clone outside of Asia. Another clone also grown by Shaman Australis was the Craig's Clone. This plant was grown from Thai seed collected in 1999 from trees which local residents said were their preferred kratom plants. Craig's Clone was never developed into a commercial strain out of deference to Rob Montgomery of the Botanical Preservation Corps, who were developing plants in the USA from the same batch of seeds. Tissue cultures of the plant were saved in long term storage medium, but in 2001 these became unrecoverable and this clone is now lost. However, as previosly stated, Rob Montgomery and other individuals in the US were able to grow plants from the same seed collection. Finally, there is the Bumblebee Clone, which was grown by a Spiritplants member named Bumble from seeds of Vietnamese origin. In addition to propagation by cuttings, kratom has been cloned by tissue culture. The first plant grown in this way was planted in February 2002 by Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling at Wandjina Gardens in Australia.

Do you know how to contact Bumble? I'd be curious to know more about this clone, as this is the first I've heard of any Vietnamese kratom (although Vietnam is certainly within the region where kratom grows).

I am working on an article about kratom (a rewrite of the atrocious paper I wrote a few years ago which is all over the net now). This rewrite will blow much of what was believed about kratom out of the water.

I am wondering if anybody here is familiar with the commercially available kratom clones. For example, "Bumblebee" - other than its existence, no information about it that I can find. What is its origin and what are its characteristics, and is it still on the market? Rob Montgomery of BPC also apparantly has developed a clone from the same seedstock as the now extinct Craig's Clone, does anybody know what it's name is and if it is on the market as well? Are there any others? It seems that nearly all the kratom plants on the market are the Robert Rifat clone. Speaking of which... anybody know the origin of the "Robert" part of that name? Rifat's first name was Claude.