What I know about Hemia salicfolia (Sinuichi)

[dergheist]

Since my business partner and I have had many questions regarding how to grow Hemia salicifolia, and seeing the lack of information out on it, I finally decided that I would post what has worked best for us.  We have hundreds of these plants up for trade here at the trade winds section and have had many who receive these plants asking us questions on things varying from growing Hemia to how to use it.  Remember, this is just my opinion and what has worked for me.

First off, Sinuichi is not a plant but the plant matter of the Hemia salicfolia plant.  We have had numerous requests for Sinuichi plants, but confusion can be understood, as many sites list Sinuichi as a plant.

Second, Growing a Hemia s. plant is not difficult as it is a hardwood shrub and despite being from a tropical climate, I have found that they adapt pretty well to any environment that does not get a hard freeze.  These plants get to rather large dimensions and although their first year of growth is slow, they soon take off at a fast pace.

Third, be sure to check out my photos in the gallery here of this plant.  I will be changing the photos out about every week.

Growing Hemia from seed:

We mainly grow in pots, but I do know a person who grows them in the ground with great success in Louisiana.  I suggest that you grow them in pots for their first year and then transplant them into the ground if you live in a climate that does not get hard freezes. Use a good mix of rich dark soil to grow these plants with large amounts of water and sun.  We mix the seeds (which are smaller than tobacco seeds!) with some soil and disperse this mix on top of our soil.  This allows the seeds not to be just lying on top of the soil and not pushed too far down either.  Give them a light watering at first to dampen the soil and then come back and soak them down and wait.

Their first year of growth will only be about eight inches or so, but after their first year they will grow at a much faster rate.  Hemia s. flowers throughout the growing season and if put outside at this time of year will be pollinated and will form seed pods.  These seed pods are no bigger than a morning glory seed and they have practically no stem.  These pods are ribbed and eventually turn from green to brown. When the seed pods are brown you can harvest the whole branch (as there is typically a seed pod every half inch to inch up and down the branches) or you can pinch and crumble the seed pods into a container for later plantings.  Each seed pod contains about 30 seeds or more.

We keep half of our plants trimmed back and the other half are left alone.  If the plants are regularly trimmed, they will form a nice compact lush plant.  If you have the space and would like a larger plant, you can leave it alone and it will form a nice big bush at the rate of about a foot a year.  My business partner compares the shape of these larger plants to that of a full ice cream cone.


Transplanting or after being shipped bare root:

If you transplant a plant to a bigger pot or receive one by mail, I would suggest that you cut back the plant to 4” from the base.  This will allow the plant to pull out of the shock of root loss.  Place the plant in rich dark soil out in full sun and water profusely at least twice a day until the plant rebuds and begins to look healthy again.  After which you can reduce watering to once a day.


Sinuichi:

Sinuichi is plant matter from the Hemia s. plant and traditionally was harvested by cutting off branches of leaves and hanging them to wilt.  Once the leaves were slightly wilted they were placed in a container of water and placed out in the sun to seep and make a tea.  After a minimum of eight hours, the leaves were strained out and the tea was allowed to “sweeten” or ferment for couple of days before being drunk.  Fair warning, this tea is very very bitter!!!!!  Don’t say I did not warn you.  There are many other ways to get the effects, just go ahead and experiment.  I know that some people have no effects at all while others give up MJ for this stuff!  I guess different strokes for different folks.

I hope this helps some and let me know if any one else has something more to add or if you feel I made a mistake. Thanks.

Dergheist

[random]

Great post dergheist, thanks for the information

[dergheist]

No prob bro. I hope it helps those interested.  Here are two photos of some samples of our Hemia plants.  The first picture shows the seed pods up close and the second picture is of one gallon size ones.

[dergheist]

Please pay no never mind to this post!  The prob is all fixed now.

[dergheist]

Here are some more photos as promised.  I will continue to add more as time permits.





In the foreground is another example of our one gallon size plants we have up for trade.



This is another shot of a plant that is loaded with seed pods.

[dergheist]

Here is a four gallon size Hemia s. plant.

[Jacko]

I've had a young Heimia shrub do just fine outdoors through hard freezes in zone 5.  I suspect they would do fine in even colder environments when a little older and well mulched.  They are increadibly easy to grow, require very little care, and readily spread by seed on their own once established.

Not having used the material for psychotropic effects I can't really comment on that.  However, I've used small amounts of a homemade tar produced from reduced sun tea (without letting it "ferment" for days) as an analgesic and it was far more effective in combating caffine withdrawl headaches/migranes than common OTC pain killers.  

A year or two back there were numerous reports on various forums and the erowid experience reports about people suffering rather serious muscle cramping after ingestion of commercially produced Heimia sp. extracts.  I suspect that the commercial products were extracted from raw dried material that was not left to wilt or soak in the sun, and that the reason for that traditional preparation was to remove or neutralize some toxin that exists in the raw plant material.  I'd never heard of such adverse effects from several folks who'd used Heimia with the traditional preparation methods at the levels/doses necessary to obtain yellow/golden vision, deep relaxation and altered aural effects.

[dergheist]

Thanks Jacko for your input, anybody else out there that grow this plant.  I would love to have a load of different views posted to help out the newbies of this plant.

[plantshaman]

sorry for the double post, computer was giving me trouble.

[plantshaman]

i'm good friends with the person who wrote the original heima article on erowid and he used to be a member here but i don't think he has returned since the original site went down . Mcsquared did alot of personal research and took some risks back when this plant was almost totaly unknown.all the plants in his garden thrived on neglect . Just give it some water and leave it alone this plant is pretty easy to grow . I've been growing this plant in the ground outdoors in so cal. Its in a rich dark soil recieves about 8 hours or more a day direct sun and is going strong . I expect it to really take off this year. seems easy to grow and if you look around the net there are alot of diffrent preperations. the traditional fermented tea is a good place to start but many get it down to a powerful extract and take in a pill . taking too much sounds rather unpleasant so do some research first ! if i come across some more detailed preperation methods i'll post them .

[dergheist]

Thanks so much Plantshaman for the input.

[Stonehenge]

I have a couple small heimia bushes. One seemed to have died back in the winter but I don't know if that's because of the mild freeze it got, lack of water or what. It's growing back nicely now with lots of new green shoots. My kratom is bursting forth in new shoots. My other kratom which gets a little less light is putting out shoots but a little slower.

[dergheist]

Thanks stoney for your input.  Come on guys, I know there is more of ya that grow and use this plant, lets get as many views as possible about this plant and various reports of her results. (Not first person of course.)

[freeethnoseedring]

Do any of you have experience in taking soft wood cuttings from Hemia?

[dergheist]

Yes.