Print

[valec]

Sorry for not being able to explain what's wrong with your sceletium.

I haven't had any success with cuttings, mine are all grown from seeds.

The seeds contain germination inhibitors. My procedure for germination is to place the seeds in a cup of water. Once a day I pour the cup of water through a filter, pick out the seeds and put them back in the cup with fresh water. Like this I wash out the germination inhibitors. After 5-15 days the seeds push out a tiny white root, at wich point I place them in coco tabs. From that point on most of them grow pretty fast. I started with 10 seeds, all of them germinated, however 2 of them had strange deformed and very slow growth. The other 8 grow very very fast.

In the end I'd say: use a light soil mix with some coco choir and perlite. Don't worry about letting the soil dry out almost completely. However, I also didn't have any problems with wet soil last summer. But I could imagine that you risk them rotting.

[Greenmystery]

Sceletium roots rather easily

Sapla Id snip those green pieces off just below a healthy node
Pull off the leaves

Take some small little pots and fill with some coarse river sand (wetted)
Make a hole roughly the same size of your stem and as deep roughly up to next set of leaves of your cutting
Place out of direct sun/light
You shouldn't need to water at all unless you live in a really dry climate&they should be putting out new roots and start regrowing within a few weeks

[sapla]

thanks for your advices.
I just think a dinosaur scares it.

Seriously, I just changed soil. I hope it's not too late.

[valec]

Hi, how's your sceletium doing? Did the new soil save it?

I attach some pictures of my sceletium. As you see, also this turns yellow and dry at the bases when it gets about one year old. The tips however keep growing very strongly.

I'm not doing anything particular. It's in low-quality old soil mixed with a good amount of "seramis" clay substrate. Last summer it has been wet almost all the time, no problem. Since fall I keep it very dry, irregular watering, still growing fast. It's in front of a south-facing window, so gets a good amount of sun. In the last weeks as days are getting longer and warmer it has been growing very fast. I've just harvested 470 grams. It's my second harvest in a year. Last time I've had 200 grams which I've put in a blender and then left to ferment for 8 days. Unfortunately, this time, already on fermentation day number 2 it shows some mold on the surface so I will discard it all. It's a pity...

[sapla]

Hi
Beautiful photo, you have a lot of success with the sceletium. this photo should be in [STS] Forum Plant Gallery.
Regarding my sceletium, I think this is the end. changing the soil didn’t not result in any improvement.

[chronic]

To prevent mould, add a little salt. This is not 100% protection but it increases the chance that the fermentation will work. It is important to air and stir daily, preferably several times a day.

[valec]

Good idea about the salt. I'll try another fermentation as soon as it has regrown.

I hope that it produces seeds this summer. Will let you know if I get some to share.