Print

[SummertimeLoving]

This doesn't pertain to me, but it is a question I had because someone I am close to has been growing Mitragyna Speciosa (Kratom) for a little over a year now, and for the first 6 months or so it grew incredibly quickly, but then it began to slow down by a lot in the growth process. The tree is doing fine but it grew several feet at first and I haven't noticed to much of a change in height, but the width is getting to be much larger. Is this normal?

[New Wisdom]

Is it in a pot?  What conditions are it in?  And did anything change around the time it slowed down?

[SummertimeLoving]

Yes. It started to get colder outside, but that shouldn't matter since it has always been kept inside until a few weeks ago, when it became hot out. Should it? It is outside while it is hot out, and if it begins to cool down it is brought back inside, as of a few weeks ago. Before that it was in a closet with filtered light and good humidity with high heat and some artificial wind (a fan on a timer lol).

[SummertimeLoving]

It was a fairly small fan.

[Mandrake]

I'm not familiar with the growing cycle of kratom, but as New Wisdom suggested there's but a few reasons a plant will visibly slow down growth. From more to less likely, according to what you mention,

1) Running out of room for spreading roots further. Roots sustain physically the plant structure, and the more they can hold, the higher the plant can afford to grow. Check for signs in the pot (specially, protruding roots in drainage holes) and consider moving it to a larger pot with fresh soil. After a few weeks of root adaptation, it should resume growth. A stem can get thicker as the main root ball develops, but without room to spread, growth will stop. Just think of bonsais.
2) Environmental changes, even if subtle, activate the adaptation systems of plants. This means more resources are spent to adapt morphology, leaving less for steady growth. Growth should continue once the plant has stabilized.
3) Nutrient shortage can slow down growth. Usually that will leave other symptoms either in old leaves, or new growth.
4) Decrease in light.

Mandrake

1 Like New Wisdom likes this.

[SummertimeLoving]

Thanks for the tips.

[t_tristani2002]

Mandrake, do you have experience growing kratom yourself? I have about a 3' plant, with the leaves slightly yellowing. No nutrient deficiency, I.E. burned brown inverted leaves. They just don't seem to be nearly as dark colored as the original leaves are, and not nearly as hardy (thick). I bought some 4-4-4 mostly blood/bone meal fertilizer, as I don't want to burn it. Do you think that may help my growth as it seems to have slowed growth, only slightly I think due to a recent cold dip. Thanks

[Frog Pajamas]

Hi t_tristani. I have a mitragyna speciosa about the same size as yours, and it does seem to like a periodic fertilizing with a good nitrogen-rich fertilizer. I haven't had any problems with burning it with ferts. You definitely want your plant where it is getting the most heat and sun you can get it. IME, the color of the leaves, veins, and stems is pretty directly tied to the level of sun they are getting.

How long has your plant been grown in the Appalachians? I just moved here from the Charlotte area, and my kratom is the one plant that does not like this new climate at all. I'd heard they start to have trouble under 60 degrees F, and that seems to be the case. Have you been successfully growing yours outdoors in the summer up here, and if so, do you have any tips?

[t_tristani2002]

I travel pretty frequently from texas to here due to family, when I had taken it to east texas it got eaten by bugs, which stalled my growth for about a month, but now my nodes have doubled, obviously, so I'm not too disappointed. It seems to grow pretty well here, it gets a lot of morning sun, but is more shaded through the afternoon which helps I think. It seem in the northern part of the appalachians that there isn't enough humidity to protect the plant during times of extreme heat, where it was about 90-100 degrees a week or so ago. It was my one plant that thrived in the heat, so long as it was protected from getting burnt in the most intense part of the day. Perhaps a humidity tent would work wonders. I'll try moving it to more full sun and fertilizing it today and post back if I see any improvement within the next week. I can say however, the drop in temperature here at night, I'd say somewhere around 45-50 degrees in August! has definitely stalled out day time growth I think because it's recovering its energy from the prior night.

[t_tristani2002]

Fertilizing turned my yellow leaves a darker green, however full sunlight wasn't any good. They started developing tiny dark red/brown spots on the leaves. I thought maybe it way fertilizer burn, but after a little testing it was definitely light. I wish I had another one so I could do some actual testing, but being familiar with plants I honestly think It is the lighting like others have mentioned...

[ueihtam]

hi t_tristani2002 i want to know wich bugs can attack a kratom plant cause i ordered some seeds and plan to grow inside fall winter an spring and summer outside since they have difficulty with low temp

[ONandONandON]

i had two trees, around 3 feet tall, about two years old.. they were both in large pots i could hardly pick up.

Kept in lots of sun with some shade. One them died after bringing outside from winter, so iam down to one.

it didn't seem to grow good in it's pot, so i planted in the ground and started seeing instant improvements.

it can freeze here. i plan to make cuttings to keep inside, and grow this one outside in a tent or something.

1 Like ueihtam likes this.