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[Saros]

Has anyone here at STS had much experience growing them? I have 3 plants that have been alive for about a year now, and have survived a bunch of extreme conditions. Low light, intense light, getting extremely dried out repeatedly, being left outside all winter long where temps reached -18C...They simply don't give up, which is awesome, but so far they've never grown more than a few inches at a time before the green growth dies and then it sprouts again from another location along one of it's many seemingly dried out branches.

So I'm wondering, does anyone here have a plant that seems to be thriving? If so, what's your trick to a happy P. harmala?  Let's compare notes and observations. I know it can be invasive in some places, so I feel like we should be able to figure out a way to provide conditions that it can flourish in:)

I believe my three plants are under potted, so I'm going to move one to a larger pot and see what happens

[SoulGrower]

I tried many times in peat based soil with no success.  No problems germinating but couldn't get them to live past a few days.  Figured it was too humid where I live (and I was probably watering too much). 

Gave up for awhile, then recently tried a gritty soiless medium.  Finally got one to make it past the 3 day mark.  It's hard to overwater in this medium which is why I think I was 'sucessful'.  However, as you can see, it's still not great.  This is about a month in:

[MadPlanter]

Second round for me with the rue. First round had three pots growing great until the shelf in the greenhouse came down...

Now the current round is doing just as well. Rich dark less peat based soil such as earthgro brand with much extra perlite and cut in half with straight sand. Did one pot with lime once but didn't seem to make a difference than without it. They do grow all spindly but hang on no problems at all a often sprout new growth.

Spider mites love them but a little dish soap spray does the trick with 2-3 treatments over a week or two.

Good luck!

[Saros]

Yes, I had a spider mite problem on my indoor one for a while.

My soil mix is very much like yours MadPlanter, probably about hald sand/perlite, and the other half is regular potting soil (maybe even cactus soil in a couple of those)

I germinated mine in my aquarium converted to plant propagation chamber. 4 inches of water in the bottom and a platform above that to hold seedlings and rooting cuttings. There's a bubbler, small filter, and heater in the water. so it was very high in humidity, hanging in the top is a small PC case fan to circulate air. I threw a couple dozen seeds in a yogurt cup with a soil similar to what I described above. I was half assed about covering them and just sprinkled a little extra soil on top, some got covered, some were still exposed.

I had an excellent germination rate.. some damped off or died, but most lived to the point where I had to thin them out. Eventually when they started getting all tangled together I had to separate them. I waited too long I think  because their roots were really tangled and I did a lot of damage while separating them and I lost quite a few more. So I was down to maybe 6-8 at that point.

I forget at what point I moved them out of the tank into normal temps and humidity. I suspect it was when I needed more room for germinating a bunch of caapi seeds. Some went to a window sill and others out to the greenhouse. I don't think I was gentle about adjusting them, though I do recall gradually adjusting the outdoor ones to sunlight. Up till that point they've only ever known LED light. They did pretty well in partial shade until they froze and I thought they had died for good, but I didn't throw them out. They were quick to show green again once we were out of the constant freezing temperatures.

Since then, they haven't grown much... just growing a bit, dying back, and resprouting from another spot. I kind of forgot about them and have been ignoring them for the most part. Now at the mention of growing P.harmala by one of our new members, I'm thinking about them again and wondering why such a seemingly hardy 1yr old plant is having a hard time getting any larger.

[TBM]

Maybe it's deficient in some necessary nutrient and isn't growing any further because of that?

[New Wisdom]

I grow mine in extremely rich (foxfarm) soil and they love it. I have learned over the years that overcomplicating soil mixes can end badly.

[Saros]

Perhaps, I have been pretty sparing with ferts and other nutrients. Time for some experimentation I think. I have three plants to play with that are all behaving similarly, though one is indoors and the other two are outside.
I'll try simply repotting one into a larger pot
Another I'll feed it some fish emulsion and some other micro nutrients
The other I'll leave alone as a control
I wish I had a fourth plant so that I could try planting out in the ground.. maybe it just doesn't like being contained.

I just found this page with some excellent info on growing this plant
Syrian Rue ~ Peganum harmala

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[Auxin]

.. maybe it just doesn't like being contained.

That was my experience, I tried for years to get it growing successfully in pots with no long term success.
Once I sprinkled some seeds in the garden it was suddenly easy to grow, I can even transplant them around with no deaths- I turned two clusters into a 31' row.
Waiting on this years pods to finish ripening right now 

The link was wrong on one thing, its not only hardy down to zone 8, as I'm in zone 7 and they survive the winters just fine with no protection. Its been reported hardy down to USDA Zone 5b.

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[New Wisdom]

When is the best time of year to plant them outside?

[Auxin]

Spring is the best time for direct seeding, they do not need cold stratification. The seedlings do need to be watered every time the soil dries out. Plant after the last frost.
Transplants are ok any time until the end of summer, the roots need some time to grow before dormancy because you will not want to be watering them in early or late winter. Transplants need to be watered every time the soil dries out until the roots grow deep 'nuf to access the moisture in the subsoil. I have gallon milk jugs with a hole cut in the top and a 1/16" hole drilled on a corner nearly on the bottom, they sort of pee out the water nice and slow so it can soak in deeply. When I transplanted mine I used those to kind of build a moisture 'road' for the roots to follow down to the subsoil.
I have my cacti in pots in a row 3' from my peganums, stuck half way in the soil with soil mounded up around the pots. In the summer I treat my cacti like theyre tomatoes, feeding them loads of ferts and water. The water and ferts that drain out of their pots goes down to the subsoil and the peganums drink from there, not counting new transplants I dont even water my peganums and I'm in a desert.

The peeing milk jugs are great for fertilizing/watering individual plants of all sorts in the garden- very useful item.

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[Greentoe]

Thanks for sharing the info about their hardiness. For some reason I was thinking they wouldn't survive the winter here, but apparently thats not the case. I will definitely be starting some outside next spring.

[changuar]

Back in 2013 on the first day of spring I planted some rue seeds in a seed starter tray and placed it outside in the sun. Woke up the next morning to find the world covered in snow so I kinda just wrote those ones off. After sitting outside for a month or 6 weeks or so I got some little sprouts. They grew through the summer till they were far too big for their little planter segments. In late summer I went ahead and planted them in the earth and over the fall they turned yellow and appeared to die as winter came on.

I was quite surprised this spring when I found new growth sprouting up. They are still small, but it appears they are going to establish themselves as a permanent addition to my garden.

P.S. - I'm listed right between a zone 6a and 7a on the hardiness zone map

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