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[TBM]

I can not take claim to all of the info and ideas below, much of my method is from my own research online, with a bit of my own twist added.

Supplies:

Viable mature Psychotria viridis leaves
Large glass jar (mine used to hold pickles)
Small enough pot that will fit into the jar (I'm actually using plastic solo cups, be sure to make holes for drainage)
Pine bark based soil or Sphagnum moss or perlite (no peat based soil), there are several other options for soil
Rooting hormone such as Indole-3-butyric acid (strictly optional, roots will still form without it)
African violet fertilizer (optional as well)

Before we begin, let me say that this plant is a SLOW GROWER, so please have patience.

There are several different methods for planting the leaves to prepare them to propagate, I've heard of people burying them at a 45° angle with most of the leaf protruding, or there is the 'accordion' method, where you break the main stem in several places, and then partially bury the result. There are also stories I've read where they would actually break the leaf into pieces, and then bury each of them separately, and still getting positive results. Personally I've chosen to use both burying at a 45°, and to use the accordion method. Next you will want to water the soil until the water runs out of the drainage holes. Since I chose to use fertilizer, I diluted it into the water before watering the leaves (as per the label's directions).

So now that you've got your leaves planted in the method of your choosing, the idea now is to use the glass jar as a makeshift terrarium; hopefully it's been cleaned out and all labels removed. What I've done is use the lid of the jar as the base for the pot, so the jar is actually sitting upside down with the pot inside siting right side up. At first I was a bit worried about it running out of air after a while, so I've been opening up the jar about one a week to give it fresh air and that seems to be working just fine. You will want to place your newly made terrarium somewhere that it has partial sunlight. Keep in mind, this plant's habitat is under the canopy in a rain forest, so it's used to having less light.

Depending on method chosen, environment, health of the leaves, etc., it will be slow.  It can take anywhere from 1-3 months before you see any roots forming, and another 1-3 months until you see the new plant start to shoot up. It might even take longer than that! So whatever you do, Be Patient, and you should see results 

This is after roughly two months of growth... sorry if the quality of the pictures is poor

[TBM]

I also have another terrarium set up which I've recently attached a small heating pad to the side of it, in a way it's an experiment to see if the additional heat (thus making it closer to what it would have in a rain forest) would make it grow faster.

Once the plants become large enough where they'd be running out of room, you'd be able to remove them from the jars. When mine get large enough to remove from the terrariums I'll be sure to inform you all of the results. Sure it's just a start to my garden, but progress is progress

[nobody]

Very nice, thanks for posting this. Ever have any problems with mold?

[TBM]

So far I have had no problems with mold, I believe I avoided mold issues by not using a peat based soil to start the leaves in. Pine bark based soil is also slightly acidic, this is good for keeping mold at bay as well.


[New edit]: I have had rot issues with P. nexus using the jar method, but that was mostly my fault for accidentally using an organic soil that was past it's use by date   It began to rot even with opening the jar at least once a day for fresh air, so be sure to check your soil is good for sowing

[Sunshine]

I use natural thyme oil mold killer diluted in a spray bottle with a squirt of lemon juice to spray them.
I used a garden soil-potting soil-perlite mix at a ratio of 1-1-6

[TBM]

I was considering using a potting soil/perlite mix to transplant them into once they're big enough, but I hadn't really given it too much thought since that's a few months away still for me, if you've had success with that ratio then I see no reason why I shouldn't do the same 

I like your use of natural mold killers instead of some commercially made ready-to-use chemical killer too

[Bach]

Changing to a different potting mix after they root and shoot can cause transplant stress, too often seriously enough to kill the plant. I have settled on rooting them in the same mix that they will end up in as adult plants. I use regular commercial potting soil amended with perlite and maybe some vermiculite if I happen to have it at the time. 2:1:1 or even 1:1:1 ratio.

I use 4 inch plastic pots with three leaves each and place the pot in a large ziploc bag. Does the same job as the pickle jar. That way I don't have to buy pickles (which I don't care for anyway) and there are no worries about shattered glass should I drop it.

[TBM]

A large plastic bag will in fact do the same as one of the jars I've used, I just get them already empty from a friend who's a pickle fanatic

You make a good point about transplant shock, I only plan to transplant once the root system starts to run out of room in the pot it's in, usually a good sign that a plant is ready for a bigger pot is when you see roots coming out of the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot.

Perhaps I could use a mix of potting soil, pine bark soil (which is what they're in right now), and perlite (maybe some vermiculite)? Either way I've got time to decide on a soil mix until they're ready to be transplanted again into something larger (one that they won't outgrow for a while)

[TBM]

Update: the mini-terrarium I added a small heat pad to as an experiment ended up being bunk... turns out it was too much heat (even though it was the smallest terrarium heat pad I could find) and it wilted, turned yellow and died Good thing I still had the other two control group terrariums which the plants are thriving

[Praetorian]

ive got psychotria outside. Its rooted well, 2 small leaves.  I think ill make my own growlog.  Anyway, good tek here!  Where do you find such nice viridis leaves though, is my question.

[TBM]

I received my freshly picked leaves from someone I know on another forum I occasionally visit (The Nook), he mentioned that they came from his P. viridis mother plant which is over 6 years old, so in a way I'm lucky just to have the little sprouts that I do

[Bach]

Where do you find such nice viridis leaves though, is my question.

In my back yard! 

[olyd88]

Where do you find such nice viridis leaves though, is my question.

In my back yard! 

Nice! How old is your viridis at your backyard?

[Bach]

The seeds were planted in Sept '94. Some of them are over eight feet tall now.

1 Like utahraptor likes this.

[olyd88]

Great! can you upload some photo? one more question is, How many inches/feet a healthy viridis plant can reach in height for one year?