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Author Topic: Ins and outs of growing psychotria viridis  (Read 14058 times)

Z

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Ins and outs of growing psychotria viridis
« on: June 23, 2013, 09:00:09 PM »

Hey guys and gals!!!  well I figured if make this thread and tell what works well for the viridis.
Firstly keep in mind I run an inert soil(not required) so my ph is roughly neutral, I keep the Water ph'ed to around 6.2(alot of times the water viridis gets in nature where it grows naturally is somewhat acidic) which it seems to really like. It only needs nutriants about maybe thre times over the whole year in my experience. Now to acclimation. When acclimating your viridis its important to do it very very slowly, do it to fast and the leaves curl and brown if its not put back in high humidity the leaves will die. So its good Idea to acclimate it over the period of about two weeks, now they will droop considerably when acclimating just keep an eye out for browning at the tip of the leaf. Once fully acclimated it should start perking back up as it adjust to your RH. Ohh also viridis loves heat but not direct sun so keep it shaded.

Now to Viridis propagation :) (same if you have alba and not viridis but alba tends to root much faster)
Well unfortunately viridis doesn't produce many seeds and the seeds it does produce sometimes prove hard to germinate accompanied by a long long germination process, so the fastest and probably easiest way of
propagation is through leaf cuttings.

Now some split the leaf in two and some don't but keep in mind the smaller the portion of leaf the easier it is for it to dry out and die. Now that being said I never separate the leaf I simply run down the "main artery" of the leaf and bend it till I hear a little snap I do that 4-5 times per leaf this way at each snap it will shoot off roots thus producing quite a few plants per one leaf. Now after you've prepped your leaf your going to want to get some soil or inert medium, wet it and put it in a zip lock, now bury about half to two thirds of the leaf In the soil with the other part exposed. Once the leaf and soil are in the zip lock get your squirt bottle and give the inside of the zip lock a good ole 1, 2, mist and zip it up and forget about it for 3 weeks, after 3 weeks go check for root shoots and the health of he leaf, if root shoots are present then zip back up the zip lock and forget about it for another two weeks or until you see little sprouts. You can use rooting hormone as it seems to work nicely for viridis but it will also work just fine without and hormone. Keep in mind when you get spouts its best you start thinking about separating the root shoots and little sprouts before they become to entangled. Also after removing the little sprouts if the remainder of the leaf is still green then you can toss it back in the bag and continue forgetting about it again for another three weeks and so on.

I hope this helps someone out and thanks for reading. Also if you have any questions or anything to add please feel free to let me know :)

Be well all
« Last Edit: June 23, 2013, 09:01:53 PM by Z »
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Carnival

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Re: Ins and outs of growing psychotria viridis
« Reply #1 on: June 24, 2013, 06:02:34 AM »

Thanks for the write-up.
I'm just starting my journey growing psychotria, and this is very nice to read.

Much love
~Carnival
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Z

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Re: Ins and outs of growing psychotria viridis
« Reply #2 on: June 25, 2013, 02:45:21 AM »

hey anytime, im just here to spread the knowledge just as others have spread it to me :) hopefully when i get all these psychotria going nice and big i can share the leaves for propagation in the trade section !!
« Last Edit: June 25, 2013, 02:49:39 AM by Z »
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Sunshine

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Re: Ins and outs of growing psychotria viridis
« Reply #3 on: June 25, 2013, 04:43:15 AM »

I just planted 25 psychotria leafs using a mix of 3-1 perlite-soil mix.
Thanks for sharing.
+1

edit- I hope you didn't get those off ebay. There is a guy selling mislabeled alba. :(
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Shpongle Lover

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Re: Ins and outs of growing psychotria viridis
« Reply #4 on: August 23, 2013, 10:16:35 PM »

Z, Bach or anyone else:

Do any of you have an image you can post of what the initial P. viridis sprout looks like off the mother leaf?  What exactly is it I'm watching for and hoping to see?  My leaves are inserted at 45 degrees.  Will the sprout be a bit remote from the leaf, or will it pop up right where the leaf enters the soil?  It sure would be helpful to know what I'm watching for.

It's three weeks today, so I'm hoping that any time from now until maybe end of September, I'll be seeing multiple little green shoots as a reward for my daily attention, misting, and good karma.   ;D

Thanks!

S.L.
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TBM

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Re: Ins and outs of growing psychotria viridis
« Reply #5 on: August 23, 2013, 10:25:14 PM »

It really does vary where the new sprout will come up from the ground, I've had them pop up both ways, right from where the leaf touches the soil and a bit remote from the leaf (like off from where the end of the leaf is under the dirt). If it's been 3 weeks than you've probably got some roots growing, by September you just might see some green shoots! 8)

Here is an example of what you'll be looking for:

Notice how there's even one sprout growing completely out of the dirt on the side of the leaf even

Shpongle Lover

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Re: Ins and outs of growing psychotria viridis
« Reply #6 on: August 24, 2013, 12:29:25 AM »

Excellent!  Thank you.  I really wanted to see the morphology of the sprouts.  Your picture gives me the impression they are dark green, shiny - almost waxy in appearance.  The right-hand sprout looks sturdy...the left-hand one looks a bit more tender and delicate.

As you might have suspected...I had a reason for asking.  See the attached image.  Is this what I think it is???  If so, we need a "happy dance" smiley!  Three weeks at 90% humidity, 82.4 degrees F, and once daily misting allowing the Ph 6.8 water to run down the leaf into the soil.

S.L.
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TBM

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Re: Ins and outs of growing psychotria viridis
« Reply #7 on: August 24, 2013, 06:55:41 AM »

You've got quite a happy little sprout growing there 8) Over time you may have more popping up out of the soil, the one leaf I planted with the accordion method has 6 little sprouts, all of different height since they all popped up at different times. The ones I planted using the 45° has anywhere from 2-5 sprouts depending on how deeply I buried it.