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[GeneQueen]

I compiled some information and a few links i know the title says novogranatense but i wish anyone with information, links about any Erythroxylum to please share.

 berries" are actually drupes. 1 seed inside like a plum or a peach.

http://www.angelfire.com/planet/dbotany/novoguide.htm

-Germination percentages of E.coca and E.novogranatense seed were found to decrease from around 95% and 89% directly after harvesting to 29% and 0%, respectively, after 24 days of storage at 4 C (39 F)

- South American coca farmers when collecting their seeds, pour them into a container of water and the seeds that float are discarded as they are non viable


https://mycotopia.net/topic/60301-coca-seed-germination-knowledge-appreciated/

- seeds are sown from December to January in small plots (almacigas) sheltered from the sun, and the young plants when at 40-60 cm in height are placed in final planting holes (aspi), or if the ground is level, in furrows (uachos) in carefully weeded soil. The plants thrive best in hot, damp and humid locations

-Seeds are to be put under approximately 1 cm of earth, at a temperature around 28C. The soil should never dry, but not be too soaky. Seeds should germinate after 2 to 6 weeks.

-For best results use a propagator with soil heating. Adjust the soil heating to 28 Celsius this is the optimum temperature to germinate cocaseeds seedling soil PH 5-6

-Coca likes humidity, but not soaky soils, and thus grow mainly on slopes. An aerated soil is to be used. Optimal pH is 5.8, but may vary from 5 to 7. The electroconductivity (EC) is perfect at 1.2, but may vary from 0.5 to 1.6.

* explains the importance of (EC) struggling with the acidic pH. Momentary lockup/lockouts causing transient, but classic, nutrient deficiency symptoms. maybe because of the method of acidification. In their native environment, the acidity is kind of a static thing, caused by the conductivity of the iron in the soil.

-light may be used 18 hours/24.
A humidificator can be used to reach an optimal air humidity of 80%.


-After 18 monthes, the plant will start flowering, and produce seeds. The flowers are both male and female but 2 different plants need to be in contact in order to fertilize each other.
random notes found online
 side not-This is why clones from one plant will not produce Viable berries**
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-SeedlingMix was densely rich but sandy potting soil with lots of extra perlite. This mix has little peat content its mainly compost and sand.
Don't burry these guys! They are weak sprouters!
-use Sphagnum Moss to germinate Erys.

-1 week to 24 days after germination keep them really humid until the seed coat is off then lower it down incrementally.


*Donts*
- they do not like it if the substrate is too dense and sticky. The soil should be coarse/ loose and with a lot of hummus

 -Rapid Rooting cubes. BAD idea, had to check on them daily. They couldn't push themselves out of the cube and half died.

-Used very rich potting soil typically meant for cannabis, which burned most of the plants to death. This time I'm going heavy with plain coco coir.

-I've found they don't like being overwatered, seems their roots are very sensitive

-Most Coca plants die because they were watered with tap water. This genus does not like calcium at all, so rainwater should be used primarily.

- Most importantly, no tap water, only rainwater or treated demineralised water. The calcium in tap water kills E. coca and novo. Also no fertilizer with calcium. The substrate humos with many coarse components.

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this website has some great info https://drugs-forum.com/wiki/Growing_Coca

"One of the main historical difficulties faced by late 19th / early 20th century botanists as they tried to adapt coca plants outside their original habitat was that the alkaloid production would quickly become minimal. This was mainly due to differences in atmosperic pressure, which lead people to think that it was not possible to grow alkaloid producing coca plants at low altitudes. However, while this connection is verified for species growing in the very high altitudes of the Andes, pressure and altitude being closely linked to the level of alkaloid production and most E. coca growing at lower altitude being less potent than high-altitude Andean coca, the erythroxylum coca family is quite diverse, and cross breeding between low and high altitude native strains has given birth to plants capable of producing a good concentration of alkaloids at much lower altitudes and atmospheric pressure."

- A good soil mix might be:

10% silt
20% humus/loam ("used up" compost, full of humates and fulvates)
20% fresh compost
25% iron clay based soil (like from most yards or pine forests)
25% composted wood bits or sand/grit

a mix like that will be best if it is either renewed from the top or by repotting. that means every few months SWIM can repot or else he could put new organic matter on top of the soil. putting it on top works well if there are worms in the mix; or else he can whiz it in a blender and pour the solution on the soil to get it to the lower soil. repotting 1 - 3 times a year still isn't a bad idea though.

-According to SWIM, the plants were started under flourescents and sunlight and were later moved under the 1000 MH. They are now 3-4 ' under the light, with the light on 24 hours a day. SWIM does not think the constant light is the problem. The E coca are probably 5 months old, well branched and some are flowering. The E novo var novo are 9 months old, lots of branches, and have flowered off and on for at least six months. No seeds have formed.

1 Like Pollinator likes this.

[Toxicodendron]

There us ideal, then there is practical. I’ve not had too much problem with tap water. Don’t have percentages, but once you get into dozens of seedlings, they can be acclimated. IME.

Great refresher info, though! Thanks.

[Milo]

Reading through interesting posts - thank you for sharing all this information.

[valec]

In my experience I concluded:
- rich soil kills them (coco choir instead works well, possible mixed with some perlite)
- E. coca seems happy also with rhododendron soil (acidity around pH 4.5), or rhododendron soil mixed with coco choir
- tap water kills them
- leaves drop quickly if their is a drop in humidity or a cold breeze
- And during the winter, when heating is on, a humidity tent is useful.

[csnap]

I've got three 2.5 yr old novos that are doing decently unattended in South Florida, despite being in pretty rich/dense soil and supplemental (pretty hard) tap water.
Not ideal conditions for them but they've held on. So babying them isn't absolutely necessary at least.
I've noticed a lot more leaves dropping now with the colder temperature change.

[valec]

As to what I heard the story of "coca produces . . . only in high altitudes" is somewhat of an urban legend, isn't it?

[csnap]

What does it mean/what should I change if my novos have smaller leaves with a yellowish hue? Compared to pics of healthier plants I've seen.

[valec]

Have you tried an iron supplement? Or slightly acidified watering?

1 Like Sunshine likes this.

[Krayphysh]

I've been trying to find one of these plants for over 19 years.  DBotany still sells the seeds for $100 each but ships from South America.  I've been collecting rare plants my whole life but have never been able to locate a safe source for this one.  I don't understand why it would be an issue for anyone to own a plant or two.  I'm not interested in growing a field full of trees, but I'd love to add one to my collection.  It's a shame it's such a pain to find a plant without worrying about the source of the plant being part of a government agency looking to screw people over.  For the sake of science and collectors, let people own a plant or two.  I live in a cooler climate, one that requires similar plants are kept in flower pots and moved indoors for the winter.  I don't have much space in my home so couldn't maintain more than one or two plants.  I didn't mean to go into a rant, lol, but I'm just annoyed that it's so difficult to find one of these plants.  Hope you all are doing well and your plants are growing beautifully!  I've enjoyed your posts!  Take care!

   

1 Like HortyCulture likes this.

[ToRn842]

I actually had really good luck getting E.novo seeds to germinate in Rockwool cubes and distilled water under a dome. I cut small slots in the wool and placed the seeds just deep enough to be covered by the wool. Then I gently fluffed the wool over the top. While trying to keep the cubes as fluffy as possible. It was part of an experiment trying different substrates. I found the sphagnum moss on top of arkadium clay, pumice, perlite and sand sprouted the fastest. The seeds were placed on top of the soil mix and covered with the moss. But the Rockwool seedlings actually grew the best and were around 3 inches taller then the rest. The potting mix, worm castings and perlite was the slowest to germinate and had the smallest seedlings and a low germination rate. The 3 other mixes seemed to give me middle of the road results. At 5 months the experiment ended during a move they got toasted.

[valec]

Another recommendation, for E. coca though, I don't know if it also applies to E. novo.:

Take the seeds out of the berry, clean them well with water. Then place them on lemon juice over night. Put the seeds (wet of lemon juice) into a mix of coco choir with a bit of sand. Place in humidity dome. Gives very good germination rates.

1 Like Toxicodendron likes this.

[Toxicodendron]

I bet that method would be good for novo as well!

 

[345anhalonium]

I didn't know you were supposed to remove them from the berry, doesn't the rotting of the berry initiate germination, much like the boga?

[valec]

I think you should always remove them from the berry and clean them. With the berry I would expect the risk of mold being higher.

[Toxicodendron]

With novos I've had success leaving them in the drupe until the flesh becomes soft & discolored. At that point, though, I do remove the rotting fruit before planting.

I'm less careful about removing the rotting fruit from iboga before germinating. If left in the fruit, in moist coco-coir or sphagnum, the fruit will rot slowly. During this time, many of the iboga seeds germinate, but not all. When I can manually squish off the more rotted iboga fruit (vs the less rotten novo), I put them in planting mix with a top dressing of sphagnum moss.

To be honest, I'm more passionate about growing many iboga seedlings than the novo. I keep a well trained novo, and the birds often pluck the drupes. I'm more attentive to my iboga fruit. The birds' acidic gut, mechanical digestion, and speedy defecation of the novo fruit eaten when ripe gives one the biological model for seed dispersal.

1 Like Shamichael likes this.