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    Growing Psychotria Viridis

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    tyson
    This document provides instructions for growing Psychotria viridis, commonly known as chacruna, from seed and cuttings. It notes that growing from seed is very difficult with many failures reported. The recommended method involves soaking, sterilizing, and stratifying the seeds before planting. Growing from cuttings is described as easy using a standard leaf cutting technique. Detailed instructions are provided for taking and propagating the cuttings in a warm, humid environment until they are established. The document also shares an experience where a Psychotria viridis plant that was thought dead unexpectedly revived after being left dormant over winter.

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    Growing Psychotria Viridis

    Uploaded by

    tyson
    156 views2 pages
    This document provides instructions for growing Psychotria viridis, commonly known as chacruna, from seed and cuttings. It notes that growing from seed is very difficult with many failures reported. The recommended method involves soaking, sterilizing, and stratifying the seeds before planting. Growing from cuttings is described as easy using a standard leaf cutting technique. Detailed instructions are provided for taking and propagating the cuttings in a warm, humid environment until they are established. The document also shares an experience where a Psychotria viridis plant that was thought dead unexpectedly revived after being left dormant over winter.

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    This document provides instructions for growing Psychotria viridis, commonly known as chacruna, from seed and cuttings. It notes that growing from seed is very difficult with many failures reported. The recommended method involves soaking, sterilizing, and stratifying the seeds before planting. Growing from cuttings is described as easy using a standard leaf cutting technique. Detailed instructions are provided for taking and propagating the cuttings in a warm, humid environment until they are established. The document also shares an experience where a Psychotria viridis plant that was thought dead unexpectedly revived after being left dormant over winter.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as txt, pdf, or txt
    156 views2 pages

    Growing Psychotria Viridis

    Uploaded by

    tyson
    This document provides instructions for growing Psychotria viridis, commonly known as chacruna, from seed and cuttings. It notes that growing from seed is very difficult with many failures reported. The recommended method involves soaking, sterilizing, and stratifying the seeds before planting. Growing from cuttings is described as easy using a standard leaf cutting technique. Detailed instructions are provided for taking and propagating the cuttings in a warm, humid environment until they are established. The document also shares an experience where a Psychotria viridis plant that was thought dead unexpectedly revived after being left dormant over winter.

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    Growing Psychotria viridis

    Chacruna
    Psychotria viridis - Chacruna
    Natural Growing Conditions

    Psychotria viridis is native to the Amazonian lowlands, but is also cultivated


    throughout northern South America and much of Central America. It is an evergreen
    tropical tree or large shrub growing in full sun to half shade. It has large (up to
    24cm) leaves, which are oval with pointed tips. Its small brown seeds are shed from
    red berries. It usually grows in very rich and fertile soils.
    Growing from Seed

    Everybody seems to agree that it is very difficult to germinate Psychotria viridis


    seeds. I've heared of so many failures, I have never tried. I ended up buying a
    rooted cutting to save myself the hastle. If you really must grow from seed, I
    would recommend using a variation of this technique:

    * Soak the seeds for 15 minutes in a mild bleach solution.


    * Rinse off the bleach with sterile water.
    * Soak the seeds in sterile water for 24 hours.
    * Plant the seeds 8mm deep in vermiculite or a mixture of vermiculite and
    potting compost.
    * Water from below until the growing medium is moist throughout.
    * Place in a heated propagator away from direct sunlight and wait.

    Growing from Cuttings

    Cuttings, on the other hand are easy. Psychotria viridis clones well using a
    standard leaf cutting technique, so all you need is a fresh leaf to get you
    started.

    Remove a large leaf from the plant complete with a full petiole (leaf stem). Take
    hold of the leaf by its peliole, bend it away from the stem and gently pull in the
    same direction until it breaks. The petiole should have a short tail which has
    pulled away from the stem. This will ensure that there is a large amount of cambium
    layer present, which is essential for root development.

    Lay the leaf on a flat surface and cut it in half horizontally with a sharp sterile
    blade. Removing the top half of the leaf will cut down on evaporation from the leaf
    and retain moisture before roots form.

    Prepare a free draining growing medium. Something like equal parts vermiculite,
    sand and potting compost would be about right. You may wish to 100% inorganic
    components to prevent moulds forming. Fill pots or seed trays with your growing
    medium, making small holes every 5-7cm with a matchstich or similar pointy thing.
    Place the leaves in the holes, petiole down, cut edge up. The leaves should be
    planted deep enough so that the petiole and about 0.5cm of the lower part of the
    leaf are covered.

    Water, leave to drain, and place inside a heated propagator. If you have no
    propagator, place inside sandwich bags and leave somewhere warm. The cuttings
    should receive bright light, but not direct sunlight. Mist daily with a pump spray
    or similar. Water regularly, but ensure the growing medium never becomes
    waterlogged. If mould appears, treat with Cheshunt Compound, or any fungucide. Also
    remember to feed with fertailser as per instructions on the pack.

    The cuttings should be slowly acclimatised to drier, brighter conditions as soon as


    possible. When they are well established or overcrowded, they can be potted up
    individually.
    Once Established

    Unfortunately, I cannot give any advice on growing Psychotria viridis to maturity.


    The only plant I have grown dropped all its leaves and quickly died. The whole
    process took about a fortnight. I believe it was due to overwatering and large
    day/night temperature fluctuations. Que Sera Sera.

    Since the above was written, there have been further developments with my dead
    Psychotria viridis plant. It was left on a cold bedroom windowsill throughout
    Winter. The soil got a bit mouldy and eventually dried out. The growing tip was
    brown and dead. I gave up hope, but somehow or another, I never got round to
    throwing it in the compost bin. At the beginning of Spring, I noticed that the stem
    was still green. Just for the sake of it really, I decided to water it one more
    time, with the addition of some Cheshunt compound to stop the mould coming back.
    Within a week or two, new shoots had appeared on four nodes. It came back from the
    dead. It is currently sitting on a warm bathroom windowsill, being nursed back to
    health.

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