Psychotria Species, Chacruna

Psychotria species are well known for their tribal medicine properties and might be endangered plants too.

Rather easy to ...Read Moregrow. I have one, actually probably P. alba, distinguished from P. viridis by the leaf petiole, which I got from a leaf cutting.

Leafs root rather well, after a month in a clean moist warm environment. Then, the plant is a bit sensitive to rot, but after it takes a few cms, then its easy to grow. Not too fussy with light or watering, but prefers part-shade and warm conditions.

I've recently acquired two seedlings and any advice on caring for them would be greatly appreciated, I live in New England so I'm hoping ...Read Moreto be able to get them to flourish here.

I don't know why everyone says this plant is hard to grow, I'm having quite a success with seeds I've procured from Brazil and Peru.
...Read More> Internet literature mentions that less than 1% of the seeds should sprout. I found this to be false.

Takes a very long time to sprout; I've planted both seed types at the same time, and the Brazilian species is sprouting at the 8 weeks mark, and the Peruvian at about 9 weeks. Brazilian ratio is about 35% whereas the sprouting ratio of the Peruvian seeds is about 5%. I do not know how fresh the seeds were, perhaps this has been a factor.

Perhaps temperature has been playing some tricks with me as well (being in the Caribbeans), I've noticed the sprouting began when the night-time temperature starting falling to 20-24C. The seeds have been sown in summer heats of 32-40C (and 30-32C at night)

My trick was to wash the seeds in a relatively strong bleach solution (1 part of bleach to 8 parts of water) and NOT rinsing them clean before sowing. I believe this has helped tremendously with the fungus and algae problem stemming from trying to sprout this over such a long time. (My sprouting boxes are transparent, which gives rise to a lot of algae, but I personally prefer visual access to root systems, it's easier to gauge the water needs like this) Also, I've sprouted mine in total shade.

One thing I've noticed is that these seeds tend to sprout more than 1 plant. (2 being more common).

So to all of those wishing to grow these from seeds I say; don't loose patience ! And try to get the freshest seeds possible (seeding season in South America is around September, get yours in Sept-October !). In cold weather, you should try to seed these in a warmed seed box, at around 28-30C. If at 9-10 weeks you still have nothing sprouting, reduce the nighttime temperature to 20-22C. But that last bit is just a wild guess from my experience.

Some of the plants in my greenhouse are over 8 feet tall, -so the plant hight can exceed the 6 foot description, -it is a beautiful , und...Read Moreerstory plant, and does well even in deep shade. One of the plants used to make AYAHUASCA a drink used for visionary purpose by South American Shaman, --The other is Banisteriopsis caapi, -a vine,