Banisteriopsis caapi cultivation notes and discussion

[sagiXsagi]

Well, while there's this awesome thread with notes and details on germinating seed, complete with pictures of seed and seedlings,

 

 

 

I thought it would be a cool idea to have a general thread with various info and notes for general cultivation, propagation etc. 

 

As one of my plants seems to be switching to climbing or something, I have several questions, so it would be nice if we exchanged some infos. 

 

There is also this thread I was reading the other day which has nice info and discussion with pics on caapi propagation through cuttings. 

 

So here's my bigger caapi , its a 'C' strain, and has began woodification of the first 10-15 cm of its tiny trunk. Last few days the growth of the stem has increased and it seems like it would like to have something to lean on, so I gave it to it. I also noted 2 new symmetrical shoots from the lower part. My caapis are about 5 months old from sprouting, the big one is in a 5 liter pot in which I put organic veg fert. 

 

img host

 

and here's a group shot , I supposedly got 4 types of it, 3 via seeds and 1 by cutting. The seedlings are in a bright and shady part and receive sun for a couple hours in the most difficult part of the day, noon 14-16 hours, but they seem to have tolerated the very small pot size, with some stressing and watering every other day. The recently repotted p.viridis seems to like the spot too. Its a spot I dont really use for cultivation. 

 

 

I have also put two in the ground, and I intend to plant a couple more perhaps 

 

So here are my questions: 

 

1. I have heard caapis respond well to prunings. I also read that pruning it and cutting it down and perhaps tidying it prevents it from becoming a mass of small vines. When is it old enough to prune it? When is the better time to prune it? Does it respond well to training it to go where ya want? Reason I am asking is that I have planted some cacti and chilli in the same spot and I dont want the vine to steal the sun from the other plants... 

 

2. My big specimen seems to be exploding but I am not sure its twining.. Is it a twining climber or a leaner? 

 

3. My Argyreia, depending on how protected or not their spot was, they lost some or almost all of their leaves.. does caapi drop leaves seasonally or when stressed by cool winters??  

 

4. Another thing is cold tolerance and all, I am in zone 9 more or less, but I guess I will find out in a couple months. 

 

5. Whats the ideal pot size to chose to transplant all these seedlings? 5llt seems fine but maybe less would be okey for another 18 months grow time.. Any suggestions? 

 

6. what about the different strains. are there any striking feats that differentiate the types.. I remember one of them makes knobs on the trunk... 

 

c= caupuri

t= tunkunaka

o= ourinhos

 

7. How long do plants take to reach maturity and flower? Are caapis self-fertile or they need more than one plant to produce fruits and seed? 

 

I guess that's all for now... 

 

You're welcomed to add useful links and your own notes 

 

PS: awesome link showing flowers and strain comparison 

 

https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/6397799

 

 

Edited August 2, 2016 by sagiXsagi

[2XB]

I have not much to add except that I was very surprised to find that a woody ourinhos cutting has rooted and sprouted new growth over winter here- it has been a pretty mild winter here but I still was impressed and thought worth mentioning :-)

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

Hey sagi, I'm in a very similar zone to you, maybe just not as warm and dry.. Caapi does fine here over winter in unprotected spots. It does get s bit scraggly with the cold and the leaves look a bit shagged but come spring it'll jump into action!

[HolographicYou]

It's worth mentioning that my celio Caapi has survived winter just fine here in melbourne without protection and summer in full sun. In fact I struck a cutting mid winter this year,  a thin twig less than 5mm is now sprouting new leaves after being left in the elements. No hormone, no care at all. 

What a resilient plant!

[kadakuda]

green cuttings can work but no where near as well as thicker woodier cuttings.  they layer very well.  but cuttings work well enough.

 

one thing i noticed that maybe is neglected is they tend to grow more up than out.  i have bushes that are meters wide with no support and they grow slow.  if htey have somethign to climb, they are noxious.  training sideways is somewhat hard.  they basically grow up adn fall and repeat.

[Flux]

Curious as to these new shoots sprouting form the base of my 1-yr old Cielo (and exciting given the time of year), this doesn't seem to be the way they would usually form in a jungle environment - and I simply haven't seen any others do this.

[sagiXsagi]

looks pretty cool nevertheless! 

[Flux]

So in addition to these new base shoots, there is also one emerging from under the soil !

Why does this happen...anyone ?

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

Becuz there's a node under the soil that sprouted!

[tarenna]

Amen. If caapi is given nothing but a tiny opportunity at the right place and at the right time then she will amaze...... anything else is a bonus,!!!

[sagiXsagi]

Indeed these are way cold hardier than f.e argyreia that would have stopped growing by now and depending on how protected the spot would be would start losing leaves. 

 

These guys (or are they dudettes?) are still growing. I have lost none, a couple that are still in very small containers were stressed by winds and mechanical, but hey.. 

 

I followed something that I read somewhere. That pruning it back, even repeatedly, seems to strengthen the plant and (?) make the trunk go wider. I especially did this in the (first two pictures) specimen that started climbing and was repotted first, because it was branching and trying to climb up and there was nothing for it, plus I wanted to try to keep it movable, so I pruned and pruned.. 

 

Those that are growing are going slower than in early automn, but still steady. 

[sagiXsagi]

well we have pretty cold days, for our standards here, we propably have under zero temps for couple hours too which is extra cold for us here - heck it even snowed a bit! extra rare (didn't measure outside temps yet- will do) 

 

so the caapi's that had stalled, had their fresh shoots burnt by the cold - I am amazed this didnt happen earlier. Most of them in pots are coping ok, it seems. 

[sagiXsagi]

update: this year we had one of the coldest spells in perhaps 60 years. 

Some of my caapi's  (not the ones in the ground) lost all of their leaves, but they are still alive with an exception or two and they seem to be sprouting again! Pretty happy for this. 

 

those in the ground seem they have already woken up. 

 

Last time I checked minimum temp was 12 C 

[sagiXsagi]

Hey, hello

 

I think my caapi seeds was from some european forum (horsey sent them to me)

 

Have any of you people seen variegata tendencies in any? At first I thought it was the cold of the winter, not I see it in more plants, at first it seemed like some bug damage, but then again it resembles a lot the leaves of a variegated leaf chilli  I am growing.. 

 

So if it's really a variegata, is it really rare? 

 

ciao!

[sagiXsagi]

aphids seem to like caapi again this year. I have to deal with my ants problem

 

caapis in general seem pretty hardy for zone 9 and easy, agressive plants, so most of my rhetoric questions in the begining of the post are mostly answered after a year with very cold winter over here.  

 

so here are some "variegated" plants  / leaves, it's really strange,but I am not really experienced in variegations and variegated plants. 

 

could it be the mosaic virus? whatever it is, I like the sight of those old variegated leaves... 

 

[sagiXsagi]

sprouting from the base.. fast forward 3 years and it will be a mess. oh well!  

 

do you think I should prune them? I have been pruning them 2 plants that are in the ground a lot.. 

[AbleKay]

On 08/06/2017 at 4:28 AM, sagiXsagi said:

 

could it be the mosaic virus? whatever it is, I like the sight of those old variegated leaves... 

 

yep

 

On 03/01/2018 at 9:12 PM, sagiXsagi said:

sprouting from the base.. fast forward 3 years and it will be a mess. oh well!  

 

do you think I should prune them? I have been pruning them 2 plants that are in the ground a lot.. 

Hopefully you've left them in, when larger parts of the vine higher up are pruned I've found very little new growth opportunities come from the pruned areas. of course they will shoot, but I think the best opportunities will come from those sprouts

 

 

[sagiXsagi]

plant has grown, is pretty neat..  it would be fun to take a picture of the same spot 

 

Edited December 18, 2019 by sagiXsagi

[sagiXsagi]

it seems I pruned some, but not all. here is it now 

 

[Pedro99]

Wow cool to see the growth between 2 yrs. Mine is still very skinny. It's branching out sideways in every direction despite there being a trellis above it to climb. I keep trying to guide the new shoots up into it but it wants no part of it. 

Edited December 21, 2019 by Pedro99

[rottenjonny]

They never do what they're told in my experience. If I go to train the new shoots it will die off

[Dazed Botanicals]

Can anyone help me with what is going on with my caapi in the attached photos, it grew well in spring and start of summer now has these burn/damaged leaves and doesn’t seem to be growing.

and advise is appreciated.

[Glaukus]

7 hours ago, jo myco said:

Can anyone help me with what is going on with my caapi in the attached photos, it grew well in spring and start of summer now has these burn/damaged leaves and doesn’t seem to be growing.

and advise is appreciated.

My vines get this sort of look during winter from cold dry wind. But it's summer so clearly not the same issue.

If your vine is in a pot, how long has it been in there since last repotting? They do much better when in the ground, but that may not be an option for you. They like a lot of root space and lots of water. Have you been feeding it? Caapi are voracious feeders, they'll eat it up in summer. 

Without more knowledge of the conditions it's growing in, most of us would only be guessing as to what the issue is a d what to do about it.

Edited February 2, 2020 by Glaukus
Spelling

[Dazed Botanicals]

12 hours ago, Glaukus said:

My vines get this sort of look during winter from cold dry wind. But it's summer so clearly not the same issue.

If your vine is in a pot, how long has it been in there since last repotting? They do much better when in the ground, but that may not be an option for you. They like a lot of root space and lots of water. Have you been feeding it? Caapi are voracious feeders, they'll eat it up in summer. 

Without more knowledge of the conditions it's growing in, most of us would only be guessing as to what the issue is a d what to do about it.

Glaukus thanks for the input,

it hasn’t been  potted up since spring when it grew like crazy, I give it power feed every so often but probably not enough.

might try potting it up and feeding more often, is powerfeed and seasol the best things for it? 

[Glaukus]

Seasol is good, I'd probably advise a more organic nutrient than powerfeed, but that's just me, there's nothing wrong with it per se.