Illustro Posted March 1, 2009 (edited) Hey all, I have been on here lurking for a while, but until now havent had much to say. AFOAF in Uruguay got a khat plant a month or so ago and its just been growing really strangely. Apparently when he first got it it had very thick, leathery - typical khat leaves. He put it in his greenhouse for a few weeks and it exploded in heaps of big, soft, green leaves (they didnt have red pigment for some reason and never became leathery like the original leaves) so he put it onto his deck (about 12hrs direct sun a day) and let it rip. Well within a few days the new leaves started rolling up and looking dehydrated. So he put it in a shadier place and it seemed to stabilize and its leaves started looking healthier but all growth seemed to cease. He put it back out and it dropped about half its leaves in 2 days. And much of the new growth looked like it was literally boiling, which resulted in crescent shaped leaves that never developed properly. He had to leave for a few weeks so i put it back into the shadier place (about 8hrs direct sun a day) when he returned it had dropped every single leaf it had before he left and just had a heap of small, extremely fragile, green growth. The soil is about 1/3 potting mix 2/3 coarse sand - plus some scattered sheep nuggets. He watered it about once a week with about 2 liters and fertilized it twice with a specially mixed fertilizer (calcium nitrate/urea/potash + trace elements) in low concentrations. It definitely wasnt too much water, as it hadnt rained in months and it was scorching hot. He has his suspicions it was simply too hot and windy and he keeps putting it in different environments. The first 3 pics are from when he got it to just before it started dropping leaves. Then finally the sad state it was in when he got back.. Some input and any other advice from fellow growers for him would be very much appreciated. Cheers! :D Edited October 5, 2009 by solvo.vestri Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chiral Posted March 1, 2009 Why don't you put it back in the greenhouse where it seemed happy and was putting on growth...why move it around so much..its a young plant prolly doesn't want so much full light yet...if your'e gunna put it outside put it somewhere it gets dappled filtered sun till it can acclimatise its self better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Illustro Posted March 2, 2009 (edited) Yep, thats what he has done. The reason he moved it around so much was simply trying to keep it alive. He was getting really worried as it is extremely rare in his country, he slowly acclimatized it to each new place by slowly introducing it to more heat and light over a few weeks - he wasnt just plonking it there. But as soon as it started to show signs of stress he didnt want to risk killing it by letting it acclimatize properly to the area so he quickly put it in a shadier position. He was hoping to have it as a nice deck feature but he thinks it may be a few years of pampered growth before it can achieve that. But yeah, thanks for your input man, i think he did just need to realize that it is young and would probably be growing at the base of other larger plants at this age in the wild - so full sun was probably a bad move. He just simply assumed desert plant = lots of sun. Cheers! Edited October 5, 2009 by solvo.vestri Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the germinator Posted March 2, 2009 (edited) I've noticed with red Khat which is grown in the shade the leaves turn dark green, the new shoots start out light and after a few days go dark green and very softly delicate. Don't expose that delicate grow.th to unfiltered sun Greenhouse it 'til it comes good then, introduce it to the sun very discriminately. Good luck with that, I lost some babies (Khittens) in the heat wave a few weeks back, it was really sad... Just had another look, that 4th picture looks like over-watering may be having a part to play. Edited March 2, 2009 by the germinator Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
planter Posted March 2, 2009 it seems like with that big of a pot, putting 2L into it would be a helluva lot of water for that small little plant.... but my green has turned red on me... before after Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Illustro Posted March 2, 2009 (edited) Sweet, cheers guys! Hopefully in a few weeks time it will be looking healthy and happy again. Yeah it may have been getting too much water in the few weeks he was away, apparently a big storm came thru and there was a shit load of rain. Plus the wind more than likely claimed some leaves also. Edited October 5, 2009 by solvo.vestri Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
momomoto Posted March 2, 2009 I'm just curious but, How many leaves makes a quid? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
planthelper Posted March 2, 2009 I'm just curious but, How many leaves makes a quid? i use 5 to 10 leaves for one quid, but latly i have increased the size of my quid... some people report effects just from a few leaves, but i think for one session you would use as many young growing tip's and new shoots which you can hold with two hands joined together. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
