Growing Psychotria viridis

[Uda]

I'm finally seeing roots on a few of the leaves in baggies, though for most there's visual obstruction by way of the paper towel or rockwool they're on, so I don't know if they all have roots. Not sure about the ones in pots yet; no shoots yet, but I've kept them in high humidity like the bagged ones so hopefully there's roots on them by now too.

All the leaves have been largely forgotten about, and they spent a few freezing nights outside without any apparent bother. They've had generally very low levels of light in very irregular cycles as I decide I want them inside, outside, forget about them etc. Also because of that, temperature has been all over the place. Definitely no green thumb yet.

Never grown Psychotrias before so not sure where to go from here? Keep waiting till they all have visible roots, until shoots appear from the potted leaves? Doesn't seem to me like I need to rush to do anything with them, but any tips would be appreciated.

[Hedonix]

I have a few viridis leaf cuttings going at the moment. The mix is perlite/cocopeat in a small fish tank with reptile heat mat(avg. 28'c). Cuttings were made 15/6/2010, I can see clear roots forming. misting several times daily to keep moist.

Would it be recommended to fertilize prior to new growth appearing?

Thanks

Having scored a few Chacruna leaves from Chiral in early December 2009 I tried my hand at cloning these and have finally (this week) started to see real signs of success

The leaves were cut in half, some cloning gel applied to the cut edges and these were planted in rockwool which was kept moist and the leaves themselves were misted several times daily.

In mid February I saw signs of tiny rootlets appearing from the leaf cuts so potted the rockwool into small pots with coconut coir.

The abovementioned care continued (pots were given limited amounts of filtered sunlight daily).

This week I have my first baby viridis and I am overjoyed by this success, it took 3 months to happen but just goes to show that perseverance does further!

I am hopeful the other leaf cuttings will follow suit in the near future.

Thank you Chiral

 

Edited August 28, 2010 by Hedonix

[planthelper]

I have a few viridis leaf cuttings going at the moment.

Would it be recommended to fertilize prior to new growth appearing?

Thanks

 

my answere is yes!

make up a foliar spray strengh and foliar spray the leaf and the babies, but just 2 or 3 (hand held) spray pumps, ok? and do not repeat that process for another week, than repeat and increase treatment.

once you have a bigger plant, i would though hardly ever use liquid ferts on plants (artifical fert destroys soil), and rather switch to, pellets, manures, composts and worm castings.

spoiling a seedling or very young cutting, somehow sets up the plant to become a strong plant for all the rest of it's life.

[Hedonix]

my answere is yes!

make up a foliar spray strengh and foliar spray the leaf and the babies, but just 2 or 3 (hand held) spray pumps, ok? and do not repeat that process for another week, than repeat and increase treatment.

once you have a bigger plant, i would though hardly ever use liquid ferts on plants (artifical fert destroys soil), and rather switch to, pellets, manures, composts and worm castings.

spoiling a seedling or very young cutting, somehow sets up the plant to become a strong plant for all the rest of it's life.

 

Thanks Planthelper.

wonering what you'd recommend for a foliar spray? i've read "One of the most popular foliar spray fertilisers is fish emulsion. However, it's not the best as most fish emulsions usually have a ratio of 5:1:1 which is great for growth to the exclusion of blooms and fruit. You would be better finding a liquid fertiliser with an NPK ratio of 1:1:1.5."

[Rabelais]

There is also run-to-waste hydroponic growing for psychotria.

Almost equal amounts of perlite and vermiculite (more perlite). Watered every 2-3 days with a half strength general hydroponics nutrients.

A few drops of phosphoric acid per bucket of water to drop ph below 6.

The internal reservoir is almost non-existent...I think because psychotria does not have a tap root? First time I used this method; the reservoir drain was around an inch from the base, the leaves quickly started to wilt - they do not like wet feet.

Second time around I basically ditched the internal reservoir, they have never looked happier or grown faster.

P.alba grows like a weed with this method.

Edited September 2, 2010 by Dale Cooper

[Hedonix]

my answere is yes!

make up a foliar spray strengh and foliar spray the leaf and the babies, but just 2 or 3 (hand held) spray pumps, ok? and do not repeat that process for another week, than repeat and increase treatment.

once you have a bigger plant, i would though hardly ever use liquid ferts on plants (artifical fert destroys soil), and rather switch to, pellets, manures, composts and worm castings.

spoiling a seedling or very young cutting, somehow sets up the plant to become a strong plant for all the rest of it's life.

 

Greetings,

I have had the time today to take some photos of the psychotria leaf cuttings, I don't have a macro lens so the roots that are growing are barely visible in the pics. On all 3 of the leaves, where the base meets the coco-peat mix I can see lime green roots,when they first appeared they were clear and very thin - now a lime green colour with some thinner, clear roots shooting out from the thicker lime green roots.

I Made a foliar spray with a pinch of blood and bone on the 30th August - I wasn't too sure if this would be the correct product to fertilize with but I took my chances and this hasn't killed them.

The cuttings were made on the 16 June 2010 - I have been misting them 3 - 4 times daily and they are kept in a small fish tank with reptile heat mat and an 18watt biolux fluro light. The Mat and light were originally purchased from a pet store - recommended to me for when I found a small snake in my garage. Since the time I made the cuttings the heat mat and light have been on for 95% of the time. Today is the first day I've taken them outside into direct sun, after 1pm, for 2 hours.

The tops of the leaves are yellowing, but have stayed that way the whole time. The colour of the leaves has remained the same (dark green) for the whole time also.

Wondering if anyone can comment on the health by looking at these photos if possible, and maybe give me a little guidance as to what is best to do? This is my first attempt at making cuttings and I'm not really sure if I'm doing the right thing. The growing mix i have them in is perlite and coco-peat, would this be suitable? They are still alive but I'm wondering if they will actually shoot into new plants?

There have been bugs crawling on the leaves and burrowing below the surface of the peat when i mist them (thrips or fungas gnats i think), I have made a garlic spray - this has been effective in killing them off, and keeps them away for a few days before they return and I have to spray again.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[psili sausage]

I've got these two plants as a result of a leaf cutting I planted almost a year ago (believe it or not). I want to split them up but I don't want to damage their roots... Can someone give me some advice as to whether I should wait till they're a bit bigger or do it now?

[pinkoyd]

I would let them get just a bit bigger, more for the stems than the roots though. The stems need to be a little tougher. Viridis are amazingly hardy and can stand losing a bit of root at this age. If they get too big, separating them will be hopeless.

I once defoliated and barerooted four plants about a foot tall and transported them across the country (USA) in the back of a moving truck. Wrapped the roots in moist paper towels and a plastic bag. They all made it and are now over eight feet tall. (This was obviously more than a few years ago. PV is sslllooowww....)

Short of a hard freeze, viridis can really take a lot of abuse if necessary. But I don't recommend it...

[samadhi_sam]

As a follow up to the original post that started this thread, find below a pic of the babies as they are today, some 7 months and a few days on.

These viridis have had a tough time in the past few months, they have survived a move and some unfriendly conditions afterwards but look reasonably healthy for what they have been through.

I need to repot into some decent medium and get some kind of shadehouse up before the summer heat arrives.

Any other clues would be most appreciated.

Love and peace,

sam

 

[planthelper]

they look quite good, surely they have been in controlled enviroment, or did they overwinter outdoors?

i give you one more trick about psychotrias, i call it massaging or grooming.

what you do is, to remove all the dry bits around the stems.

i use a soft twig of a plant for that. if one removes all this dark and shrivelled material, one can sometimes hear the plant speak to you, "a thank you"!!

with this soft twig you can aswell remove easely any scales, you might spot on your plant.

removing those dry collars, helps the plant, and sometimes i thought, that this practice gave rise to circumsicion practices.

anyway, springtime is a good time to closly inspect your viridis, and to pamper them after a hard winter.

[psili sausage]

That's interesting planthelper. I've had constant issues with scale/mealy bugs and my psychotrias, and I've often found myself picking off the dried bits around the nodes as I searched for scale to pick off. I wondered if it may be detrimental to the plant, but you say it is helpful?

I'd be more inclined to call it manicuring than massaging

[samadhi_sam]

they look quite good, surely they have been in controlled enviroment, or did they overwinter outdoors?

 

Thank you planthelper, I greatly appreciate the advice and will groom these over the coming weekend.

Indeed these were kept in a controlled environment during winter, 12 hours light per day (shaded), close to 25C most of the time and misted several times a day.

An impending move meant they were bought outside on Sept 1 to harden up a little and they have since moved and have been getting a lot of love if not ideal conditions ever since.

I'm sure they will love the massage/grooming and I will transplant into a nicer medium/bigger pots over the next few weeks.

Time also to get some more leaf cuttings happening....

Love and peace,

Sam

[Casuarius]

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Edited January 22, 2011 by Casuarius

[planthelper]

i think, i might be able to add more ideas to casu's observation about tip cutting versus leaf cutting.

the reason why your tip cuttings lack a bit of virgor and have smaller leaves is because you took the cuttings from a part of a plant which alredy expressed very mature growth, one could say, you took a clone of grand dad and he is not kicking ass anymore.

mature growth signs are reduced virgor and smaller leaves and naturaly flowering.

if one takes cuttings of mature growth, mature growth will follow, but often the plant itselfe will re juvinate itselfe.

taking leaf cuttings, always automaticly will reset the body clock and after the initial inmature growth, will develope virgourous juvenile growth.

if you take tip cuttings of very juvenile growth, you aswell will end up with virgourous growth!!

take tip cuttings of juvenile plants, or re juvinate the mother plants.

but re juvinating means to prune them back hard, and thats hard to do on your viridis.

[psili sausage]

That's interesting planthelper.

My bigger plant is sending out new growth all along the branches after being pruned for cuttings in early spring. Would you say, if I took a cutting from a new stem growing off the main trunk it would express juvenile growth behaviour? I remember reading something about taking cuttings of fruit producing plants that were "so many" nodes away from the roots to get them to fruit sooner. Sounded to me like the opposite of the same concept.

Oh wait, I just read the last paragraph about rejuvenating by pruning. Looks like that's what I've done anyway...

[mint]

a note to the new guys out there to leaf cuttings, dont use too much rooting gel/powder, your roots will burst!

also fungus or bacteria on my leaf cuttings? from to much humidity?

Edited November 8, 2010 by msmith

[Casuarius]

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Edited January 22, 2011 by Casuarius