Growing Banisteriopsis caapi help?

[sc001]

Hey all i recently purchased Banisteriopsis caapi plant which was already established, and i took off the humidity bag which came with it and put the plant in the back yard in a relatively damp are under some other plants and bushes. iv had it for 4-5 days now and day by day it has been drying up and slowly diying by the looks of it.

i have now brought the plant in the laundry room and have placed the put on a plate with some old tshirts i had which i wet with warm water and put the pot on top of that, with some plastic covering as a humidity bag hanging on top on 2 sticks that i placed so air can still come and fgo from undernieth. The room has light coming in from the nearby window but it will only get sunslight depending which angle the sun is shining.

now i want to know if it is right what im doing and if i need to add any special type of soloution or fetiliser to it as im new to this and learning, this is a photo of it:

1.http://www.keepandshare.com/userpics/s/a/m/0/01/2012-06/sb/img_0110-89464708.jpg?ts=1339477169

2.http://www.keepandshare.com/userpics/s/a/m/0/01/2012-06/sb/img_0109-68260710.jpg?ts=1339477173

i also have Phalaris arundinacea, Calea zacatechichi which i have just placed in the backyard and their also looking very average any tips on what i should do with them. The phalaris leaves seem ti be breaking on them self and hanging loose by the sides. the Calea zacatechichi is looking ok i guess but doesnt look very fresh.

any tips will be appriciated

cheers

[ghosty]

i find they love charlie carp! they need good sunlight and moisture. i have not had problems with humidity at all thus far. mine have slowed down their growth allot right now i think due to the temps not being so warm. another thing i notice about them is that they dont like to be handled much. every time i move one or remove it from a pot, it stunts its growth for a few weeks. so far the cutting i took about 3 weeks ago are doing ok and they are outside in the wind, rain and cold. though it has not dropped below about 6 degrees C at night. acording to my pyrometer =) good luck and wish it well.

[ghosty]

just noticed ur in south australia. it gets VERY cold down there. this maybe the issue. these plants hate cold. they are from amazon so the temps are always rather high. try to keep it warm.

[stavroski]

keep them nice and cozy till winters past and if they get through the winter they'll be fine. don't leave them outside yet, i'd say the laundry would be a bit cold, the caapi doesnt need any heavy sunlight especially when young, remember they start on the jungle floor and reach out for the canopy giving them too much sun doesn't help early growth, they'll mostly stop growing now anyway, so just keep em tucked up inside and buy your seedlings in spring next time

[ghosty]

good point stavroski. thats how i first placed mine, though it didnt do well so i moved it out to get more sun. everytime i see the good people of the amazon harvest these plants though, they are in a more open area. perhaps they prefer the more open areas but will grow as you say if they have to, becoming the liana they are known to be? i know for me at least, they do much better here in more sunlight. perhaps the temps and humidity play more part in this being so far from their native home? strongly agree to you're advise to keep them warm till they get going =)

[sc001]

so to make a conclusion what should i do now? should i remove the humidity bag over it as someone on another forum is telling me its bad idea?

where should i place this plant if laundry isnt good idea?

thanks

[sc001]

also keep in mind that in winter the reverse cycle air con is on with tempature on 22 degrees, so the yair can get very dry, so would it be good idea to keep humidity bag?

[stavroski]

i don't thinkk the dry air would be a problem, but i'd leave the bag as it is. it still gets air circulation plus humidity.(if it looks sick take the bag off for a couple of days) it's a baby, so you'll have to nurse it. let it get some light from a window, dont overwater and i'd probably avoid any fertilizer till it shows active growth. remember these plants tend to shut down this time of year, so don't worry too much.

[sc001]

i don't thinkk the dry air would be a problem, but i'd leave the bag as it is. it still gets air circulation plus humidity.(if it looks sick take the bag off for a couple of days) it's a baby, so you'll have to nurse it. let it get some light from a window, dont overwater and i'd probably avoid any fertilizer till it shows active growth. remember these plants tend to shut down this time of year, so don't worry too much.

 

thanks, well the bag was put on today, and now i have moved the plant from laundry to dining room infront of a window. i didnt know about the over watering but ill buy a water spray and spray it 2-3 a day.

do you reccomend the same for Phalaris arundinacea, Calea zacatechichi, shhould i bring them indoors with humidity bags as their babies as well?

[stavroski]

bring em in don't worry bout the bags though. i'm not familiar wth the phalaris but all my calea that are established outdoors have pretty much stopped growing and the potted ones in the hothouse are slowing down. i don't reckon 0degrees in SA is the same as 0degrees up here, it stays there longer so has alot more chill about it. bring em in you won't do them any harm, strike up some cuttings off the calea during next years growth and see about establishing them outside next winter or the one after, they grow plenty big in good sized pots.

Edited June 12, 2012 by stavroski

[Sallubrious]

Did you get the caapi from somewhere tropical or semi tropical ?

If you did it probably feels like you would if you stepped of a plane in Antarctica. That's a bit extreme but you get the point.

I've seen this happen quite a bit when caapi plants are taken to a cold area, they seem to go into dormancy and drop most of their leaves. Don't be overly concerned with the leaves but if the stem dies back to ground level you'll have a problem.

A dormant plant needs no water unless the soil is nearly bone dry so just let it do it's thing and it should come back in spring. If it is not actively growing it won't need fertiliser either.

A caapi vine will stretch out in low light conditions and stay much more compact in bright/direct light. I've found they can take full sun up until early December and then they much prefer half shade.

[migraineur]

I live in Perth and mine came from a tropical climate. I can't remember if I ever used humidity domes on them at the start but if they did then they have been without them for a very long time. They are even still growing at this time of year and for the past number of months have been getting some direct sun each day but not heaps. I have three and one finally started to take off a few months ago so it stays outside. The other two are smaller and due to bad weather I brought them inside the last few nights. I also stuck them under fluro grow lights and they loved it.

Have you got a grow light that you can stick it under? You can get them cheaply from Ebay and they don't use much power. They're also great for seedlings, cuttings and supplementing with light your fragile plants that you bring inside during the Winter months.

[sc001]

Did you get the caapi from somewhere tropical or semi tropical ?

If you did it probably feels like you would if you stepped of a plane in Antarctica. That's a bit extreme but you get the point.

I've seen this happen quite a bit when caapi plants are taken to a cold area, they seem to go into dormancy and drop most of their leaves. Don't be overly concerned with the leaves but if the stem dies back to ground level you'll have a problem.

A dormant plant needs no water unless the soil is nearly bone dry so just let it do it's thing and it should come back in spring. If it is not actively growing it won't need fertiliser either.

A caapi vine will stretch out in low light conditions and stay much more compact in bright/direct light. I've found they can take full sun up until early December and then they much prefer half shade.

 

i got them from sharman australian website, the plant came with a humidity bag and wet newspaper to keep it damp and it was in very good condition when it came.

so the plants will be inside the house now and i will remove the bags

[Alice]

I think the cold shock that it may have already experienced could be a problem, as it is such a small plant. If it doesn't survive, try to source another in spring, which will be difficult as that's when people are starting to root their cuttings - maybe early summer would be better. At least it gets time to establish before the cold sets it.

I'm sure there are folks here who have successfully grown caapi in SA. But this is not the time of year to be trying to repot and establish a small caapi cutting in a cold climate.

[migraineur]

You can get humidity domes from Bunnings that should sit nicely over your plant and provide plenty of room. They also have an adjustable opening at the top. You could use one of these and use a spray bottle to mist every so often so your plant doesn't undergo shock so much.

[sc001]

I think the cold shock that it may have already experienced could be a problem, as it is such a small plant. If it doesn't survive, try to source another in spring, which will be difficult as that's when people are starting to root their cuttings - maybe early summer would be better. At least it gets time to establish before the cold sets it.

I'm sure there are folks here who have successfully grown caapi in SA. But this is not the time of year to be trying to repot and establish a small caapi cutting in a cold climate.

 

well i bought the plant inside, and have removed the plastic humidity cover.

the leaves are dry and brittle, but as im told it should still be ok even if leaves drop, so ill wait and see what happens in a warmer enviroment in the house

[migraineur]

Alice is right about it being the wrong time of year but this need not be a problem if you bring your plants inside where it's warm and if you use a cheap fluro grow light.

For example, a few weeks ago someone caused some things to fall onto my P. Viridis which almost completely severed it. It's the only P. Viridis I have so I had to act quickly to make conditions suitable for saving any of it.

I put tape around where it broke, put a dome over it, misted it and drove to Bunnings to buy a heated propagation box, cloning gel and other accessories. I made 7 leaf cuttings and 2 stem cuttings. I also left 1 leaf on the original plant, which was reduced to almost nothing, in case it pulled through. They were then placed inside where they receive warmth, artificial light and misting.

Although I was worried I would lose everything given that it's Winter and I had no experience in making cuttings apart from cactus cuttings, the original plant is still alive and has new shoots, the two stem cuttings are showing growth and the leaf cuttings are still green and healthy.

[sc001]

Alice is right about it being the wrong time of year but this need not be a problem if you bring your plants inside where it's warm and if you use a cheap fluro grow light.

For example, a few weeks ago someone caused some things to fall onto my P. Viridis which almost completely severed it. It's the only P. Viridis I have so I had to act quickly to make conditions suitable for saving any of it.

I put tape around where it broke, put a dome over it, misted it and drove to Bunnings to buy a heated propagation box, cloning gel and other accessories. I made 7 leaf cuttings and 2 stem cuttings. I also left 1 leaf on the original plant, which was reduced to almost nothing, in case it pulled through. They were then placed inside where they receive warmth, artificial light and misting.

Although I was worried I would lose everything given that it's Winter and I had no experience in making cuttings apart from cactus cuttings, the original plant is still alive and has new shoots, the two stem cuttings are showing growth and the leaf cuttings are still green and healthy.

 

do you reccomend the humidity bag? several people are saying no and some yes.

well im buying a multi colour (RED/BLUE) grow light from ebay and actually going to bunnings tomorrow to see what sort of things they have.

[Justin Credible]

Stop stop stop! An led growlight wont save your plants alone.

No one knows your plant aswell as you do right now. As far as the humidity bag everyone is probably right, just live in different climates. To find your answers learn about the plants origins not just history and uses.

Does the Caapi thrive in a humid environment or not? What temp - min & max and do what you can to replicate it.

Edited June 12, 2012 by Nothink

[migraineur]

Well, it can be a bit of a shock when you get moved from your nice warm humid environment, thrown in a dark bag for a couple of days whilst in transit and then put into a different environment. Plants tend to be weaned off their original conditions slowly in order to harden them up.

I have a 125 watt fluro in the ultra blue 14, 000k range. I also have a 250 watt fluro which is a dual spectrum 6400/2700k. I actually ordered a non dual spectrum because I wanted more blue light for growth instead of red light for flowering but I got called after I placed my order and they said they didn't have any in stock so I settled for a dual range.

If you want heat mats, lights or other things then check Ebay first. I found a couple of sellers that have the best prices. Even though I'm ordering bulky items from interstate I still save a lot. I only bought the heated propagator from Bunnings that day because I could not afford to wait for half a week.

[Distracted]

If it's any consolation my outside caapi has been fine all winter until the last week where it's started dropping leaves and developing black spots at the tips and the leaves just generally look unhealthy. The vine is still growing though and looks nice and green.

From what i've read the leaves can be exposed to low humidity but the roots at the top of the soil like to be keep nice and moist.

[sc001]

well i bought a spectrum light where its got all the diffrent colours, and i put wet tshirts around the put to keep it moist and humid and have the plants indoor and i spray them with water spray 2-3 times a day so im hoping im on the right track

[sc001]

would it help to spray plants with warm water?

[migraineur]

Your shirt might become moldy and stinky after a few days.

I don't warm up the water in my spray bottle.

[tipz]

SC why don't you go buy a small 2nd hand terrarium ( like this one for $5 http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LOVELY-GLASS-LEAD-LIGHT-PLANT-TERRARIUM-/120925906158?pt=AU_Pots_Planters&hash=item1c27bee4ee or similar ). then either buy a CFL and keep it indoors, or buy a small heating pad and keep it outdoors - or put the terrarium on your water heater or something. By springtime it will be fine.

It really is quite a mission to grow B.caapi outdoors in Adelaide, but some manage to do OK.