How To Grow Your Own Kratom

Not everyone has a green thumb. Those who do often grow their own herbs and produce. They do it to save money, to be connected to the source of their food, and simply because they enjoy it. If that sounds like you, and you’re also a kratom user, it’s only natural to think about growing your own kratom along with your tomatoes and peppers.

As a quick overview of the kratom plant, its scientific Latin name is Mitragyna speciosa. The plant grows naturally in Southeast Asia. That region of the world is tropical, meaning it has very different climate conditions to most places in the United States and Europe. To grow your own kratom, you’ll need to be able to replicate these conditions at home.

Time & Space To Grow Your Own Kratom

You should also know a little about what you’ll be getting into if you grow your own kratom. Without significant space and patience, you won’t be able to harvest from your plant if it grows. Kratom is a tree that typically grows for a few years before farmers harvest the leaves. So, right off you’re looking at a two-year investment at a minimum.

When a kratom tree is mature enough to harvest, it stands around 20 feet high. It’s definitely not a houseplant unless you have an impressive ceiling clearance. The ideal place to keep one is a greenhouse, conservatory, or climate-controlled area. You’ll need to be able to set temperature and humidity levels for your plants.

Seeds & Cuttings

Kratom is infamously difficult to grow because the two ways to propagate it – through seeds and cuttings – are very tricky. Neither seeds nor cuttings stay viable for long. That makes overseas shipping impractical and domestic shipping costly. Your best bet for these kratom starters is to go as local as you can.

Kratom seeds are very small. The wind spreads the seeds in the wild, so they have to be light enough to float away. Most of the time, you’ll find the seeds sold in pods. These are round spiky balls like those of Sweet Gum trees. Each pod can hold about 50 seeds. You will need a lot of seeds. Out of 100 seeds, only 20 will germinate. Plant a lot of seeds from the freshest source you can find.

You can also grow your own kratom from cuttings. These are pieces from a larger plant. They grow an exact clone of the mother plant. Most people have more success with cuttings than they do with seeds. Once you have your cutting, under the right conditions, it should begin to grow small roots. You can help the roots along by dipping the end of the cutting in a rooting hormone or mycelium solution.

Then, put the cutting in a rockwell cube. This is a planting cube made from spun liquid rock that’s meant for growing plants hydroponically. You can find them online at places like this one.

Water & Fertilizer

Your kratom plant will need a lot of care during the first few months of its life. In its initial six weeks, keep it under a light source for 24 hours. You can do this with a grow light. The plant also needs humidity. During the first six weeks, keep the cutting at 50% humidity or higher.

There are a lot of different fertilizers you can use. You can choose to go with something organic or use chemical fertilizer. Just make sure the label says 15-9-12. That means it has 15% nitrogen, 9% phosphorus, and 12% potassium. You’ll need to dissolve it in water and use it to water your cutting twice a day. If your plant begins to turn yellow or look like it’s being burnt, reduce your fertilizer by half.

Transplanting To Grow Your Own Kratom

Your kratom plant should now have enough roots to leave the rockwell cube and migrate to a pot. You can use any kind of pot, but plastic pots are best. Clay pots allow too much moisture to escape. Before you put your rooted cutting in the pot, mix up its favorite potting soil:

• 50% peat
• 28% pine bark
• 10% perlite
• 12% vermiculite

Pack the soil around your plant’s new roots, gently but firmly. In a month, it’ll be time to transplant again. When you do, you’ll switch up the potting mix:

• 45% sphagnum
• 35% pine bark
• 10% perlite
• 10% vermiculite

Once it leaves the rockwell cube, you can switch it to a normal daylight cycle. Give the plant access to natural light from now on. These recommendations were taken from a study on Kratom fertilizer levels by the University of Florida.

Harvesting

Growing your own kratom takes a lot of patience and a bit of luck. Most people don’t succeed on their first try. For those looking for a gardening challenge, however, kratom is certainly that. If you’ve kept your kratom tree alive for two years, congratulations! You can now begin to harvest leaves.

Professional kratom producers prepare the leaves in different ways. Some leaves are simply cured in the sun. The leaves can also be fermented or pasteurized. Commercial kratom is often analyzed by a third party that verifies it’s free of contamination by microbes and other substances.

Of course, you can always chew the fresh leaves or use them in tea. However, be cautious. Different conditions can cause a plant to have different concentrations of alkaloids that provide kratom’s benefits. Until you know how your particular plant is balanced, keep track of how much you consume and start with a very small amount. Leaves from younger trees are typically more potent than mature trees.

The best way to ensure you’re getting a quality kratom product with consistent results is to go through your trusted kratom supplier. Look for analysis certificates, statements of identity, and other evidence that your source is following the FDA’s Good Manufacturing Practices.

Families in Southeast Asia have been harvesting kratom for generations. They have extensive experience choosing the right leaves at the right time. Many farmers rely on income from kratom harvesting to support themselves. Sometimes it’s more enjoyable to sit back and enjoy kratom than it is to grow it yourself. So if you want to skip the hard part and jump straight to the enjoyment, buying kratom from a trusted vendor is the best option.