What is the life of a kratom tree like? How big do they get? Can you grow your own?
Kratom trees begin their lives as teeny tiny seeds, infinitesimally small, almost like a baby's eyelashes. When the pods of the sexually mature mother tree ripen to perfection, they explode, sending hundreds of thousands of these tiny little threads floating through the air to land delicately on the jungle floor.
When the rains fall or the seeds become moistened by the wet and humid conditions of the rain forest, the life force is catalyzed by the awesome and mysterious power of nature, and they begin to stand erect. This is the very first indication of life and the first sign of successful germination.
Over the ensuing days, this tiny little eyelash of a seed begins to get a microscopic green tip, which will unfold into its very first pair of leaves. These are tiny round leaves, different in shape from the ovate leaves that will follow.
The fragile young seedlings are extremely sensitive and require an undisturbed environment with plenty of warmth and high humidity to survive the initial weeks of life. Unfriendly environmental conditions including low humidity or dry circulating air can incinerate them before your eyes.
The first four weeks after the green sprouts initially appear are the most critical in the life of the kratom tree. If they survive they will grow their next pair of leaves, which will be pointed ovals instead of round circles, and develop an obvious mitre (or duckbill-shaped leaf sheath) from which the next pair of leaves will unfold.
It is this mitre for which mitragyna speciosa and its related species are named. The mitre is like the Russian doll of the plant world, containing not only the next pair of leaves, but the next mitre and its pair of leaves, ad infinitum.
Intentional pruning of select mitres empowers the domestic cultivator to increase the size, shape and productivity of the tree. The first time you remove a mitre, you override the natural singular apical dominance, and the tree splits in two.
Every time you remove a mitre, two grow in its place. We call this the Hydra effect, after Hydra the many-headed water monster from Greek and Roman mythology. According to legend, whenever someone would cut one head off this mythic beast, two more would replace it.
This means the more you work with your tree, the larger it grows, and the more productive it becomes.
Domestic cultivation allows for intentional pruning that bushes trees out and leads to lateral growth and control of the vertical apex. This means you can prune your tree to yield a custom fit, no matter where you grow, whether inside your house, outside in your yard or inside a greenhouse.
An average adult kratom tree grows to approximately 46 feet high. In the wild, if given the ideal environment, kratom trees can reach heights of over 100 feet, as observed in Thailand in the world's oldest kratom forest. Trees can be trimmed to maintain vertical limits if desired as well, and these cuttings can be used to start clones, essentially breaking the tree into multiple pieces.
Although germinating trees from seed is widely considered difficult due to kratom's fragility during the initial few months of life, once the young trees are past the finicky stage, the power of genetics will take over, and proper care can yield impressive specimens. Take a look at this 11 month old tree from our Borneo Rainforest line (image below). This particular specimen is eight feet in height with some leaves over ten inches long, and lab tests reveal it has a potency of 1.19% mitragynine and .004% 7hydroxymitragynine, making it an excellent performer for agricultural applications. Transplanting outdoors or to very large container will signal the tree to take off growing. That should tell you that you really only need a few trees with adequate root space to grow a beautiful large swath of leaves.
If you live in a favorable climate you can grow outdoors. Depending on your location, you can also acclimate the trees to be outside in the spring and summer, then move them inside so they don't go dormant or lose all their leaves during the cold months. Even in frigid climates, you can grow indoors using artificial or natural light. Kratom loves to be warm, moist and kissed by a breeze. Currently people are successfully growing plants in a seasonal indoor-outdoor pattern in Missouri, Oregon, Texas, the Carolinas and elsewhere in the US. Cultivators in Hawaii, Florida, Georgia and southern California are growing outside year round.
For those living in less than favorable climates, indoor growing is a cinch. We sell complete indoor kratom grow kits for $150 (plants sold separately) that recreate the warm, humid environment of the tropics. Kits include a grow tent with a heated floor mat, your choice of grow light customized to the particular needs and temperaments of your specimen, humidity device, complete nutrition regimen, mycorrhizae for root health, and ongoing support. This is a perfect set up for growing in colder climates or during winter months, and serves as a transitional pivot from which you can acclimate trees to thrive robustly outdoors or elsewhere in your house.
We also provide live plants in a variety of sizes, from young seedlings to mother trees that have reached the threshold of harvest maturity.
According to modern Indonesian farming-for-export practices, good kratom trees are ready for their first harvest some time between 6 months and a year of age. According to the Borneo Kratom Association, that is how the popular species came to replace the rubber tree as the preferred export of Indonesian farmers. Compared to the 8-10 years required for a rubber tree to reach harvest maturity, kratom is ready for harvest much earlier. Old trees have wonderful and complex alkaloid profiles, but the pervasive myth that kratom takes decades to reach harvest maturity is incongruous with the observable reality of the current marketplace. The "only old trees are potent" myth has been debunked.
According to Hamilton's Pharmacopeia, a single adult kratom tree yields an average of 20kg of dried powder per year. Being self sufficient is an achievable goal.
Growing your own kratom tree is a very rewarding experience. At Magick Powers Potions, we are here to guide and equip you on this unforgettable journey. We have strong, healthy specimens with top tier genetics sourced from a variety of geographic locations. Join the growing community of plant lovers taking the cultivation of this miraculous tree into their own hands. Become self sufficient today.
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