Cultivation of Plants that Reputedly Have Medicinal or Ethnobotanical Value

 I rarely bother to update this page anymore. I mostly focus on my blog. I could write an e-book if there is any interest, or provide customized growing notes for a small fee.  You may also invite me to speak or present a workshop.

All plants are grown at my home in the Mid-Atlantic region.  No greenhouse or expensive equipment is used.  Below are some of the plants with notes on cultivation, successes and missteps. Notes are revised and expanded as I progress, and when I get a round tuit. Do not expect to find common nursery and seed stock varieties here since they are covered in many articles, books and websites. All plants are, insofar as I know, legal to grow and possess in the state where I grow them, but that does not necessarily imply they are legal in yours.  Just because the US Congress grows it doesn't mean you can. In addition, there may be laws, regulations and ordinances involving using them for medicine or selling them for that purpose in your locality, state, or country, and I do not purport to be an expert in this area. 

Hence, I do not describe the plants' medicinal uses.  I presume you have some knowledge of these plants already.  For online sources, I would check Richter's website , which has a tremendous amount of information, as well as the Vaults of Erowid (http://www.erowid.org/).  Alternatively, just do a search on a particular plant.  However, as Coach Joe Wilson told me when I was a lad, "son, don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see." Even careful, painstaking research can be inaccurate or outdated in some aspects. Caveat emptor.

Plants, Seeds, More!

Some of these plants listed below are from varied climates all over the globe, while others are native American plants.  Some are easy to germinate and grow well in a Mid-Atlantic climate.  Others need to be wintered over in cold conditions before they germinate, or need high temperatures.  In some few cases I have not tried to germinate seeds, but have bought plants.  The plants requiring hot conditions for a significant period of time are the most difficult to germinate without a greenhouse.  The past three springs have been very difficult for those plants that are best started from seed outside (or were planted there due to lack of inside space). 2007 was a very difficult year in the Mid-Atlantic region due to drought.  It is unusually hard to keep young plants alive and a few plants have been kept indoors under less than ideal lighting since germination.  Our summer of 2007 was extended until late October, thus many plants were still outside in pots until mid-November. Also, despite my efforts at composting and adding leaf mold, the soil remains poor here. 

One thing is for certain - the soil, temperature, nutrients, amount of direct sunlight that one plant prefers might kill another one. Also, I might have success with a few plants that are hard to grow and no success with some noted to be easy to grow.  There may be a logical explanation, but I might not know what it is.

Winter 2008 was particularly hard on my inside plants.  I have been unable to get many of them as much light as they need.  If they get too dry, they are attacked by aphids and my organic sprays don't do the job.  Sometimes the soil stays too moist and they are killed by fungus.  The organic solution of spraying them with water and baking soda does not work either.  Also, I have bugs, commonly known as roly-polys where I grew up, that rode in from the outside.  They eat plants and probably spread fungal diseases. I suspect some plants are not meant to be houseplants, although a temperature-controlled greenhouse might help.  If y'all click on my advertisers and buy enough products, maybe I can afford a small indoor greenhouse. But much of my experiment here is based upon growing plants under adverse conditions. What if we were reduced to power for only a few hours a day, conditions that exist in Iraq and other parts of the world? 

Spring/summer/fall 2008 was equally harsh, particularly on what I planted outside, with weather conditions similar to 2007.  Rain comes in torrents for a few hours then quits for weeks.  But I also had some surprising successes as described in the individual entries below.

Winter 2009 could have been worse, but it could have been better also.  I had trouble germinating plants with this $30 "mini-greenhouse" I purchased in 2008.  I can't get the moisture right.  Last spring, it was too wet and damping off killed most seedlings. Now the pots dry out at exposed part of the planting mix a little too fast.  I am also worrying about the quality of the seeds I purchased (from someone other than my advertisers).  And some plants just may not germinate under the conditions I can provide.  A few other plants have died and a few seem to be dying, although they may snap back in a few months if I keep enough light on them and neither water too little or too much. 

Winter 2009-10  has not been as bad so far, because I have gone out of my way to give the plants more sun and less water. But one never knows ifthey will be attacked by bugs.

Summer of 2010 was downright brutal. Hot and dry. Really stressed my plants.

 Check my blog for additional photos and commentary (http://eatmoretoadstools.com/wordpress).  Less and less makes it to this page.

Plants

Blue lotus (Nymphaea caerulea) – seed (needs special conditions – I started the seeds and gave the plants to someone with a small pond).   Needs aquarium or running water. Gave seeds to someone with running water in 2005, but he was unable to keep the deer out of his water plants. Seeds from IamShaman.

California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) – seed, planted outside.   Grows well. 2005 plants mostly wintered over in a mild VA winter.   Those that were mulched died.   Added a new batch of seeds (red flower) early spring 2006.   New plants survived into early winter 2006-7.   Late winter cold knocked them all out.   New golden poppy seeds planted in spring 2007, red not available from my usual supplier. They did well until the drought set them back.  They have come back in December 2007. Pleny came up in 2008 also.  Seeds from Redwood City Seed Company.

Chacruna (Psychotria viridis) – seed (no success as of spring 2007). Known to be very difficult to germinate and I can vouch for that.  Still no success as of July 2007 or January 2008. Seeds from Bouncing Bear Botanicals and IamShaman.

Diviner’s sage (Salvia divinorum) – originally 3 plants from Bouncing Bear Botanicals; cuttings, pots and outside.   Plant does not like high heat and drought.   Prefers moist 60-70F.  Would be a perfect greenhouse plant.  The plants rarely if ever produce seeds, but success rate with cuttings is high. I am experimenting with starting new plants from fresh leaves.  One survived a month and apparently grew roots, but it did not survive when I took a business trip. The best specimens I have seen are in the US Botanical Garden. As of December 2007, all my plants have died, but one is producing leaves from the ground.  That one died in 2008 and I have no remaining plants nor can I order them.

Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenemium) – bought live plant at a farmers' market, planted outside.  Hardy in VA, doing well as of spring 2007, spreading seeds and producing new plants. Survived the drought, doing well through 2008 and winter 2009.

Ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) – Planted stratified year old seeds, some outside, some refrigerated, some left outside for a cold month and brought inside.   None germinated.   Planted rootlets in fall 2006. One germinated inside, wilted due to bad temperature conditions.   I planted outside, but it does not appear to have survived. One rootlet out of 20 appears to be up as of May 2007.  The drought may have killed it as of August 2007.  Others probably got too dry or were eaten by rodents in the 2007 winter.  Apparently ginseng grows in the type of habitat that supports morels. I have not ordered any rootlets or seeds as of late October 2007 because it is simply too dry to plant it. Update: I ordered rootlets from Hardings and received replacement seeds from Richters in fall 2007. Rootlets were planted in a raised bed with leaves and straw over them. Seeds were mostly planted in plastic pots and covered with leaves outside, I tried a number of things with the seeds and will report on the success or lack thereof in the spring. This simply isn't working here due to poor soil, rodents' love for the roots and fungal problems (which Larry Harding warned me about).  In 2009, seven plants came up. They did not last past August.  Maybe the roots survived.  I won't know until Spring 2010.

I ordered seeds from a grower in Ohio in October 2008.  Maybe seeds from the flatland will work better in my urban environment.  We shall see.  I gave many of them away so I'll see if anyone else has any luck. As of late fall 2009, a few came up in a pot, but died back in early fall. We shall see if any come up in Spring 2010.

Ginseng, Siberian (Eleutherococcus senticosus) – ordered live plant from Richters, 2004.   Not related to Panax species. Grows well in partial shade. Very healthy as of spring 2007, produced lots of seeds in fall 2007. No seeds germinated as of late summer, 2008, but the original is doing well, with plenty of new seeds in the fall of 2009.

Goldseal (Hydrastis Canadensis) – ordered live plant, outside.   Plant returned and produced seeds, spring 2007. Planted stratified year old seeds in fall 2005, using various methods all involving outside temperatures into the 20’s.   None germinated as of mid-April 2007.  Planted 3 rootlets given to me by Larry Harding, May 2007.  Was told that they may or may not come up this year. So far they have not and may have dried out in the drought. This plant will grow in the same habitat as ginseng and seems much hardier once it germinates. Planted 20 rootlets from Hardings in November 2007 as well as replacement seeds from Richters.  Bed shows signs of squirrels, but the bitter taste of goldenseal may protect it. 

As of June 2008 I had 15-20 surviving plants from both rootlets and seeds.  A photo of the goldenseal plot is below:

Late summer, 2008: most plants died off due to poor soil and lack of rain.  Perhaps I should have watered every day, but the clay soil doesn't help and I am trying to grow plants under natural conditions when possible.  Some plants may come back next spring because goldenseal is very hardy. 

 And they did.  About the same number came back in 2009 and again died back with a drought. We have been getting strange weather here. 

Here is the live rootlet I ordered from Richter's in 2005 that has turned into a very healthy plant that has seeds again:

Quality Kratom from Thailand and Malaysia

Hops (Humulus lupulus) – rhizomes (these are seedless hops originally cultivated for commercial beer production), outside.   Transplanted vines from 12 year old vines at previous home.   Doesn’t like humidity and probably doesn’t produce as well in VA as it would in the Cascades, but comes back every year. Doing well, spring 2007, but produced no cones this year. Only a few cones in 2008. Would not advise growing hybrids in a humid area with an expectation of a crop, but I'm sure wild hops work fine.

Jaramla (Phyllanthus niruri) - planted some in potted soil in March, 2007.  Seeds from Richter's. No germination so far.  Needs warmth. Have some germination as of July. They died inside in the pot, likely from fungal diseases.

Kanna (Sceletium tortuosum) – seed and cuttings, pots.  Thrives in pots, but the oldest died, winter 2007.   I started a few more from cuttings and they seem to be doing well.  Overwatering is my greatest challenge.

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) - started fall 2006.  Seeds from Iamshaman. 8 germinated and growth is slow as of July 2007 (largest is perhaps 0.5 inches tall).  Kept inside on a windowsill.  A few weeks after I wrote this the plants have doubled in size.  As of  September 2007, I have 2 plants growing well in pots. One was dug up by rodents and replanted.  It seems to be barely hanging on in a windowsill. Meanwhile, another one planted in a smaller pot is somewhat stunted, but seems healthy.  As of October 2008, it is about a foot tall, healthy and I am afraid to transplant it.

Kuthmithi/Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) – seed, pots and outside.   Not yet known if it will winter over, but survives as a perennial in pots.   Outside plant killed by frost in December 2006.   New seeds started in spring 2007, inside and outside.  Those planted outside did not germinate.  Two survive in a pot and are growing slowly. They succumbed to fungus while I was out of town. Have 4-5 plants in 2008 from a new pack of seeds. 3 plants are doing very well in my raised bed garden.

Lobelia/Indian Tobacco  (Lobelia inflata) - planted in ashes from grill, May 2007 (no filler in charcoal). No germination, probably due to drought or perhaps shade from valerian plant.  Uzbekistan mint seems to do ok in that spot though.

Ma Huang (Ephedra sinica) - planted from seed, spring 2007. 6 plants, slow growing but do well outside in a pot planted in cactus soil. Brought iknside for the winter.  Four plants in one pot are doing ok, but would prefer to be outside.  Two plants survived in the pot as of August 2008. Seeds from Richters.

Mexican Mint Marigold (Tagetes lucida) - started seeds in spring 2007.  No success in previous years.  A few plants are up inside, mid-May 2007. Did not survive.  One that should be easy to grow.  Maybe we'll get a wet spring one year and directly sown seeds will survive.

Mexican morning glory or Ololiuqui (Rivea corymobosa) – ordered live plant from Richters in 2005.   Expected it to reseed itself as an annual, but did not produce seeds even with extensive growth of the vine.   Not winter hardy, dug up and transplanted into a bucket.   Should grow well as a houseplant in a large pot, but this one did not survive being transplanted.

Mimosa (Mimosa hostilis) – seed, pot.   No survival so far.  Only planted 5 seeds and probably mishandled the 2 seedlings.   Seems to be an invasive plant, maybe available in my city, so it was probably all my technique.

Morning glory (Ipomoea tricolor) – seed, outside (invasive).   Produces lots of flowers and lots of seeds. Coming back up, spring 2007.  Did I say invasive?  Back in 2008.

Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) – seed outside in 2005.   Came back in 2006. Confined some to a bucket in 2007. Can withstand the drought.  I suspect this can become invasive.

Passion Flower (Passiflora incarnata) – seed, planted outside from fruit found locally.   Vines started in 2005 and survived the winter.  Produced flowers and fruit in 2006, many vines coming up in 2007.  Bumblebee heaven. Much fruit in late July 2007. Invasive in 2008.

Prickly poppy (Argemone mexicana) – seed.   Trial and error produced poor results so far.   Will try sowing seed directly into a sunny location during cool spring weather.   Might have been too dry in 2006.   Still no luck in spring 2007, neighbor killed the few that were coming up in late summer, 2006, and I am out of seeds.  I have a new pack of seeds as of October 2008, but I haven't planted any yet.  I'll probably start them in my basement.

Rose root (Rhodiola rosea) - Bought seeds in late 2006 from Richters.  4 germinated and survived out of the small number I planted inside.  They don't seem to have particular weather requirements despite being an alpine plant, but I am keeping them inside until they achieve some height.  Very slow growing, quite possibly due to being kept in a windowsill. Seeds are not cheap, thus I did not want to risk any to the current drought. As of 2008 I have one very small one left - lost a few due to dropping the container, which was on a windowsill.  Overwatering is a particular concern, but since the plant did not grow more than 2 inches the first year, it's hard to keep the watering just right. Lost this one too and no others germinated.

San Pedro cactus (Trichocereus pachanoi) – seed and cuttings, pot.   Grows well in pots.  I have a 4 year old plant in a pot that is about 2 feet tall, but the ones I kept in small pots remain small.  Seeds from IamShaman. Still growing well in 2008.

Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius) – seed, pot, no success at present after a number of attempts and two packets of seeds from two different companies.  Apparently the plant is an invasive species in the West.

Scullcap ( Scutellaria lateriflora) - seed, started spring 2006.   Planted outside.   Does not appear to have survived the 2007 winter. Didn't germinate in 2008 due to dry conditions, but a friend gave me a plant and it is doing well.

Scullcap, Chinese (Scutellaria baicalensis) – bought plant in summer 2006, survived inside over the winter, but not healthy.   Revived in summer 2007, flowered and will probably seed.  Purchased seeds for planting in 2007.  None germinated as best I can determine. The 2006 died inside, probably from fungal diseases. In 2008 I have 5-6 plants that will need to be transplanted this fall.  Will they survive?  They seem to die back to the root when they are handled, but new growth shoots up.

Silene capensis (no common name) – seeds, pot, flowered and produced more seeds, foliage died and re-grew from root and stem.   In 2006, the only source of this plant was iamshaman.com and there are no photos online that I could find.   There is much more information as well as photos online in 2007.   New seeds ordered from IamShaman and planted, Nov 2006. Some plants were transplanted outside, spring 2007.   Seeds germinate readily and plant is fairly hardy at temperatures above freezing. One plant is producing lots of flowers and seeds. I brought 3 plants inside for the winter. Two are dead, January 2008, and the other is dying.  Year old plants do not appear to be hardy inside, at least not in my moldy moist house (which is too dry some winters). Seeds collected from plants germinated in 2008.  Some I had to transplant directly into the ground from an overcrowded pot are being chewed up by bugs.  As of October 2008 I have 7-8 plants crowed into a large pot, but none are flowering yet.  I am going to keep one in the garden past the frost date to see how it stands up.

Sinicuichi (Hemia salicifolia) – seed, pots.   Takes a long time to germinate, plants very hardy once established and tolerate some frost.   Left some outside, winter of 2006-07. Brought some in for the winter and they are surviving as of spring 2007.   One plant survived a particularly difficult winter outside, although the lowest temperature reached was probably 10-15 F.  They came back in 2008, including some from seeds from the original plants.  This is surprisingly hardy, given that its native range is Mexico and Central America.  They produce lots of seeds.

Sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata) – live plant, root systems spread, pot and outside.   Produced seeds inside in December 2005.  No germination that I know about. Plant does well in pots or in the ground, has no problems with winter, although I do bring the pot inside when temperatures start to go below 20 F.

Toothache plant (Spilanthes oleracea) –

Bought plant in 2006, flowered and produced seeds, but it died and seeds did not germinate.   Ordered new seeds in 2007, as of April plants are waiting to be transplanted outside after danger of frost is over. Damaged some plants, probably overwatered.  Those planted directly into the yard in a sunny location are doing well as of 2007. Transplanted plants brought inside did not survive. No seeds germinated due to dry windy spring 2008 weather.

Uzbekistan mint (Lagochilus inebrians) - germinated readily from seeds purchased from Iamshaman and survived the winter of 2007.  Many did not survive the heat of the summer.  I discovered several in shade, and transplanted one into a pot. It grew well inside away from direct sunlight, but the leaves curled if brought out into the summer heat and sun.  The air conditioner killed it. Several more came up outside and some are surviving in a planter with other things in October 2007.  Squirrels seeking moisture almost wiped them out once. The mint does not like to be transplanted and has died every time I've moved one.

As of October, I have 2 in a planter and one in the ground.  They all died back and I thought they were gone, but they popped up again a few months ago.

My last 3 plants died spring 2008... or so I thought.  The roots apparently survived and they are back as of September 2008. I have 3 living plants in February 2009, one outside and two in a planter I brought inside.  They are reacting well to artificial light.

Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) – ordered live plant from Richter's and planted outside.   Plant is huge in 2006 and producing seeds.   Even larger in 2007, 2008 and probably in 2009.  I need to look into harvesting it to see if I can cut part of the root without losing the plant.

Vocanga Africana (no common name) – seed.   After numerous attempts to germinate seeds, no viable plants so far.   New seeds ordered fall 2006 from IamShaman and a few planted under varying conditions, spring 2007.  No germination as of October 2007 and presumably will not germinate. No germination so far in 2008, even with a new packet of seeds. Same in winter 2009.

White sage (Salvia apiana) – seed and live plant, outside and pots.   Transplanted one into a pot and brought inside for the winter.   Did not survive.  New seeds planted, spring 2007. No germination. 2 plants from fresh seeds in summer 2008. One died, but one came back after coming close to dying.

Wild lettuce (Lactuca virosa) – bought seeds in 2007. Some started inside and transplanted where they seem to be doing well as of spring 2007. Germination was less difficult than expected (soaked in water overnight), but only a small fraction grew into plants.  4 plants doing well in partial shade and are still alive in January 2008. In October 2008 they are seeding all over the yard.

There are links to companies that carry these seeds or plants on this page should you wish to grow them yourself. Three of them are listed and you may access their sites from the banner links.  I have personally used each of these suppliers more than once and my experience has been very good.  When I've had a problem, they have made it right and all have sent me replacement seeds when none from a particular seed I ordered have germinated. They do not all carry the same stock. Other seed companies are listed in my links and on my sponsors' page.