An Inside Look at Growing Kratom

For people who are wanting to live sustainably in a modern world, growing your own produce is one of the most empowering things you can do. Not only do you enjoy fresher and more nutritious fruit, vegetables, and herbs, you also cut down your food miles to a minimum and soak up excess carbon from the air from the comfort of your own backyard.

For a kratom enthusiast, growing kratom might seem like a dream come true ‘ imagine picking a fresh kratom leaf to chew while you work! However, the realities of cultivating such a geographically-bound plant outside of its place of origin can be much more challenging than people might think. Here are some tips for germinating kratom seed in places that are far from Southeast Asia.

Learn About Mitragyna Speciosa’s Natural Habitat

In the jungles of Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo, and Sumatra, the local varieties of Mitragyna speciosa thrive with the warm, humid conditions and nutrient-rich soils. Being part of a rainforest ecosystem, the kratom trees grow with a mixture of light and shade, and the surrounding plant roots keep the soil loose and well-drained.

When considering the idea of growing kratom, find out the tools and resources that are available to you to recreate those same conditions, such as installing a greenhouse, growing kratom indoors with fluorescent light or high pressure sodium (HPS) lights, investing in a drip-irrigation system, acquiring a soil pH test kit, and developing a humus-rich compost pile.

Prepare the Perfect Incubator

Now that you know what a kratom seed needs to thrive, you are ready to gather your materials and prepare your incubator for growing kratom. It helps to know exactly which country and area your seeds will be coming from so that you can match the temperature and humidity levels to the exact conditions your seeds will be used to. For example, Medan on the island of Sumatra averages 72% to 74% humidity all year round, whereas Mandalay in Myanmar has a much wider variation in its average humidity levels.

The Best State for Growing Kratom

People who are growing kratom in Florida are having more success than in other parts of the country, due to the state’s naturally high humidity and warm temperatures. If you live in a drier or colder state compared to kratom’s country of origin, your Mitragyna speciosa plants will need a much more controlled environment in order to thrive.

The most alkaloid-rich kratom trees in Indonesia grow along rivers where the soil has been infused with minerals from volcanic activity, so provide your seedlings with plenty of humus, compost, and fertilizers to ensure that the pH of the soil stays between 5.5 and 6.5.

Source Fresh Seeds and Plant Several of Them

In nature, kratom seeds appear in seed pods on the Mitragyna speciosa tree and are released onto the jungle floor where some find the right soil conditions and grow into new trees. The fresh seeds can also be planted intentionally ‘ either nearby or on the harvester’s own property ‘ within a period of three days after the seeds are collected from the tree.

If you are growing kratom in Canada or the United States, you won’t usually have the luxury of collecting fresh seeds from an existing tree and planting them immediately. That means that you would have to go to Southeast Asia, harvest kratom seeds just before flying back home, and plant them immediately upon returning. If this wouldn’t be practical, you can also purchase a packet of 50+ dried seeds from a vendor in your home country and plant several in the hope that one or two will germinate.

Maintain Kratom’s Ideal Growing Conditions

After planting your seeds, you will need to inspect the plants every day and make sure that the soil remains damp most of the time, but not wet. If your soil is often flooded or soggy, this could result in root rot and insects attacking your kratom seedlings.

Having done your research, you will know what temperatures and humidity levels your seedlings would be used to in their country of origin, so you will need to keep measuring the conditions in your home or greenhouse and adjust according to the way the seedlings respond.

Be Patient and Wait for Your Plants to Mature

When you are growing kratom and see your seedlings start to sprout little leaves, medium-sized leaves, and ultimately large leaves, you may feel tempted to pick them off and start chewing straight away. However, be warned that it takes at least two years for a kratom tree to reach maturity and leaves picked any sooner will not yet have the alkaloid profile that you are used to in commercial premium kratom powders.

Something else to be aware of as your kratom seedlings start growing into healthy trees is that Mitragyna speciosa can reach a height of 20 feet in as little as a couple of years ‘ so you will soon need to think about transferring your adolescent seedlings to a more permanent and tropical location!

Enjoy Your Organic Homegrown Kratom

While growing kratom from seed is a rewarding process and the only way to have a more traditional experience, many of us don’t live in the right climate or may not legally be allowed to grow this psychoactive ethno-herb. If you’d like the best quality leaf but don’t have the space or time for growing kratom yourself, you can simply purchase our premium kratom online and enjoy the results without the wait.

Our red, green, and white varieties are grown without pesticides and every batch is tested for contamination and alkaloid content. Contact us to speak to one of our team members and shop our authentic kratom powder today!