Topic: Germination of T.iboga Seeds

[Eon T McKnight]

Before testing the feasibility of aeroponics, a source of T. iboga would be required.  I have found some seeds at CocaRickey's headshop in Canada  --  $140 for 10!   Yikes!!!  And no guarantee that any will germinate.

Another source is:     http://www.shamanic-extracts.com/xcart/shamanic-ethnobotanicals/iboga/

They sell 10 seeds for $45, a far more reasonable price, especially considering the reported low rate of germination.  Does anyone have experience with Shamanic Extracts?

Below is a cultivation guide that I found on the web.  Since exact copies were found on different sites, I do not believe that I am violating any copyright laws by posting it here.

If anyone proceeds down the aeroponics path, I will appreciate hearing about your results  --  good or bad.

~eon

Tabernanthe iboga propagation

Light & temperature requirements
Tabernanthe iboga is at home in the rainforests of West Africa. Temperatures here are always above 20deg C and frequently above 40 deg C. In fcat, iboga stops growing at about 15 deg C and looses it's leaves at about 10 deg C. The tips start dying back if exposed to 5 deg C. Repeated exposure to 4 deg C will cause severe dieback from which the plant may not recover. A sinlge frost or a couple of nights at 1 or 2 deg C will certainly kill most plants.
The rainforest provides a very moist and humid environment. Iboga plant will adapt to dry air, but will shed their leavs first. The new leaves will be smaller and tougher, but will withstand very dry conditions as long as the plant is watered frequently. Hardened iboga plants can be grown under HPS or other artificial lights. Being rainforest plants they prefer light at levels of less than 70%. Iboga ideally likes about 50% until it is a couple of years old and can then tolerate more. having such low minimum light requirements means that this species can easily be grown along the perimeter of artificial light rigs, where other plants will not be happy. It is also well suited as an indoor pot plant, but should be kept away from windowsills during winter.

Soil, water and nutrient requirements
Rainforests produce water by causing condensation of moist air in the lower strata of the forest. This keeps the rainforest floor damp at all times. The constant flushing of condensed water means that nutrients are constantly washed away. Most rainforest plants are well adapted to efficiently capture these nutrients in the upper layers of the forest litter and soil. When cultivating plant we should try to emulate this soil by using a light mix of leafmould or composted bark shreddings. Rainforest soils have perfect drainage and this can be a problem in commercial potting mixes. To avoid waterlogging it is wise to add at least 1/3rd coarse sand to the mix. Iboga quickly gets rootbound and needs plenty of space. The efficient rootsystem is also very vigorous and needs rooms to spread. Iboga is a heavy feeder and responds quickly to fertilising. Soluble fertilisers are a waste here due to high water requirement. Composted manures are perfect.

Natural propagation and germinating seed
There was a fair bit of seed available until the end of 1999. Most of this was supplied to retailers by Dan Lieberman (South Africa) who tragically died in a car accident mid 2000. Most seed sold around the world since then has been from old stock. Shaman Australis has now sourced a new supplier and is making seed available on a seasonal basis. Iboga seed is VERY perishable. In poor storage conditions it can loose it's viability within a few weeks. If kept at optimum conditions it will last about 4 months. To store seed properly it needs to be stored in a moist environment at about 10 degC. This prevents the seedcoat from drying out. Very fresh and moist iboga seed germinates easily and without problems. As soon as the coat dries somewhat the seedling will struggle to emerge from the seedcoat and may rot. The seedling can be assisted by keeping the seedcoat very moist and soft, or by using a scalpel to carefully remove sections of seedcoat on a day by day basis. A piece of wet cotton or fabric can be used to keep the seedcoat moist by draping it over the emerging seedling. A high humidity environment (humidity dome or tropical hothouse) is essential. If using a scalpel to help the seed it is important never to injure the cotyledons that are folded into the tiny folds of the seedcoat. Accessing 1mm per day is all that is needed and prevents excessive damage. As you ease the constriction with the scalpel, the seedling will slowly push itself out a little further, thus revealing the next safe place to cut another 1mm. trying to remove the whole seedcoat at once is almost guaranteed to fail. You should aim to remove the seedcoat within about a week of the seedling emerging from the growing medium, as any longer may weaken the seedling beyond recovery. Under normal circumstances the seedling will shed the seedcoat within 2 days and this is the minimum it should be allowed to try without interference.

To germinate the seed you will need to prepare a tray, pot or punnet with coarse sharp sand (please look up the exact preparation, as most other media and plain sand are entirely unsuitable). The punnet, pot or tray has to be perfectly free draining, which can be achieved by placing plastic shadecloth in the bottom to prevent the sand from escaping. The sand has to be at least 5cm deep. Place the seed in the coarse sharp sand about 10mm deep and water well. Never let the sand dry out, as if the seedling is about to emerge at this time it will dry up and die. Also, if the medium dries, the seedcoat may dry and prolong germination. Keep seed at a minimum 25 deg C air temp. However, to achieve good germination the air temp should be about 30-35 deg C. Lowering the temperature will delay germination and increase likelyhood of fungal attack. Germination may occur within a few days, but may take up to several months, so be prepared to keep looking after the seeds throughout their full germination phase. Never expose seedlings to dry air until they have at least 3 sets of leaves. This is also the best age to transplant the first time. Their first new growing medium should be mostly sand (90% coarse sand + 10% good potting mix) and should not contain ANY manure or other strong fertiliser. Osmocote is a good option here, but should be applied at minimal rate. Once the plants get to 5 pairs of leaves they are ready for strong growth and normal fertilising and should be potted into a mix as described in the section above.

Striking cuttings
Iboga cuttings are fairly easy to root. Take a stem section with two nodes. Remove the leaves from the lower node and cut off 2/3rds of each remaining leaf. Now insert the lower end into a tray or pot of coarse sharp sand. Rooting hormone makes no difference in this process. Put the pot or tray in a hothouse or humidity dome and keep moist, humid and very warm. Callus forms after about 10 days and roots emerge after another few days. Pot into a sandy potting mix after 4-6 weeks or when the plant has grown by another node.

[Calaquendi]

Christ, that sounds hard...

Even growing this in soil is apparently crazy. What the hell happened to: put a seed in dirt, water, grow? Maybe I miss the point? Maybe God makes it difficult to grow so that only the 'right' people cultivate it...meaning those with honorable intentions, not some kid with too much time on his hands and a list of psychoactive plants from the internet. Still..work sucks.

[Eon T McKnight]

Well, Cal, ya gotta remember that there are people out there who are not slackers.  And thank the Goddess for that, otherwise people like us would be in deep caca...    ~et

[x]

I am going to ask a friend what he can share about growing conditions. I think it's a great idea, and I have no experience, here.

Let's talk seeds if this still seems doable.

On sprouting, poppycock. I did it, and it wasn't hard. 2/5 ratio.

I wonder if anyone has done this yet.

T

[fallout330]

I found another source for T. Iboga Seeds, not sure if anyone has had experience with this supplier from Australia.  5 seeds for 9.99 AU dollar, which is around $11-12 for 5. Doesn't sound too bad.  They won't ship live plants out of Australia, but seeds are no problem.  I got a confirmation from the seller.  Shipping is a little steep at $15 international, but it may be worth it if they germinate.

http://www.herbalistics.com.au/shop/product_info.php?cPath=3_13&products_id=633

I was giving serious thought to Hydroponics.  

[Calaquendi]

Always good to see you fallout! Thanks for the heads up, that's about the best prices I have seen. I'm going to ask a friend of mine who is a vendor, if I can find a secure source there, I will share the good news.

[Eon T McKnight]

Yeah, thanks fallout!

If you are interested in aeroponics, here is a link to DIY Aeroponics:

    http://forum.grasscity.com/advanced-growing-techniques/239837-how-diy-aeroponics.html

Too bad the person used his setup to grow that vile deadly weed, cannabis, which he will undoubtedly sell to school kids to get them hooked...  

What I have seen on the web re: eboka is that getting fresh seeds in the pod results in higher germination rates than using loose seeds.  So it might be necessary to start 10 just to get one  --  no telling how long they may have sat on the shelf.

~et

PS  --  I think that having the root chamber vertical instead of horizontal would encourage more root growth.  ~e

[fallout330]

Good info. Eon, thanks for the advice!  Always good to hear from you Cal!

Peace Guys!

[x]

Eon, on germinating, call me when you're ready to try. It's Not That Hard.

Seriously!

Tia

[Eon T McKnight]

Thanks, Tia!

I have no current plans to grow anything new at this time  --  my future is too uncertain.  I cannot bear the thought of bringing some beautiful little sprouts into this cruel world only to abandon them... (sob sob)

~e

[roach]

I planted 80 seeds that were 6 months old and 30-36 seeds germinated 3-5 weeks later. I used moist vermiculite to remove the seed coats that that were stuck on the plants. Almost 12 months to the day 4-5 plants started to flower, the plants were about 1 foot tall. Now the plants are 1 year 9 months old and there are roots coming out of the stems all over and cuttings will be made soon.

I will try to get pics and post them. If anyone needs seeds I will have 3000 fresh seeds within 1-3 weeks. Feel free to PM me.

-roach

[GratefulDad]

Welcome roach!  That's very kind of you!  I am interested in hearing whatever you have to say about your cultivation experience, and would probably be interested in the seeds, as well.  It would be awesome if you could snap a few pics, even, if at all possible.  Thanks a bunch!

[x]

roach!

Wow, welcome and thanks! I'm interested in how you used vermiculite to remove seed coats. What I did was just sprayed them often during the day to keep the coats moist enough to come off easily.

I am so very happy to hear there are folks growing. It's been a niggle in the back of my head since I learned about ibo that we are using a finite African resource.

I heard from a friend that the plants do indeed flower early, glad to be learning more.

peace
T

[fallout330]

Yes, welcome roach. 

Could you expand on your germination process.  I'm all open for tips myself.  Did you use an artificial lighting source? Did you use a humidity chamber? What type of soil did you use...or was it hydroponics?  Sorry for all the questions, I'm just curious and wanting to learn.  I recently attained 10 seeds and am starting the germination process.  I basically followed Tia's process of using Organic Potting soil and placing some Sphagnum peat moss on top of the seeds as well as using an artificial lightening source during the day.  I also made a small humidity chamber with pure perlite at the bottom of the chamber and then placing the pot with the seeds within this chamber on top of the perlite. Perlite does hold water very well, so I thought using this would help the overall humidity within the chamber.

Tia and anyone else: Is using perlite going to far in adding humidity?

Thanks

[GratefulDad]

I haven't grown iboga, but I know using perlite in a dome will keep humidity high, and probably a few nice fresh air exchanges and mistings a day would be good, so they could breathe.