Growing Kratom Indoors: How to Grow the Easy Way

It seems that some people make growing kratom seem harder than it really is. But don’t be scared off from getting one of these wonderful plants because the truth is that kratom is rather easy to grow and will put on growth rapidly compared to a lot of other plants. Some guides have made it seem like if you do not have an expensive lighting system or a special soil, your kratom plants are doomed. Well, we’ve had a bit of experience with growing kratom indoors over the years, in all sorts of environments, and we’ve come to realize that a lot of that information leads to a lot of unnecessary worrying.

At least one popular kratom guide suggests that commercial soils are unfit for growing kratom plants. But we have had nothing but success by growing kratom using plain Miracle Grow potting soil, a tip we saw being recommended in another guide and decided to test ourselves. We’ve also had similar success using our own soil mixtures to grow kratom. We’ve found that mixtures that are fertile and well-draining will generally work. But we have experienced firsthand how proper soil ph is also essential to growing kratom. It has been suggested that the ideal ph for growing kratom is between 5.5 and 6.5. Without the proper ph, kratom will not be able to take up the proper nutrients from the soil, and it will exhibit signs of nutrient deficiency. In one soil mixture, we used compost that proved to be on the alkaline side. This caused a sudden change of yellow, blotchy leaves on the affected kratom plants. After adding some sulphur to acidify the soil, it corrected the problem.

We’ve also experienced soil ph changes in some other kratom plants due to water. After noticing similar changes in kratom leaf color as we did with those that were growing in the compost, we tested the ph of the water we were using. Despite that we were using distilled water, our tests showed that the ph of the water was extremely low. As distilled water interacts with the air, it can cause the ph to change significantly. In this case, the change was enough to damage our kratom plants. You can test your water if you happen to have a good ph meter on hand when growing kratom. Unfortunately, a good ph meter will usually run about $100 and cheaper meters are considered unreliable. Otherwise, you can periodically test your kratom’s soil using a soil test kit.

We recommend using a large pot for your kratom plant simply because more room can’t hurt. But we have also found that kratom does not become rootbound quite as easily as other plants. We’ve maintained some bushy kratom plants in what would be considered small containers, so they can survive. But larger containers will allow your kratom plants to spread out below the soil, take in more moisture and grow quicker. It will also mean that you can get away with watering your kratom less frequently because the pot will hold more moisture. Some kratom growers will water their kratom plants more frequently, but we recommend watering the plants well whenever the top of the soil starts to dry out. This seems to supply enough moisture for rapid growth without subjecting the plants to standing in water that could promote root rot and other types of disease.

When it comes to light, it might seem that you need a High Pressure Sodium system to grow kratom because kratom loves light. Kratom does seem to greatly enjoy that type of light and will grow nice under such intensity. If you’re looking to pamper your kratom plants, HPS or LED is certainly the way to go. But kratom also will grow very well if placed directly under fluorescent lighting, which is much cheaper to run and can be set up with significantly less cost and effort. Even a single 18 watt (120 volt) compact fluorescent bulb has been proven to work for growing small kratom plants without the plants suffering any maladies. We have also found that a 100 watt (120 volt) full spectrum halogen bulb can support one or more kratom plants. A 24-hour light cycle will work if you do not mind the extra electricity consumption. With that said, it seems that more light will in fact produce darker kratom leaves with redder veins, and this is likely where the emphasis on heavy lighting comes in. Kratom vendors seem to identify various strains of kratom by the redness of their veins. But, in fact, a kratom plant with very red veins can change to have purely green veins depending on the conditions. We suspect that this phenomenon is similar to human skin tanning under more sun exposure.

Another condition that kratom requires is high humidity. The average humidity of Bangkok, Thailand tends to be between 90% and 94% during the morning. But it can range between 53% and 70% in the pm hours depending on the time of year. This suggests that kratom has at least some natural exposure to medium range humidity. While you do not want your kratom plants to be in a dry environment, you can easily create suitable humidity without exhausting yourself. Humidifiers can be used to give your kratom plants a humidity boost, but they are expensive to buy and run. Plus, these devices use up unnecessary energy. Instead, there are other options for giving your kratom plants the proper humidity.

Kratom leaves are waxy, and so they hold onto moisture more easily than say salvia leaves. This seems to provide a bit more room for error when it comes to a short-term humidity drop killing a kratom leaf. You tend to have some extra time to notice visual clues that your kratom plant could use more humidity. A higher humidity will produce much nicer kratom leaves with more of the characteristic glossy shine whereas kratom leaves in lower humidity tend to be more roughly textured and perhaps a little discolored. Kratom also has a tendency to drop leaves when it is really unhappy.

You can use the leaf texture to determine when adjustments are needed before dropping takes place. If you can get your humidity to up around 90%, your kratom plants will probably never complain. But judging from the climate of Bangkok and our personal experience, you do not have to be alarmed if you see fluctuations in your humidity. It’s normal for humidity to fluctuate even within a self-contained growing environment, especially as temperatures fluctuate and cause more or less water to evaporate. But it should be easy enough to keep your average humidity up to a suitable 70, even where your external humidity is lower.

Since external humidity tends to fluctuate and may not reach 90%, even at a high point, it is best to keep your kratom plants in some type of contained environment. It is easier to control humidity in a container. For example, small kratom plants can easily be kept in a fish tank terrarium with a light placed directly overhead. Continual pruning will be needed to maintain size, but your kratom plants will probably be very happy inside. You can spray the sides of the terrarium every so often or even fill the bottom with an inch or two of moist perlite if you want to add additional humidity. We do not recommend direct misting as a substitute for true humidity because it is only a temporary solution and does not provide the same type of humidity as evaporated moisture. If you have a grow closet with a lot of plants, it is likely that there will be enough moisture in the air simply due to evaporation from the soil. But if ventilation or other factors keeps the air drier, adding an aluminum roasting tray of moist perlite to the vicinity will work in this case too. The idea is not to become overly focused on temporary humidity fluctuations but to try to maintain a high average humidity and pay attention to the visual clues.

Aside from humidity, temperature is rather important when it comes to growing kratom. The ideal temperature for growing kratom is between 75 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. However, most households tend to keep temperatures around 68 degrees. This would be considered similar to low wintertime temperatures in Thailand, but we have found that kratom plants will still grow decently in this range. So you do not need to live in a tropical climate or roast yourself out of your house to grow kratom. Artificial lights will also add as much as 20 degrees depending on ventilation and the type of lighting. So you can easily maintain ideal temperatures in an average household. Anything below 65 degrees Fahrenheit, though, would start to noticeably slow your kratom’s growth.

We have exposed kratom plants to wintertime temperatures as low as 50 degrees. But as temperatures dropped into the 50’s, we had leaves that turned red in color and eventually dropped off. In our test, the kratom plants remained under these conditions for weeks before the leaves totally dropped. However, in some cases, dropped leaves may still be capable of growing back once temperatures rise again. On the other end of the thermometer, it has been suggested that growth slows significantly if kratom plants are exposed to temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. But we have experienced good growth even with steady temperatures as high as 96 degrees.

In retrospect, it seems that kratom does allow some leeway with regards to its conditions. It is not quite as demanding as many people believe as long as you take some time to provide an adequate setup. It is not exactly a plant that you can leave by your window, but neither is it a plant whose conditions are hard to meet with the proper planning. As a general outline, situate your plant in a large pot with some Miracle Grow potting soil or a similarly textured mix with a ph between 5.5 and 6.5. Place the plant(s) in some type of contained growing environment such as an aquarium or a growing closet that will help maintain humidity and temperature levels. Provide some type of direct artificial light overhead, whether HPS, LED or fluorescent. Keep in mind that the stronger lights will provide nicer leaves, but the fluorescents will certainly provide sufficient light to maintain healthy growth.

When it comes to maintenance, aim to maintain temperatures between 75-90 degrees Fahrenheit, which your lighting and contained environment should help achieve. Monitor the humidity, adding moistened perlite to the environment if needed. Water your plants when the soil just starts to dry out. Fertilize with a liquid plant food according to the directions on the packaging. Watch the leaves for signs of drying out or nutrient deficiency. Periodically check the soil ph, especially if you notice discoloration. And don’t forget to take plenty of pictures to post online. If you have not yet gotten a plant feel free to visit the World Seed Supply's Kratom Collection Website and check for availability www.kratomcollection.com

KRATOM: BALI, MAENG DA, EXTRACT and MORE

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How to Grow Klip Dagga (Leonotis Nepetifolia)

Leonotis Nepetifolia, more commonly known as klip dagga, is one of the easiest enthobotanicals to grow. Leonotis Nepetifolia tends to get quite tall, but it is a great choice for beginning gardeners as long as they have the appropriate space. While smaller plants can be grown inside, klip dagga is more of an outdoor plant. Klip dagga is usually grown as an annual but can be kept perennially. This flowering stalk, which can reach 10 feet in height, is normally grown in the ground. But it will grow in large pots as well. We at World Seed Supply have grown full size klip dagga plants in pots that were approximately 11” deep and 11” in diameter. While these leonotis plants did not have any trouble reaching their full potential in pots that size, it is worth noting that the dagga plants had a tendency to fall over simply from getting too tall. Therefore, actions such as using a larger pot, tying the plant to some type of support, or cutting back growth might be suggested for growing klip dagga. Potted plants will also require more regular watering than those in the ground, especially in strong sun.

Leonotis Nepetifolia can grow in a wide variety of soils, even those that are somewhat infertile. But naturally, klip dagga plants will prefer soils that are rich and well-draining. As for many of our outdoor plants, we prefer to use pure compost for growing klip dagga. Compost seems to produce leonotis plants that are much healthier with larger leaves and thicker stems. It is normal to see plants with leaves that are 6 inches

or more in length (not including the stem). Despite being giants, leonotis nepetifolia plants have roots that are comparatively shallow. About eight inches of compost placed on top of ground that has been tilled will give the best results.

You can choose to start your plants directly in the ground, in a container outdoors or in a container indoors. Don’t become too focused on any of these as a requirement. Do what suits you best. Either way, you should still end up with skyscraping plants by the end of the season. Klip dagga seeds are not killed by freezing and will readily germinate from seed scattered by the year’s previous crop, even in the northern U.S. However, our experience has shown that seed started outdoors where the winters are cooler will sometimes be delayed in germination until favorable temperatures begin, usually in late May to June.

Leonotis nepetifolia seeds started indoors will give you a head start on the season, but they will need to be hardened off. By that, it means that the small klip dagga plants will need gradual exposure to the outdoors, during which time they are likely to lose leaves. Even so, it seems that leonotis nepetifola is one species that will benefit from being started indoors ahead of time, at least in the north, as long as the appropriate acclimation steps are taken.

On the other hand, if you are not confident that you will be able to properly acclimate your klip dagga plants or you do not feel like putting in the effort, it makes sense simply to wait until the weather warms a bit so you can start your leonotis seeds outdoors. At that point, you will either start seedlings in a separate container, which will allow you to select the best ones and transplant them in an organized manner into some kind of flower bed, or you will start them in the ground directly. Just be sure to choose a final location in full sun. An ideal transplantation size for leonotis nepetifolia plants is about 4”-5”.

You should sow your leonotis nepetifolia seeds at a depth of about 1/8”. For the most part, klip dagga seeds germinate easily and hold viability well. We have found klip dagga seedlings growing quite readily in different areas, including the soil of certain cacti pots where klip dagga seeds inadvertently landed. However, we have also encountered a few instances where growers had trouble getting klip dagga seeds to germinate. In some instances, the problem has been solved by increasing watering. One tip that should be minded when watering is that the soil must remain evenly moist for enough time that the seeds can absorb the water. This is a general watering tip that applies to growing many types of seeds (but not all). Sometimes, even a heavy dose of water can be counteracted by a strong sun or dry air that dries the soil too quickly. In that case, mulching the soil with some hay or moving a container to a slightly shadier spot might make a difference. Indoors, misting the soil surface deeper or more frequently could help. A steady, even soil moisture with considerable warmth should be your goal. In fact, we’ve had good results with starting leonotis seeds indoors using bottom heat. That coincides with our findings about outdoor germination increasing in the later months, which means a temperature increase could potentially benefit your dagga grow early on.

Once your leonotis plants are growing in their final locations, all you need to worry about is keeping them adequately watered. These tall plants will generally soak up as much as you can water them. We recommend watering leonotis plants deeply every one to three days. Fertilizing is optional, particularly if using compost, and can be done monthly with an organic fertilizer. Leaves and flower petals can be harvested throughout the growing season. Seed pods can be harvested in the fall by cutting the entire flowering stalks from the plant. Lastly, don’t forget to take pictures!

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World Seed Supply’s Easy Pickle Recipe

Ingredients:

Pickling Cucumbers
4 Cloves Garlic
3 Cups Water
¼ Cup Kosher Salt
1 gram Coriander seeds
½ gram dill seeds
3 sprigs of fresh dill and/or 1 tsp dried dill

The number of cucumbers you will need will depend on the exact container you use and the size of the cucumbers. We generally find quart size Chinese soup containers or full pint mason jars suitable. An ideal cucumber size is about 3”, although you may end up with different sizes in your batch.

Start out by slicing your cucumbers into spears. Afterwards, you will want to slice your garlic thin and then cut the slices in half once. When you are close to being done, add your water, kosher salt, coriander, and dill seed to a pot and bring to a boil. Place your cucumber spears, sliced garlic and fresh or dried dill in your container. Once the contents of your pot reach a boil, add them to the container as well. Set the container aside until it cools, then refrigerate. Allow 2 days or more for best flavor. It’s as easy as that. In just minutes you can have all the exceptional pickles you could want.

Feel free to adjust the garlic and salt to your taste. You may also substitute more of either dill seed or coriander seed if you do not have both. It is also worth noting that you will tend to have a bit more brine than you will use in one container of pickles, so you can always carry it over to the next container. After you eat the pickles from one container, you can reuse the brine many times for later batches.

World Seed Supply's Complete Pepper Growing Guide

Peppers are one of the most rewarding plants you can have in your garden. A single plant can give you an abundance of fruits that you can enjoy for months. But maximizing your harvest and heat depends on knowing exactly what to do to give your peppers everything they need.



Before you even begin growing hot peppers, the first thing you need to do is select the type of chili pepper you want to grow. There are countless types of chili peppers, coming in all shapes and sizes and ranging from completely mild to lava-gargling, surface-of-the-sun hot. The heat of hot peppers is measured on a scale, called the Scoville Heat Scale. The way this scale works is that it measures how much a hot pepper must be diluted before the mixture is no longer spicy. Since the test is based on human involvement, it is not an exact science, and this is why there tends to be arguments over which peppers are hotter than others. But it gives a general idea of what to expect from a given variety of chili. With that said, it should be noted that the heat of a pepper relies very heavily on the growing conditions. A normally excruciating pepper can end up being nearly mild if the right conditions are not met.

For those extreme tasters, we at World Seed Supply offer some of the world’s hottest, including the Naga Jalokia, The Red Savina Habanero and the Desert Tepin. We also offer visually appealing types like the Chocolate habanero, which is anything but sweet, and classic types, like jalapeno and cayenne.

Now let’s get into the garden. The first mistake many pepper growers make is in the soil selection. In World Seed Supply’s experience, we have NOT found average potting soil or seed starting soil to be a good choice for peppers. Never use topsoil for chili peppers either. You want a soil that is well-draining and very fertile with plenty of organic matter. There seems to be debate over whether to use or avoid peat for hot peppers, so we figured we would just clarify. A little peat will not hurt your hot peppers, but you should never choose a soil in which peat is a major component. Peat is added to many soil mixtures to help with water retention and to provide a light medium that roots can easily penetrate. But it does not provide adequate nutrition and tends to dry out in strong sun, and once that happens it can be difficult to re-hydrate. But a small amount of peat (or used coffee grounds) can be useful just to increase the acidity of a mix.

Germinating your chili peppers indoors in advance and sowing directly outdoors are choices that each offer benefits and drawbacks. This is why we at World Seed Supply usually do a little of both and then choose the best plants to work with. The germination rate of pepper seeds seems to be higher when started indoors because you have more control over moisture. The advantage of pepper seed started outdoors is that it does not need to be hardened off. Hardening off is the process of adjusting a plant to the intense sunlight of the outdoors. Even though you may think your house is very bright, it rarely compares to the sun’s power outdoors. So, just like some individuals will use a few days in the tanning booth at the beginning of the summer before they can safely sit outside without burning, indoor plants will need some type of gradual exposure. At World Seed Supply, we usually begin exposure in an extremely shady spot such as under a deck or in the shade under a lawn chair. Hardening off can result in an adjustment period where growth slows down. So if you do not have a good amount of light indoors you might find that pepper seeds started outdoors will outpace seed started indoors at an earlier date. So if you have the extra seed to spare, it is a good idea to try both methods.

When germinating pepper seeds indoors, we recommend a 50/50 mix of cactus soil and perlite. Perlite is a very light, very porous type of volcanic rock that is similar to pumice. It comes in bags of tiny round particles that resemble foam balls. This 50/50 mix is actually a common mixture that works well with most plants. You should be able to get a bag of each for under $10 total. We have found that Hoffman brand or Shultz’s cactus soil seems to have a good consistency and a nice black color. An ideal Ph for hot peppers is about 5-6. The only consideration with a cactus soil base is that cacti prefer alkaline soils, so this is where you may want to lower the ph by adding in something like a small amount of peat or coffee grounds. If you have an adequate light source, you can start peppers at any time of year. Just be sure to harden them off slowly when you eventually put them outside.

We at World Seed Supply also like to grow our peppers in compost, which we order by the truckload. Just to be clear, growing hot peppers does not require two types of soil. The 50/50 mix is suitable for your entire growing project if you want to leave it in that. We just prefer compost for all growing that takes place outdoors, especially if we’re putting pepper plants in the ground. But since compost tends to carry insects, we don’t use this to start pepper seeds indoors. We do start some pepper seeds outdoors directly in compost. But seeds started indoors will be started in the mix mentioned above and transplanted to compost once they are ready to go outside. Good compost is well-draining and does not compact. Yet, it holds moisture well. Younger compost may be more beneficial for growing peppers since it tends to be more acidic. If you do your own composting, you can also increase the acidity by composting more things like fruit or pine needles. Otherwise, if you find that your compost is a little on the alkaline side, you might then go ahead and add in just a little peat or some spent coffee grounds to lower the ph.

Another traditional soil amendment for hot peppers is epsom salt (magnesium sulphate), which adds magnesium and sulphur to the soil. While most soils do not lack in these minerals, many growers use this to help the fruits set. Epsom salt is also useful in clearing out soils that have other salt buildups. These buildups tend to occur in potted plants, especially if tap water is used. Some pepper growers will mix a small amount of epsom salt in with the soil in the beginning of the season, while others use it in the water or as a foliar spray (1 Tbs per gallon). Others will scratch the granules into the surface of the soil. Epsom salt treatment will help prevent yellowing leaves that many growers see later in the season as the result of magnesium deficiency. This can have an effect on growth and flavor.

When planting, it is a good idea to sow your pepper seeds with the point facing down. The seed’s point is where the root will emerge from, so having the root positioned in advance will ensure that it drives down into the soil where it belongs. The seed should be sown at a depth just deeper than the diameter of the seed, so that the upper rim of the seed lies just below the soil line. Take measures to avoid the soil being too compact around the seed. Compact soil can actually choke seeds that would have otherwise grown. Compact soil inhibits airflow and holds the seed down. By planting loosely with the pepper seed point down and the rim at the soil line, the seed is ready to start rising out of the soil as soon as it begins to sprout.

Once the pepper seeds have been planted, keep the soil lightly and evenly moist until germination. During and before germination, bottom heat is extremely beneficial, particularly for the more exotic peppers like the naga jalokia, which come from tropical climates. For these, you want a soil temperature that is no less than 65 degrees F. For more exotic varieties, you may not see results in temperatures below 80 degrees. You may get away with cooler temperatures for other pepper seeds. But you will find that a few degrees can make a difference for these varieties. Also keep in mind that the soil temperature is not always the same as the air temperature.

Indoor seeds need only be watered by misting the soil with a spray bottle. At no point should it get wet though. Too much moisture can cause the pepper seed embryo to rot. It can also cause the stems of new chili seedlings to do the same. The soil can be allowed to dry out slightly between watering. But it is also important not to let the soil dry out completely. This may be a particularly sensitive issue if bottom heat is applied, since the heat can dry things out pretty quickly. But it is important to keep on top of this because if the soil happens to get too dry just as the embryo is waking up it could kill the seedling before you even realize anything was going on. The result is that you will unwittingly be tending dead seeds, waiting for them to pop up.

You may be accustomed to seeing pepper seedlings after two weeks or so, but be prepared to wait a month or more with some varieties, especially if temperatures are not ideal throughout. It is also common to see new sprouts weeks after others have first emerged. After the seeds have sprouted, be sure to keep the seed coats moist so that they can easily fall off. Occasionally, seed coats of pepper seeds will have trouble falling off. Keeping the seed coats moist will keep them pliable so that the plants can break free. It is usually best to allow the seed coat to fall off the pepper seedling naturally due to the risk of snapping the stem during handling. But in some cases you may have to remove the seed coat manually. A utility knife, scissors and a pair of needle nose pliers may be useful in this case to help slice the seed coat and pull it apart without causing damage to the leaves.

Your seeds can be transplanted once they’ve grown about two sets of true leaves and are about 3-4”. We at World Seed Supply do not recommend transplanting seeds from indoors to the outdoors instantaneously. Going back to the subject of hardening off, you should take your entire tray or pot of pepper seedlings and give them a week or so to get used to the sun. If you are transplanting to pots, you will want to use a pot that is at least 12” in diameter and about 12” in height for each pepper seedling. If you are planting chili seedlings in the ground, you can plant most varieties about a foot apart in rows 24 inches apart. A foot is a close spacing, but it allows the pepper plants to lean together and support each other. You may also opt to space pepper plants up to 2 feet apart if you want to maximize sun exposure on all sized. It is also recommended to plant your pepper plants along with flowers such as California poppy, Joe Pye weed or monarda citriodora (bee balm) that will attract bees and other pollinators. These companion plants and the helpers they bring are likely to increase the yields of peppers and other fruiting plants as well.

As the plants grow, you will need to fertilizer them about every four weeks. To remain organic, you can use bonemeal and seaweed fertilizer. Bonemeal is a natural source of phosphorous that is known for boosting blooms and does well for peppers too. Bonemeal is essentially crushed bone, which slowly releases nutrients into the soil as the bones are digested by microbes in the soil. Bonemeal may not work with sterile soils, since it requires microbes to activate the nutrients in the bonemeal. If using compost, this is certainly not an issue. Most cactus soils should also be fine, but you can always sprinkle a bit of ground soil at the bottom or top of your pot just to be certain. Kelp fertilizers tend to be good sources of potassium. If you’re using a chemical fertilizer, just look for something that is geared toward increasing blooms. A tomato fertilizer should also suffice. A ratio of about 5-10-10 is good. Please note that compost already has a good supply of nutrients that will be released slowly and over a long period of time. Since chemical fertilizers can be quicker acting, it is important not to overdo them. Too much nitrogen can actually kill the heat of your peppers.

Aside from fertilization, watering is an obvious part of growing peppers. Your pepper plants should be kept well-watered, especially if they are in pots. Peppers, especially many of the hottest ones, are known for growing in hot climates. But you are likely to still see them wilt on a hot summer day. You can water your plants every day or two to keep them growing nicely. This is especially important while the plant is growing in size (before fruiting) because more branches will eventually mean more peppers. However, many growers find that stressing pepper plants during fruiting will help increase the heat of the peppers. Many people wonder how to make hot peppers hotter. If you are looking for the hottest pepper possible, and especially if you’re looking to impress people, this may be a good idea. But in that case, you may want to grow a few extra pepper plants because stressing can decrease the number of fruits you will get from each plant. It is also worth noting that watering the ground without wetting the leaves has been said to have a positive effect on potency. We at world Seed Supply do not typically practice this.

Along with decreasing water, you may be able to make your hot peppers hotter by giving them more sun during fruiting. If you have your chili pepper plants in pots, you can always look for an area with more sun. But if your plants are already in the ground, you might wonder how you can possibly give them more sun. Well, you can’t give the plants more sun. But you can give the peppers more sun. Cut off any of the larger leaves that seem to be shading your peppers. This will not only reduce the amount of diverted energy, it will allow more sun to reach the peppers directly.

Harvesting is the most rewarding part of growing peppers. It is important to harvest peppers regularly to keep the plant productive. It is widely believed that peppers that are left on the plant longer will be hotter and will have a better taste. If you have ten plants or so, you may find yourself with peppers to pick everyday once they start coming. This will last until the cold weather puts a damper on your season. We at World Seed Supply usually harvest peppers once they have turned from orange to red, but before they turn a deep red. A simple snip with a pair of scissors at the tip of the pepper stem is all that is needed. If you will be drying your peppers, you can string them up with a thread ran through the stem tips. A hot sun will work well to dry peppers. But a boiler room is usually preferable because rain is not a factor, and it can be used even going into the late fall when sun strength decreases. It is important that the area used for drying be very arid. You want the peppers to dry quickly because the moist chamber of a pepper is a great place for mold to develop. Cutting the tips off peppers may help the cause, but it is not a guarantee that mold will not form. In circumstances where an ideal drying environment is not available, it may be best to cut peppers into small pieces and lay them out to dry.

ALWAYS wear gloves when handling or cutting peppers. There should be no chemicals outside the skin, so picking can be done without gloves. But pepper oil can stay on the skin for days despite showers, intense washing, rubbing alcohol or whatever other attempts you make. In fact, a hot shower will only spread the capsaicin to all your most favorite areas, and while you may have a tolerance built up in your mouth that does not always extend to other areas.

When the season is about to draw close, it is beneficial to cut the growing tips off all branches unless there is a pepper there. By cutting the tips, the plant’s energy will divert from leaf growth into maturing the existing peppers. Many people also do not realize that peppers are perennial plants and can be saved for the following season. It is important to realize that bringing plants indoors can mean bringing pests indoors. Often an infestation will not expose itself for weeks or even months. We recommend quarantining the plant from any other indoor plant during this time. If window space is limited, this can be accomplished by covering the plant with a clear plastic bag and securing the bottom with a large rubber band or something of the sort. For more information on removing pests, please refer to our article, “Treating Pests on Houseplants: A Complete Regimen.”

Though you should easily be able to keep a pepper plant alive indoors over the winter, most indoor conditions do not offer enough light for fruiting. Flowers will usually form but will fall off before maturing. This is normal and should not be cause for concern. Some varieties can actually fruit indoors as well, especially if additional light is supplied. By keeping your plant alive for another year, it gives you a great head start on the season and is a very good way to increase your pepper yield the following season. You might even expect the peppers to be a little hotter than the previous year.

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How to Make Weather-Proof Labels for Outdoor Plants

We’ve seen many instances where people have had trouble with labeling their outdoor plants. It would seem like a simple enough issue, but weather has a habit of washing away even our best efforts. And many of us have come to realize the hard way that permanent marker is only permanent indoors. Then, there are weather-proof labels you can purchase. But in today’s economy, everyone is looking to avoid buying what they don’t have to. Perhaps saving that little bit on labels will mean you can buy some extra seeds. With little to no investment, you can create weather-proof labels for your outdoor plants using our preferred method.

To start, all you will need is a written or typed label listing your plant type, a 2 x 2 polyethylene zipper baggie and some clear packing tape. If you bought your seeds from World Seed Supply, you most likely just need the seed packet and some tape. We typically ship our smaller seed counts in 2 x 2 polyethylene bags with little tags that depict the species. Larger seed counts will come in larger bags. So in this case, or if you obtained seeds elsewhere, you may need to acquire smaller bags. A considerably larger bag may work, but it may also create an environment that allows more moisture to gather inside. Moisture is the enemy. If you do not already have a tag with your seed variety, you can easily make one by writing in ink or by printing one out on the computer. Just aim to keep the print to a length that is no more than 1.5”.

At this point, you should have the three required supplies. The rest is pretty simple. Take a 3” piece of clear packing tape and place it sticky-side-up with the two shorter sides at the top and the bottom (just as you would place a sheet of looseleaf when writing). Place the label at the top edge of the tape. Average packing tape is 2”, so if you kept your print length to around 1.5”, none of it will hang off the edges. The print can be up or down. Fold the label on the tape end-over-end so that you are laminating the label with the packing tape. Keep folding until you’ve use up the whole length of tape. Now, place the laminated label inside the 2 x 2 polyethylene zipper baggie. Tape completely over the opening of the bag with the packing tape so that there is no way water could get in. You can now tape this onto your pots right under the rim where it will be most hidden from the rain. For plants already in the garden, you can tape these onto anything such as a flat rock or a piece of wood and place it in the vicinity of the plants you are trying to identify.

In our experience, these weather-proof plant labels have worked very well. They have stood the test of some pretty intense downpours. But if you still want to be on the safe side, it may be a good idea to create a map of your garden. Depending on your conditions, you can even alphabetize pots or plants. Often, effective solutions are found in simple things. Today, we hope you’ve found our simple solution useful.


OFFERING HUNDREDS OF RARE, SACRED, MEDICINAL, ORNAMENTAL & CACTI SEEDS

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NEW WEBSITE LAUNCHED

After much work and about seven months, the new version of our site is launched! Currently, the inventory reflects, for the most part, what we had for sale when we began working on the new site. Our inventory expanded considerably since then. We will be continuously updating with new products to include what we have in our current inventory, so be sure to check back for our latest stock updates.

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World Seed Supply

How to Grow Tobacco; From Seed to Harvest

Growing tobacco from seed is easier than you might think. If you can grow tomatoes, then you should be fine with growing tobacco. After all, tobacco and tomatoes are in the same family (Solanaceae). The truth is that growing your own tobacco is cheaper, and while it is not necessarily healthier, it may in fact help you avoid a lot of artificial chemicals that you really don’t need.

The first decision you need to make is the soil type. Tobacco is notorious for requiring lots of nutrients, so a very fertile soil is absolutely essential. We have found that using pure compost for growing tobacco works very well with very minimal organic fertilization needed afterwards. In fact, if you’re going to be doing any serious amount of gardening, it might be worth starting your own compost pile or getting a truckload of compost delivered for the season. In our area, you can get anywhere from one to several yards delivered for $100-$200. You can use it to spruce up existing beds and gardens. Plus, depending on your needs, it is likely to save you over the cost of buying multiple bags of commercially made soil.

You will notice that tobacco seeds are very small. Even the largest tobacco seeds are still considerably smaller than even a poppy seed. The general rule when dealing with seeds that small is to sow them on the surface of the soil. In nature, small seed, such as tobacco seed, tends to be produced in large amounts. These thousands of small seeds tend to be scattered over the top of the soil and washed into various crevices in the soil where they can eventually take hold. Since small seeds are so easily washed away by wind or rain, we recommend using trofts to start your tobacco seeds rather than direct seeding. We have also found that aluminum roasting pans with drainage holes made in the bottoms work well for starting small seeds.

Since water is likely to carry your tobacco seeds and clump them together in areas where the water pools most easily, we’ve found that it is best to engineer this process ourselves. By using a stick or finger to make rows in the soil, you can determine where your tobacco seeds might end up if pooling occurs. Another option is to make poke marks over the entire surface of the soil so that you end up with a series of small holes. You’ll eventually be separating your tobacco seedlings anyway, but this will help a little with spacing beforehand.

It is safe to sow tobacco seeds outside once any danger of frost has passed. We like to keep our trofts in partial sun to start off. This is to ensure that the tobacco seedlings will not have a chance to dry out if we are not completely on top of our watering. Sometimes a hot spell will catch you off guard and dry out your young tobacco crop before it even gets off the ground, so by keeping the seedlings a bit shaded, it will give you more of a buffer. Seedlings in nature often tend to be shaded by larger plants anyway, so you are essentially recreating this experience. As for watering during the seedling stage, we like to keep the soil continuously moist. If there is a forecast of a strong storm, take measures to protect your tobacco seedlings from the direct force of rain so that the seeds will not be washed away. Usually putting your tofts or trays under a deck, an awning or even a lawn chair will help in such instances.

In our experiences, we have found tobacco seedlings to transplant very well. For instance, we have separated fully crowded tobacco seedlings at less than an inch in diameter (from leaf to leaf) and put them into the ground with nearly 100% success. The key is to use a fork to carefully separate roots, disturbing them as little as possible. Ideally, you should wait until plants are about 2” in diameter if you were initially able to provide that much space for them to get that big in your troft. Upon transplanting, you want to preserve as much of a rootball as there might be without taking it apart. Press a little hole in the soil about the same size as the rootball, lay it in and fill in around the edges nicely. Tobacco plants average about 2 feet in width, so a spacing of around 3 feet between plants and 5 feet between rows is the minimum you want to allow. If growing nicotiana rustica, a closer spacing may be used. The other key to successful transplanting is to provide plenty of moisture around the newly transplanted tobacco seedling. If you keep the tobacco transplants consistently well-watered, there should be no problems with them taking hold. Pay special attention to your newly transplanted tobacco until you’re sure the plants are putting on new growth.


As mentioned earlier, tobacco is known to use up a lot of nutrients. Compost is extremely nutrient-rich. But we usually will supplement the compost with a dose of bloodmeal about every two weeks. Simply scratch out the soil about an inch deep over an area several inches around the stem of the tobacco plant so that the bloodmeal will penetrate the surface of the soil. Add your bloodmeal and then smooth the soil back out so that the bloodmeal is mixed in. Be sure to remove and competing weeds as you do this.

Once tobacco starts flowering, most of the energy of the plant goes into that process. Some growers will choose to harvest their tobacco leaves before flowering begins to end up with the highest quality tobacco. But most growers choose just to top the plants. By removing the flowering tops, it will allow more energy to go back into leaf production and increase overall tobacco harvest. Once the leaf tips begin turning yellow, the plants should be harvested. Harvesting should be done in the morning after the dew has dried from the leaves.

There are numerous ways of curing tobacco, and it is a science that can be pretty involved. At the most basic level, the entire tobacco plant can be cut at the base and hung upside down to dry. Leaves can also be removed from the stalk and bundled at the stems in small bundles for drying. But beware that bundles tobacco leaves leaves tend to stick together, so leaves used for cigar wrappers should not be dried in this manner. Curing is typically done in a tobacco curing barn. But a well-ventilated, dark shed or even a garage can suffice. Air curing tends to produce tobacco that is high in nicotine but low in sugars. It is normally used for cigar and Burley tobacco. Allow 8 weeks for the tobacco to fully cure.

WE CARRY OVER 20 TYPES OF TOBACCO SEED and More!!

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