This article is the 2nd part in a series on growing Kratom. In part 1 I received the Kratom plant, and then set up a greenhouse with a powerful grow light and humidifier in order to simulate tropical rainforest conditions. In this current article I will describe what has happened in the 5 days since I setup the greenhouse.
First off, the Kratom plant showed signs of flourishing even on day 1 in the greenhouse, and a couple sets of new leaves began to pop out.
However, one error I made was that I put the Kratom plant too close to the 1,200 W grow light, and after a few days I noticed that the top leaves of the plant were turning red. I consulted the expert grower who provided me with the plant, and he said the plant was getting sunburnt, and that it had to be moved further from the light.
The plant was previously sitting on top of a coffee table in the greenhouse, so I simply removed the coffee table, adding an additional 2-3 feet between the Kratom tree and the light. The expert Kratom grower assured me that no serious damage had been done, and indeed, once I moved the Kratom tree further from the light, it stopped getting burnt, and even the leaves which did turn red didn’t die and their veins remained green.
The expert Kratom grower than advised me to put some Hay in the pot, since Hay breaks down and enriches the soil, and becomes soil itself after some time. I purchased Timothy Hay and lined the pot with it, and then watered the Kratom tree, and within a day of doing that new leaves began to pop up everywhere.
Some of the new leaves that are popping up can be seen in the article image, but here are some additional sets of new leaves that are popping up as well.
Notably, new leaves are popping up at the top of the plant where the sun burn previously happened, indicating to me that the light level is now nominal and no longer dangerous for the leaves, since these new leaves are especially fragile yet they are thriving.
Also, the first leaves that sprouted on day 1 in the greenhouse are rapidly becoming full sized, showing just how quickly Kratom leaves can grow once they pop up.
On a final note, I’ve been watering the Kratom tree only once every 1-2 days, and even then, not too much water. This is especially because twice a day I turn the humidifier on and the humidity hits 100% in the greenhouse, causing condensation on the plant, which feeds it some water automatically. Notably, humidity is easily staying above 90% for up to 12 hours after running the humidifier for a little while, creating ideal tropical rainforest conditions.
Stay tuned as the Kratom grow continues on Kratom Cafe!