Well..I built a green house ou

Well..I built a green house out back and the temperature dropped and my kratom plants didn't survive. Luckily I had brought in several cuttings. Still this is upsetting because I wanted to plant about four acres of trees where I live but apparently kratom won't survive here. I'm in east Texas and 8-9 months out of the year they would grow like they were back home in Indonesia but for three or four winter months we can get down to 20 degrees or so. So if having the protected in a green house won't stop the cold from killing them then what hope is there? That's no way I could enclose four acres of pasture for them to be in a climate controlled area. 😟

hmm they were still in the green house and dying? you might need to look at 1. ruth stout is what i tell everyone because it works. BUT you may also need to look at space heaters like they use on orange grove plantations. 20 degrees is really a tough one tho. They generally will no do well if they dip below 35 degrees. 

@guywithtrees. Thanks.

What exactly am I looking for? Ruth Stout Number 1?

@pharmatree no the Ruth Stout Method. It is about layering plants with beneficial things over time. Hay or mulch specifically as it keeps the soil moist, wet, and a bit warmer. And over time the laying of hay builds up nitrogen. https://www.youtube.com/playli...

@pharmatree.  it got down to 35°F here in Daytona Beach last 2 nights.


The trees survived fine, but if it threatened to get cooler they'd be moved inside the greenhouse with the young ones. . I almost moved them at midnight!


   If they were planted in the ground,  with lots of mulch around the bottom 8 inches or so, to keep the warmth in and frost out, the dormant bud's will be ready to erupt when it warms up. My 1 year trunks are over 2~3 inches thick with lots of buds erupting everywhere! See the tiny lizard guarding a bud below?


Don't over water when dormant, but don't let them ever fully out dry out either. 


 I pinched these trunks about every 2~3 nodes to produce a Bush like plant as I can't climb 100 foot tall trees. That may be why the trunk is so crooked and buddy.

   There are many many many hidden buds, even between the nodes between leaves/ branches.  This is why I plant them deeper than the first 3 nodes.... to protect the bottom foot of the trunk, no matter what!!! Even if frozen down to a 6 inch stump, such stumps would come back into a 10 foot tall bush the next spring.


They can drop leaves around 31~32°F, but will survive as long as the lower trunk is protected by about a foot of hay mulch. Good luck with the cuttings; my 5 clone cuttings from November of last year


survived and 2 (Indo & Thai) are now on 50 gallon coaster wheeled saucers/fabric pots. Roll easy.


.and the Malaysian & Vietnamese are in  25 gallon fabric like these 2...

 and this Indo one too...

....about as big as I can still move them too, without wheels. 

    Pharmatree...Don't give up.  They may grow in east Texas with a little protection for 2~3 months of the colder weather. 

  Craig Strickland's YouTube kratom channel...

It shows him growing hundreds (400~500 kratom clones) in GEORGIA!!! Some are planted in the ground and thrive, many in the greenhouse too. Watch his 87 videos on kratom and frost protection. 

  If my little micro clone cuttings ...  


grew 10 feet in just a year... from this...

 to this double trunked monster bush in just a year....

...then a well established stump should do at least as well. Don't give up, ever.

   Plant/mulch at the very least, with the 'Ruth Stout Method' (https://www.goveganic.net/arti...) for low effort efficient synergistic planting/mulching and maybe get a small cheapo $100 "harbour freight"  greenhouse for the cold months. I would pile hay around my 'in ground trees', and put a bed sheet over them like a tent, with a 60 watt light bulb shop light, or heating blanket on underneath.  Maybe an old illegal polluting style of citrus grove type of oil burning 'smudge pot' https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...  or misters clustered under some tarped PVC pipes? 

  They're very hardy and robust for a tropical rainforest tree. 

🌲GO KRATOM🌲GROW KRATOM🌲... and the red veins and leaves are truely exciting, after just 1 year (and lots of nutrients). 

Keep the faith, pharmatree. If you need more cuttings, pm me and I'll set you up, for just the postage overnight. You may not be able to plant 4 acres, but 4 trees should supply you all your kratom needs. 

 that's a lot of leaves to pick!  And 4 acres would have been lot to plant... but never give up!

   Keeping  the dream alive here, I've finally got the rows of PVC irrigation piping ready and 88 heads in 8 watering zoneswhat a mess the storm left too. Gaps for kratom trees are everywhere! 🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲😉  sorry fir the long reply (not really)🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

last edited by peteypyro

@peteypyro "worlds greatest reply" 

Dude you put some serious effort into your responses and I appreciate it very much. Los of good information. I wasn't aware that they could go dormant then come back?? You think with enough protection for the roots, they could survive their leaves getting frozen and falling off or withering away? 

@pharmatree yes. I believe that you can lose every leaf and yet the unfrozen lower stem or buried trunk may regenerate near the soil level, or even higher up. Seen it in other delicate tropicals. 

Last year after all the freezes we're done I took a couple plants and I strip every leaf off the plant and cut every branch it came back gangbusters

@pete2000 please please put me down for sampling leaves from your trees at first availability.  For fun!  This inspired thread with photos is very helpful for those of us just advocating and learning stuff.  @roadkill, I’m also on your waiting list.  I’m hoping to get about 30-40 more years of life and kratom becomes EVEN MORE important for so many of us who are aging.  I’m not surrendering to the pain, but I often wonder how I will access good kratom if I become dependent on caregivers (I know.  Crazy thinking.  Think about today and tomorrow).  So while thinking about living in the now, I want it to be clear that I’m enjoying and respect your kratom growing journeys.