Just received cuttings...how do I grow them?

[Palmetto]

So far most of my cuttings are budding at least 1 new leaf already. I don't see any roots yet. Other plants I have rooted out, I sometimes nick the wood to encourage rooting. It works on figs and magnolias. I might try it on the kava cuttings, but one thing I can attest to so far is this:

When the long time growers talk about how easy it is to rot cuttings by having them too wet, you'd better believe it.

I may have lost all my Papa ele ele cuttings already. It's container must have been too wet. All of the other cuttings look better, although Honokane Iki had a tiny bit of mold on some. The largest cuttings (8") I received were Hiwa. They are also the most obviously budding. By far, the shortest cuttings (1") I received were Papa ele ele (the weakest). All of my cuttings have only 1 knuckle on them. I was hoping for two knuckles.

I replanted the cuttings laterally instead of vertically. That was according to suggestions from awa farmers.

 

[CactusKava]

So far most of my cuttings are budding at least 1 new leaf already. I don't see any roots yet. Other plants I have rooted out, I sometimes nick the wood to encourage rooting. It works on figs and magnolias. I might try it on the kava cuttings, but one thing I can attest to so far is this:

When the long time growers talk about how easy it is to rot cuttings by having them too wet, you'd better believe it.

I may have lost all my Papa ele ele cuttings already. It's container must have been too wet. All of the other cuttings look better, although Honokane Iki had a tiny bit of mold on some. The largest cuttings (8") I received were Hiwa. They are also the most obviously budding. By far, the shortest cuttings (1") I received were Papa ele ele (the weakest). All of my cuttings have only 1 knuckle on them. I was hoping for two knuckles.

I replanted the cuttings laterally instead of vertically. That was according to suggestions from awa farmers.

Awesome! Let's see some pictures of your kava!

 

[Palmetto]

Hey @CactusKava I'll wait a couple weeks to post photos, when there is more to look at.

 

[Palmetto]

Here are some low resolution pictures of my small kava plants taken a couple weeks ago, after the first few days of cold set in. A number of days, the lows were round 42 to 45 degrees F. You can notice some leaf spotting on several. Honokane Iki seemed to fare the best (I think). Hiwa was a strong grower so far at this early stage. Papa Kea grew slowly and suffered some damage. I also have piper auritum and piper kadsura growing in pots, but I plan to plant them out in the yard next spring.

Hiwa

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Honokane Iki

Pana Ewa

 

[kavadude]

Auritum will send out runners and spread on its own if you plant it in the ground

40 deg was around where I started to notice visible damage to my kava plant. After maybe two weeks of that, it was not happy.

Keep us posted -- it will be interesting to know if some cultivars are more cold tolerant than others

 

[Palmetto]

Bottom left Papa Ele Ele Puu Puu, bottom right Pana Ewa, top right probably Nene, top left either Honokane Iki or Papa Ele Ele Puu Puu

Piper auritum (false kava)

Piper auritum is root hardy in Southeastern Virginia where I live, and leaf hardy to at least freezing, plus it grows faster than true kava. Piper kadsura is even hardier, but not as fast growing.

All of these plants survived Tropical Storm Matthew this fall. The tears in the leaves come from the winds. The spotting comes from cold damage. Some of the brown marks are also dirt splattered from heavy rains, but some is definitely cold spotting.

 

[Jerome]

Oh nice! I lost track of this thread. Would a good quantity of perlite help with drainage? @Palmetto I'll PM you for the contact. I'm in no hurry, but I would love a couple nene plants. A small farm may be in my near future and having a good starter would be phenomenal.

 

[Jerome]

And the addition of worms. I always threw a few dozen local earthworms into whatever planters I was using, always helped soil aeration. Just make sure you use well diluted organic fertilizers like fish emulsion or good quality compost on top.

 

[Palmetto]

Hey Jerome,
I bought my cutting from Arman at Poki Fruit. Nice guy. He charged me more than what his website said, but I asked him to do a little extra legwork, so I didn't mind. Kava is not a focus for him. If you wait a few months, he might have more for cuttings, and the winter/spring frosts might be done where you live and the flight in between. I ordered every cultivar he had (see first post). Nene so far has been a slower grower for me.

I have a plan for growing them outdoors in zone 8 and above, but I'll have to wait until next year to see if my plan actually works.

 

[Jerome]

Hey Jerome,
I bought my cutting from Arman at Poki Fruit. Nice guy. He charged me more than what his website said, but I asked him to do a little extra legwork, so I didn't mind. Kava is not a focus for him. If you wait a few months, he might have more for cuttings, and the winter/spring frosts might be done where you live and the flight in between. I ordered every cultivar he had (see first post). Nene so far has been a slower grower for me.

I have a plan for growing them outdoors in zone 8 and above, but I'll have to wait until next year to see if my plan actually works.

Thank you! I will definitely wait till spring. It doesn't frost here, I'm on the southwest gulf coast of Florida, but it does frost between here and Hawaii!

I look forward to gleaning from your experience before trying it myself. Keep up the updates!

 

[Jerome]

This has me fantasizing at work about a kava farm in south Florida with guinea fowl and goats wandering around the large above ground planters...