Thought this pic was interesting. I've heard of this before but never seen it. A kava stem gets so heavy it touches the ground and roots at the nodes, essentially producing new plants.
Who Says Kava Doesn't Reproduce Naturally?
- Thread starter Bula Kava House
- Start date
That's rare and that's awesome! That one didn't happen to flower did it? If so I'd go buy a lottery ticket right now.
Maybe! Too bad this one looks to have been cut before the nodes had a chance to grow foliage, completing the reproduction that was initiated when the stem touched earth. In the words of the great Dr. Ian Malcolm, "Life finds a way."
Don't say that too loudly
Honestly yes, kava is likely to be suitable to be grown in many areas of the world. The political implications of this, however, are quite touchy.
Alia
'Awa Grower/Collector
(No one that I am aware of) it's the seeds(1) that cannot be produced.
Ground layering is common. At any given time my plants all will have a ground-layer or two.
In Hawai'i, at least, much of 'awa human planting stopped with Queen Ka'ahumanu declaring
"the planting of 'awa is prohibited"
Very good that the forgotten historic fields ground-layered on their own or we would not have the
unique cultivars we have today.
The Kalapana fields were huge and their fate is documented in the Hawaiian 'awa book page 38.
Queen Lu'ukia's legendary and historically factual fields are gone now but thanks to some searchers
her favorite cultivar is in cultivation today.
(1)A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering. The formation of the seed is part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosperm plants. Seeds are the product of the ripened ovule, after fertilization by pollen and some growth within the mother plant.
I appreciate the reply and addition of botanical information. I am familiar with ground layering. Most layman and daily kava drinkers who aren't gardeners or farmers constantly hear that kava is only propagated through human intervention, so I do think that many would say, "Kava doesn't reproduce naturally", though I understand that you wouldn't say that. I just thought it was a cool pic for a forum. Thanks again, Ed.
Palmetto
Thank God!
I tried grafting piper auritum onto itself a few times, with no long term success. I do suck at grafting though. But @Alia said he has grafted kava onto itself when a branch broke. My idea was to graft methysticum onto auritum to get a temperate growing graft. Unless I up my grafting game, it ain't gonna happen.
Alia
'Awa Grower/Collector
Yes, several time when a stalk breaks on an 'awa plant I use grafting tape and tape it back.
It always works...so I assume traditional grafting would be fine.
The key is to match cambium layer as much as you can.
It would be fun to graft a black Hiwa to a green Kumakua!
However, how would the plant feel about that?