how to Grow Kratom seeds

There is another kratom myth floating around online, this time regarding seeds. It has been said that kratom seeds will quickly lose their viability, and that one must plant them within weeks of harvesting the pods. I even read on one site that you shouldn’t even bother if they are even a few days old! Viability is the rate of which your seeds sprout. So, no viability means you will get no seeds sprouting. The good news is, this information is just plain wrong. Those of us who plant kratom seeds properly are finding a good rate of viability, long after acquiring them. Dr. Brian Pearson, who works with Dr. McCurdy on researching kratom, recently told Kratom Science the following in an interview:

"We have in our possession some seed that’s now going on multiple years old that we’re still able to germinate. We do keep them refrigerated."

So why the bad information out there about kratom seeds? My theory is that because the seeds are somewhat tricky to sprout, the viability myth has become the scapegoat every time people fail at it. And really, it appears many people who attempt sprouting good kratom seeds will fail. This is the reason we do not guarantee seeds, yet we offer a 30 day replacement policy on plants: while many will fail at sprouting good quality seeds, almost everybody will succeed when starting with a healthy kratom plant. 

Kratom seeds tend to get about a 10 to 20% viability rate, when planted properly. However, in some trials on this current batch I have been getting upwards of 30%. Experiment with the way you try to sprout them, it seems even the most subtle differences in climate conditions within the dome will have huge effects on the success rate. Having said that, here is how I recommend you do it:

You should use peat moss, or at least a potting soil that has a high concentration of peat, to give it that fluffy consistency. If you use pure peat moss, keep in mind it is void of nutrients so you when you water it, use a liquid nutrient solution. Whatever you use, I will refer to it in these instructions as your “medium”.

Fill your trays/seed inserts, or grow pots/bags with the medium. At your local nursery you will find seed starting trays/inserts/domes – they work great for this and I highly recommend using them. 

On each pod you will find many capsules; most of these capsules will have many seeds within them. The seeds are small slivers within the capsules. Take a capsule and break it open with your fingers, you may have to tear it apart a bit to release the seeds. Sprinkle the seeds unto your growing medium. For each spot that you want to have at least one successful plant, sprinkle around 20 seeds, just in case (see note below). Remember you will want to thin out any weak ones later so going overboard with the number of seeds you lay down is good practice. I tend to not count them as they are very small, just estimate and sprinkle a bunch down.

I like to then stir the top surface of the soil slightly. This isn’t entirely necessary, but it helps. If you do this, only stir that top 1/8th inch of the surface; you don’t want to bury the seeds down like you would with many other species. The seeds seem to need exposure to some light to help with germination. So, the idea is to have them in the medium, yet not buried down to the point they are completely covered. Simply pushing them down a bit yields the same results. After that, put a dome or something similar over them. You want to create a humid environment to get them sprouting. 

Put your trays/pots/bags under light. You don’t want direct sunlight on them. If you are using sunlight, use shade cloth, preferably at least 50% density. However, artificial light works great for germinating these species, and will be more consistent than sunlight. Compact fluorescents or LEDs will do the job just fine. If going this route, I recommend leaving the lights on 24/7. Don’t place the lights too close. Here is an example: a 250 compact fluorescent should be about 3 feet away at first, then as the sprouts come in you can lower it down to 2 feet.  

Be patient, it should take about 10-21 days for the sprouts to start showing. They will be very small at first. Enjoy!