Description

When your live kratom plant arrives, carefully remove the plant from the box, minding use of sharp instruments, cut the tape –not the box– in a warm area, free from drafts to avoid dehydration. Carefully remove all packaging disturbing the Kratom tree as little as possible. Your plant may or may not be noticeably wilted. This is to be expected from the shock of transport. Do not be alarmed if it looks a little ‘sad’. Keep away from brighter lights for at least a day. A dimly lit room, such as the counter or table top in front of drawn shades or blinds is great. It needs to adjust to the new environment and recover from shipping. Water the plant generously, but do not allow to stand in water for more than 2-3 hours per day.

Probably the single easiest way to keep help your plant recover from shipping (and cut down on the work for you at the same time) is to make a little makeshift greenhouse for it. You can use a 2-liter plastic bottle with the bottom cut off or just a big plastic bag. That will help keep in the moisture and the heat. If you can’t make a greenhouse for it, at the very least, you will need to spritz it with water several times a day to keep the leaves moist. They do not do well going straight from an extremely high-humidity environment of their packaging to normal house conditions.

We highly recommend organic potting mix as an excellent source of nutrients for proper leaf production and plant stability.  Kratom requires an ample amount of lighting that is very bright, but not harsh like the sun. If adequate lighting is not maintained consistently, leaf drop will occur quite severely until the plant can use what light is available. You may find the use of fluorescent lighting to be amicable and ultimately will be easier to control during the shorter winter months. Consider the plant’s native habit, Thailand and Africa, where the tropical zones are moist and warm and days are long. Should artificial lighting be impractical for your needs, 4-5 hours of early morning sun should be sufficient. The temperature that you may find comfortable will ultimately make your new plant comfortable. Much higher than 90 degrees F and leaf production is slowed slightly, although the plant loves plenty of humidity and higher temps. Much lower than 60 degrees F and the plant will stop growing pretty much altogether; remaining dormant until warmer temperatures are maintained all the while, dropping nearly every leaf. Near-freezing temperatures will kill it very quickly. We find optimal growth to be at around 85 degrees F with around 4 hours of morning sun and shade the rest of the day.

You should want to water when the very top of soil becomes slightly dry in appearance or to touch. Lack of sufficient water will result in smaller, stunted leaves and much slower growth. Misting once or twice daily will help alleviate stress of a drier climate as well as help prevent many opportunities for pests which often prefer the dry undersides and joints of plants in general. Kratom prefers fairly damp, well-drained potting soil. Watch your plant closely and you will learn to accommodate it to the most suitable growing environment. With lots of love and care your Kratom plant can grow up to be a Kratom tree.

If there is a problem with your plant when it arrives, please take a picture and e-mail it to info@mitrascience.com immediately. We will replace plants that arrive in bad shape and don’t survive, but we cannot replace them if we aren’t alerted to a problem within 48 hours of delivery.