Calea Zacatechichi

[m-c-hammer]

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this one, this is a great little plant that I have recently been doing a lot of work with.

It originates from the same mountains in Oaxaca in Mexico as Salvia.

It grows quite fast and does a lot better in the ground than it does in pots.

 

It is also known as bitter grass and boy does it deserve that name. I mean it makes peyote tea taste like the smoothest honey in comparison.

The first time I tried it was to make a tea from the dried leaves, now don't get me wrong here I can handle some weird tasting brews, but I really had trouble getting this one down.

I sucked on a spoon of honey for a few minutes after but it really didn't help much.

 

The most it did for me was make me a little drowsy and give me a funky dream. Honestly It really wasn't worth all the effort, so I left the plant to grow and forgot about it for a while (some people have great results with this method).

 

But soon enough curiosity about this plant and its powers crept back into my mind and I had to try it again.

This time I ground up a whole bunch of leaves and packed the powder tightly into gel cap's.

I took two cap's and went to bed about an hour later when I became drowsy.

 

That night I had the most strange and vivid dreams that I really thought that this method of ingestion was the way for me.

I waited two more days to try up the dose and try again (I like to dip my toes in before I wade through all unknown swamps).

This time I took five caps. waited thirty minutes and went to bed.

I started to feel warm and fuzzy not unlike how I do with morphine, then with eyes closed I had bizarre visuals of an orange blanket that was flapping up and down.

With every beat of the blanket I had a very warm euphoric feeling rush over my body, it was amazing!

Very soon after that I fell asleep, I had about four or five very intense dreams and in every one of them, at some point, I was standing in my garden looking at my Calea plant with a feeling of fear.

 

The next morning I awoke suddenly, I was very well rested and not groggy even though it was 6:30, I generally don't get up for at least another hour.

I quickly chucked on some clothes and ran into my garden, just as in my dream, here I was looking at my one and only Calea in fear. A nearby tomato plant had come off its trellis and was smothering my Calea completely.

I quickly propped up the tomato and have been propagating Calea ever since.

 

If your still here, thanks for reading.

 

Now for some pics.

The mother plant that was almost smothered when it was much younger

 

Some newly established clones

 

Closeups

 

Hammer

[wyrm]

Thanks for the info ive wondered how i was ever going to get a whole cup of this stuff down. it does taste no joke like pure poison

[m-c-hammer]

Yeah, no shit.

Pills are the way to go.

And for those of you who have never tried this plant, I suggest that you get yourself one before they schedule this plant.

The wheels are in motion and I doubt it will be long before you can trade this plant freely.

Boy, what a great society we live in where a plant that has existed for eons can suddenly become deemed evil and wiped off the face of the planet.

[OrbitTime]

Boy, what a great society we live in where a plant that has existed for eons can suddenly become deemed evil and wiped off the face of the planet.

 

It's absurd, to say the least. NSW even outlaws a native coca bush. How can a native plant be outlawed and not breech the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act of the Commonwealth? Only goes to show the knee-jerk hysteria of the twits in power.

 

Sounds like an interesting plant to grow, esp. as I seldom dream and I'd like to induce that state. Can you give some basic cultivation tips based on your experience. Soils it likes? Are they akin to typical vegetable plot soils i.e., friable, fertile and well drained? Or will it cope on poor soils? What sort of irrigation regime does it require? Full sun or part-shaded? Do the root stocks survive frosts, or have you found it frost tolerant? Pests and diseases you've found?

 

Sorry for all the questions, but I much prefer a heads-up from Aussie growers; as half the stuff on the net is from the northern hemisphere (which has little relation/use to us in Oz), or is re-posted from unvetted material by folks thinking it's actually helpful.

[m-c-hammer]

Not a problem for the info at all Orbit,

 

As I already stated, it really don't like pots too much.

Similarly with salvia, this plant needs to spread its roots as it likes to keep it's moisture levels just right.

However it wont enjoy being water logged either. But will tolerate it to a slight extent.

 

My plants are thriving in the veggie garden soil (thanks Esther Dean for showing me how to create wonderful soil ).

So a rich, loamy, slightly alkaline soil with good water holding capabilities is perfect for this plant as with many others.

I have also found that it has responded well to the high Potassium levels that I have been giving my patch recently.

I like to use "Sudden Impact for Roses" made by Nutrog, it is a natural pellet style fertiliser commonly sold at Bunnings and does wonders for all plants that yield heavy fruits and flowers.

 

It can do well in sandy soils too, however you may find it difficult to keep water levels up in the summer.

As to irrigation, with my soil, once the clone goes in the ground I will water it every other day for the first week, then once a week for a month, after that it has established itself well enough that I do not water it from that point on.

Thais plant, given time will form a shrub/small bush ~1.3m high and round form what Schultes said. So with that in mind I do not intend to spoon feed it too much.

It likes full sun to part shade and is quite frost tolerant.

 

To this date I have found no bugs that will dine on it, I did see some butterfly's hanging around them a few weeks back but no evidence of caterpillars on any of the plants. They seemed to move on to my sally instead.

The leaves and stems have that fur thing going on to some extent so this and the awful bitterness of it probably makes it unpalatable to mots bugs.

 

For those of you who find it difficult to dream, remember your dreams or wish to take more control over your dreams, this may be the plant for you.

I have always been good at having a deep memory of my dreams and also vivid dreaming. However this plant has made it possible for me to have lucid dreaming, more control of its direction and obtain more relevant information. Something that I have been trying to do for over a decade without this plant I could do in one night with it.

 

Shamans have used this plant for "dream walking" (going into other peoples heads), finding lost objects and heal illness.

So I find this plants potentials very interesting and plan to do a lot of work with it.

It can also, in large doses, be psychedelic, give closed and open eye visuals, however it is quite sedating so I doubt you could stay awake long enough to "trip" on it.

 

Sorry to keep on talking but, if you didn't already know it I'm a big fan of this one. For me it's up there with peyote.

 

You just can't touch this.

Hammer

[boosted brick]

This sounds like something I would like to try. Ive been useing kanna before bed, as i find it easier to dream like that.. But more vivid dreams would be great!!

[Astro84]

sounds interesting, where can i aquire seeds for this plant? are they locally available?

[m-c-hammer]

Seeds of this plant are quite difficult to germinate, however cuttings do reasonably well.

There are a few online vendors who sell it for ~$20 each clone.

Alternatively you can PM me for a clone if you wish, I'm always happy to barter.

[OrbitTime]

Thanks for the info! Quite handy indeed.