Nov 24, 2021

KRATOM MYTHS

There are many misconceptions surrounding mitragyna speciosa. This mostly seems to be due to assumptions or deceiving vendors trying to keep sales high. These myths were then taken by others and spread like wild fire! Some so ingrained in the kratom community even good intentioned sellers have to use made up b.s. like powder having a vein color just so customers will know what they are talking about! Well…lets get started 🙂

MYTH 1. KRATOM IS HARD TO GROW

You may have heard that kratom needs to be drenched in humid air, that its soil needs to stay swampy wet, and will die if it gets a wee bit cold….. Nope, not true! kratom is a very tough and forgiving plant that’s able to grow in a wide range of environments! Kratom can tolerate the low humidity of desert climates, can be watered as infrequently as most common garden plants, and while it will go dormant and defoliate in the cold and needs protecting from frost, it will start growing again once its warms back up…just like a lot of other trees. Oh, and kratom seeds stay viable waaay longer than a week, but the fresher the better 🙂 for more info check out **GROWING KRATOM**

MYTH 2. KRATOM PLANTS TAKE YEARS BEFORE THEY CAN BE HARVESTED

Even from seed kratom is worthwhile harvesting in its first year! Just be sure to harvest leaves at least 30 days old (preferably 3-4 months old) and preferably from a plant that is 9+ months old. clones are already mature and leaves can be harvested as soon as they are ripe.

MYTH 3. KRATOM POWDER VERIETIES ARE BASED ON THE VEIN COLOR OF LEAVES THAT ARE USED 

The vein color of a kratom plant can very from white to dark red and even purple…but its just a color and has nothing to do with the plants alkaloid makeup. A vast majority of kratom plants have some degree of red in their veins. In fact it is very rare to find one that doesn’t! When you see kratom powder for sale it more than likely will have a “vein color” attached to the name. This is a bit misleading and shouldn’t be know as vein colors as vendors are not separating the leaves by color. And even if they did….its wouldn’t hold any significants.

The best way to explain what is going on is by using tea varieties as an example. You see, all the different true teas come from one plant, Camellia sinensis. Depending on how you harvest and process the tea you end up with different kinds. For example white tea comes from very young leaves treated in a deliquiate fashion while black is from matured leaves that are roughed up a bit/processed to oxidize it. Kratom powder is similar. Green and white “vein” is made with leaves that are dried carefully away from heat and light to best preserve the alkaloids so that it more so resembles the fresh plant. Red “vein” is the result of leaves being dried in the sun and or in bags to ferment. This degrades the alkaloids a bit and gives the leaves its characteristic rusty color. “Bones”(what the farmers call the leaf veins) can also be mixed into the powder to further alter its qualities.

MYTH 4. MALAY POWDER IS MY FAVROITE SO A MALAY PLANT WILL BE THE SAME

(OR BORNEO..OR HORNED, ECT)

There are two reasons this is not going to work.

1.vendors usually just make up names and these names can be based on something like the way it feels, a blend/recipe that particular vendor makes, or….nothing at all! Most all kratom comes from Borneo, is sent to vendors who brand it as they see fit, and then ship it out. Its marketing. And like previously stated in the last myth it doesn’t really matter.

2. Even if the kratom plant comes from a specific location, as of now, there are no qualifying physical or chemical  markers that would signify a kratom plant to be from one specific location. Different kratom phenotypes(the way it looks) and chemotypes(chemical makeup) can be found growing among each other in many different areas. It appears that their all grow intertwined. You wouldn’t be able to see a random kratom plant and say that it is a Malaysian plant because it has such and such or whatever. As of now and until we find a more reliable way to label these plants the names provided by sellers such as Borneo or Malay are for differentiation/name sake only and at best just let you know where the specimens hail from. One vendors Indonesian can be totally different from another’s.

Sometimes the names can be a quality marker though. Maeng da or horned should mean its that vendors higher quality powder. Or bali will usually be run of the mill average. But at the end of the day its up to the vendor what they want to call it.

MYTH 5. HORNED PLANTS ARE STRONGER

Sorry, but most plants are capable of growing horns. Some kratom plants are more likely to horn out than others, but this doesn’t determine the plants potency. For example the hornist plant that we carry…. ;)….. although awesome… isn’t our strongest.

Leaves having horns seems to be dependent on growing conditions. Mid summer is when I get the most personally. And not all the leaves are horned. I’ve yet to see a plant that only grows horned leaves(although I’ve heard clams).

So when you get horned powder it may be coming from plants that have a tendency to make more horned leaves, but it doesn’t matter. Horned leaves may be a sign that the plant is producing more alkaloids(which has yet to be seen), but its ability to make horned leaves doesn’t mean the plant genetics itself are any better.