Growing Peganum Harmala
Posted by skrudge | Filed under MAOI, Peganum Harmala, Syrian Rue, growing from seed, sowing
Nearly a month ago I started trying to grow Syrian Rue, or Peganum Harmala. Many people try, and nearly all of them fail the first time. The most common sight is the seedling popping up, developing it’s first two leaves, then the first mature leaves, and then the seedling falls down to the ground and shrivels.
Let me start with a quote from the book ‘Growing The Hallucinogens‘ by Hudson Grubber
Peganum harmala L.;
Caltrop family (Zygophyllaceae)A bright green, succulent, perennial herb, becoming woody with age, growing 1 to 2 feet tall. The leaves are 2 inches long and finely divided. The flowers are white, five-petaled, followed by a two- to four-cavitied capsuleabout 3/8 inch in diameter. Native to the deserts of southern Asia and Africa. Also found wild in some parts of Texas.
Cultivation and Propagation: Syrian rue may be grown outdoors in the South and West. It does well in dry sandy soils, but will benefit from somewhat richer soils. Will stand considerable drought. Viable seeds are rare but are the best means of propagation. These should be sown in flats of half sand, half soil, in April and May. Water sparingly, letting the surface dry. The seedlings are very susceptible to overwatering. They should be grown as pot plants the first year, and brought indoors in the winter. In the following spring they may be planted outdoors. In cold-winter areas the roots should be lifted and stored in damp sawdust in a cool place until early spring. Be sure to plant out before new growth starts.
Harvesting: The seeds should be gathered as the capsules ripen and should be dried in the sun. The roots may be harvested in autumn, in the same manner as kava roots, after the tops die from frost. These should be split and dried in the sun. The stems and foliage are inactive.
The wikipedia entry on Peganum Harmala:
Harmal (Peganum harmala) is a plant of the family Nitrariaceae, native from the eastern Mediterranean region east to India. It is also known as Syrian Rue, an inaccurate name, since it is not in the rue (Ruta, Rutaceae) family.
It is a perennial plant which can grow to about 0.8 m tall, but normally it is about 0.3 m tall. The roots of the plant can reach a depth of up to 6.1 m, if the soil it is growing in is very dry. It blossoms between June and August in the Northern Hemisphere. The flowers are white and are about 2.5–3.8 cm in diameter. The round seed capsules measure about 1–1.5 cm in diameter, have three chambers and carry more than 50 seeds.
The common use for this plant’s seeds are to act as a monoamine oxidase inhibitor, or MAOI. P. Harmala seeds can be used on their own as an entheogen, but acts stronger in combination with other plants. It is used for example in combination with Banisteriopsis Caapi to create an analogue Ayahuasca. The dosage to take for the Harmala seeds to function is between 3 and 5 grams, depending on the persons who ingests the seeds his weight. MAOIs inhibit naturally occurring enzymes in the human body. This inhibition leads to increased levels of chemicals such as the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine. By slowing their metabolism, MAOIs also allow chemicals such as N,N-DMT, to become active when taken orally.
I had a bag of somewhat old (2 years maybe) P. Harmala seeds laying around so I thought to give it a try. I prepared two pots with the soil descriped as in the article above, which basically is the sand in my backyard. I live near the coast of the Netherlands, and since most of the soil here is sand mixed with potting soil that we added over the years, the soil seemed ideal to me. I placed a bunch of seeds in each pot (I didn’t mind counting them ), watered them, and placed one pot in the windowsill of my room, and the other one in my backyard. The second one placed in the backyard seemed to be sprouting seedlings very soon, but after a few days we had a rainstorm, and P. Harmala, being a desert plant, didn’t quite like that.
The container in the windowsill is growing slowly but steadily. I already had 5 seeds sprouting, of which three survived so far. Watering is being done from below once a week, and sprayed on top every other day, in very small amounts. The pot is partly shaded, because I thought that if I would put it in full sun it would dry out completely too fast.
After another week of hot and sunny weather and a good watering, eight other seeds sprouted, and the two largest seedlings have developed even further.I noticed that the plant prefers water from below so it can suck it up through it’s roots. I still spray water on top as well in small amounts just to be sure everything goes well. The smaller seedlings with their small roots can’t reach the bottom layer yet, so they need the water from the top to grow. More updates to come.
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January 3, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Hi! I’d be interested in hearing what came of this experiment. Did the seedlings die?
January 30, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Hey Nickson, sadly enough, yes they did. As you might have seen I went to Indonesia for about a month and let my brother take care of all my plants. Even with all the good intentions he had, he underwatered the plants. Luckily enough I was able to save most of my cacti, but the Harmala was lost. Nothing to worry about, spring is coming up again and I’ve got a lot of more space since I’ve moved, so lots of growing projects are coming up :)
Peace and take care!
June 15, 2010 at 4:34 pm
My Peganum Harmala’s just can’t develop a sturdy stem! Maybe this should be the case, but for now the just keep growing upwards and keep falling down! Hope yours will have a more stabile development. One and a half week ago i’ve re-potted them to a 3 ltr. pot, what makes the harmala look kinda pathetic in comparison with the pot. So let’s hope a touch of summer can change the situation!
June 18, 2010 at 11:56 am
Falling over can happen when the plant is being over watered. Remember, this is a desert shrub, so water infrequently and give it almost the same treatment you would give a cactus. When the plant receives a relatively large amount of water the roots will not grow deep enough to keep the plant upright. A larger pot will definitely help, but please watch out with watering. Less water will cause the plant to develop a stronger root system. Good luck!