Having recently become a full member, I'd like to perform a ritual garden-sharing post.

I'm living in a temperate climate with pretty harsh winters (zone 6), which means the coldest it usually can be here is just below 0 degrees fahrenheit. Nevertheless, most of these plants have been overwintered and are now enjoying intense rays of sunlight. Even with meager resources you can start a symbiotic relationship

Now on to the good stuff...


The first picture shows the happy crowd together. You can see a little gojiberry plant, Passiflora incarnata, basil, Phalaris brachystachys (in poor condition), Ipomoea violacea, a leaf of Scutellaria lateriflora, Papaver somniferum, two caapis one of which went dormant and hasn't woken up, Mimosa tenuiflora, Calea zacatechichi var. Rest In Peace , Turbina corymbosa, Psychotria alba, and Acacia confusa.


Next, there's a good view of my Acacia. I started him from seed early last year, potted into compost/peat, and gave him some pea innoculant (which seems to make a difference). This Acacia, though endemic to tropical environments, has taken 5 or 6 months of cold and low light without even dropping its phyllodes. Since the weather has improved in the last two months, it's begun growing again. Very adaptable, but does seem to require lots of sun to be healthy.


Third, my Mimosa hostilis. She was planted early this spring and kept under LED lights in a heated room. Also given pea innoculant, same type of mix as the Acacia. She's a darling, I remember once when I was spraying her with a mister when she was a seedling, she did this little leaf-folding thing like she was happy and affectionate. She doesn't seem quite as resilient as the Acacia, but a quick grower for sure.


Then, a full-shot of my Calea. It was purchased as a cutting, shipped to my house in the middle of winter. This is the true Calea, I believe, whereas the so-called 'non-bitter' strain is not the correct species at all. The taste is very aromatically bitter. If you look in books like Plants of the Gods the botanical illustrations match. I'm hoping to spread cuttings around this summer after much more growth.


Uh, fifth, there's the little poppy and lycium.


Sixth, Passiflora incarnata. Not much to say about this one, it was purchased as a cutting, seeds were impossible for me to germinate. I'm hoping to test it for harmala alkaloids when/if it reaches monstrous size. Passiflora tea does glow under a blacklight like caapi tea.


A note about Psychotria alba is that it is incredibly resilient. It's a very slow grower, but it will take so much abuse. I left some cuttings in glass of water for 8 months, where they put out roots and are just hanging out till something happens. No idea if it's useful for ayahuasca yet though, that's a very controversial topic. Hopefully I might be able to test that later this year.


And lastly, a picture of some Acacia floribunda seeds soaking in a shot glass. These were snatched just the other day from a botanical garden (I'm helping the species anyway, which I think justifies a little rule-breaking). Since I haven't been able to find any domestic suppliers of these Australian acacias, I was flabbergasted to say the least.

They are really just wonderful to have around

Thanks for showing us your garden.

You seem to be blessed with a green thumb, given the low temps you quoted many would struggle to keep tropical species like some of them alive.

Very nice plants !

Inspirational indeed.

Nice collection man!

What type of LED were you using, and how did you find it?

I'm using 135w UFO (red+blue)- supposed to be equivalent to at least 400w HPS.
I left a 2 month Oxycedrus about 3 inches below it, and over two days I left my wife watching it (for roughly 12hr light periods) it got fried to a crisp literally.

I'm weening them from fluorescents to LED starting from 1-2 hr per day atm, then finishing the rest of the day under flouro's.

I was using a 60 watt UFO style light, pretty much exactly what you have in your picture, but the cheaper model. The winter before the last I knew I'd have to support all my tropicals, and LEDs are supposed to be the most energy efficient option.
I guess I just took the advice of people on cannabis cultivation forums on which brands were reputable.
In retrospect, cannabis has way different requirements from most of these tropical perennials, be they tree or vine.

And yes, too close and any plant will burn. My first lesson on that was with a little kratom cutting, now deceased.
The Acacia is actually bent like that to better suit the light it was under.

My experience with lights has been less than encouraging. I think sunlight is the best option whenever possible.

Oh, and that you for the complement Hieronymous

Woah, my passion flower bloomed today. Amazing, but not what I expected.

Is this incarnata? If not, can anyone ID my plant?

According to my research, that is lady margaret.. a passiflora hybrid of the two plants p. incarnata and p. coccinea. Beautiful flower!

Ah, thanks Cognitive Heart. I let out a gasp when I first saw it this morning

I actually made a tea from some of the bottom leaves a few nights ago, it didn't have any noticeable sedative effect which the local herb store's passionflower has. It also showed no fluorescence under blacklight, which the store-bought herb has.

Perhaps this one will yield some fruit

Yes, perhaps. Most passiflora do, anyways. Always glad to be of help.

A mixture of acacia's growing under a 135w UFO LED (acuminata broad+narrow, oxycedrus, cyclops)

The group of 4 are acumainata(braod) 3-month old
The pair together are cyclops 2-month old

That is an impressive acacia collection Shadow
My floribundas have been struggling, even in full sun with a compost/peat soil mix. You have a treasure, thanks for sharing.
Have you added nitrogen fixers or other microbes to your soil?

On the other hand, the tricolors are streaming beauty