This thread title is slightly tongue-in-cheek: after reading everything else that's been coming up in the forum about Mysterious Lady D., I decided to share my experience: a very positive alternative to risking one's life with ingestion, that can still satisfy a burning curiosity to initiate a sincere relationship with this intriguing plant.

Datura can kill you, SO DON'T EAT IT!! (Yeah, those posts are a dime a dozen... and for god-given reason.)

But, if you're really curious--and as long as you don't have pets or babies--GROW IT!! Growing Datura can still be a totally entheogenic experience.

The Scorpio in me got really curious when I started hearing about Datura. Darkly curious. Read all the threads out there that exist to be read. But, I also love and cherish my body as the only tool I have to explore the 3rd dimension, so firmly opted not to ever ingest Datura. Not even at the Nexus-approved amount. Nope. Too scary. Why?

Well, have you ever met the plant? What do you know about her?

Datura found her way into my sleeping dreams, and her spirit told me to grow her: so, I went to the nursery, got some seeds, and sprouted them. She appears in my sleeping dreams regularly, along with Ayahuasca and Passionflower. These plants all visit me while I'm asleep, regularly.

Months later: 8 out of 10 seeds sprouted, and they are the creepiest and most intelligent non-human motherfuckers I have ever encountered. I grow all kinds of plants, love being outside, love observing all forms of life... and these guys are total creepsters. Stinky and adorable creepsters. If a cold wind blew into the kitchen and the daturas didn't like it, they would *all* go limp and drop over like they were dead. I could shut the window, and watch them return to a creepy outstretched standing position WITHIN 15 MINUTES. They are SO DRAMATIC and EXPRESSIVE unlike ANY OTHER HOUSEPLANT. They LIKE to ACT (since when did plants ACT?) like they are DEAD... to get your attention.

One time, I thought they were all about to die, after repotting them. I drove them to the nursery in a panic (okay... sometimes I get attached to plants like children and have never seen any plants fall ill in a matter of minutes, it usually takes a few days of being thirsty, etc. before they droop SLOWLY). They were only a few inches tall at the time, I had them all wrapped up in the appropriate coverings, explained the sudden droop to the loving nursery attendant, and she generously spent lots of time giving me useful advice... THE SECOND I GOT BACK INTO MY CAR TO DRIVE HOME, the little bastards all stood back up and were like, "Heh heh heh!! JUUUUUUST PLAYIN'! Who rules your life, little monkey?"

I was baffled, but happy they were better. It took several more instances of random changes in environment--temperature, sound, OTHER PEOPLE present--to put two and two together, and realize, that these are literally the most dramatic, insane, and sassy plants. They cry wolf (interesting phrase to use...). Whenever Datura acts dead, she's only fucking with you. It's her game. It's one of the perks. Some plants grow flowers. Datura is a swift-moving expressive mind job.

Occasionally, in spurts of growth, such as The Figster (my fig tree) in early spring, shoots out a few new sets of leaves. Lady Pash (my passionflower), after being pruned, grows very quickly and loves to explore. Christmas Cactus likes to grow lots of flowers around the solstice. But this is predictable, and while on a timescale that sometimes happens overnight, it is never literally right before the eyes. It is also rhythmic, adheres to laws of the Earth, and seasons.

I have heard of one type of cactus that shoots needles if touched by other animals, as a defense mechanism. But the plant MUST be touched to trigger the defense, and there is a clear, evolutionary explanation for why the plant does this. If your new neighbor drops by to deliver a jello mold and has body odor, MAYBE Datura will act dead, if she doesn't like him, or perhaps if you want to tell your neighbor about how beautiful of a plant she is, but whatever the ethereal reason, she will be back to a normal standing position when the neighbor leaves.

It is also extremely entertaining to watch them climb on each other, climb on the windows, and follow the sun. Again, unlike any other plant, and totally worth the observations.

I kept the Daturas on my kitchen table and loved to hang out around them, especially while under the influence of mushrooms or Lady Ayahuasca. THEY ARE CREEPY!! They are goofy. They are like big green cats that like to purr seductively, then spring up to a high shelf to knock over only the most expensive object. Even without ingestion, daturas possess the power to enter your visions and eat your head, over and over again. They are powerful enough to rip thoughts from your mind and display them before you... EVEN WITHOUT INGESTION.

My safe alternative to ever risking my life with these deadly alkaloids, that can still simultaneously satisfy my curiosity about the interesting spirit of Datura, is to grow them, and simply sit with them (occasionaly while inebriated with the Great, nontoxic, Ayahuasca).

Please do not do this if you have pets, small children, or a tendency to sleepwalk and eat the houseplants. Datura is a beautiful and fascinating plant worthy of absolute respect. I will be honored if I can ever keep her happy enough to finally grow some beautiful flowers for me one day.

My Venus Flytrap was nowhere nearly as weird...

Great read, thanks for this!

Nice thread!
While looking information about daturas and brugmansia, I came across some websites dedicated to grow them, and it was occuring that these plants really do create a very symbiotic, sort of love relationship with whom takes cares of them, and I was thinking that in the plant realm it is seen as some of the latest in the evolution scale.
By the way, which datura are you growing ?

Awesome read.

ive always been interested in datura.

now im even more interested.

thanks for this.

Cool story im trying to germinate some inoxia seeds and going to put some stramonium seeds in soil today, any tips to germinate the seeds? I got one to sprout last year but it got mixed up with a salvia and it died

My first ones were stramonium... have some more inoxia seeds, too.

I soaked the seeds in warm water for 24 hours and hid them someplace warm while soaking, then planted in a pot, buried under a shallow bit of soil (with most of the soil below the seeds). I kept them in a window that received a minimal amount of direct sunlight (watch it with the sunlight in the beginning!), and covered them with a plastic bag for moisture (the bag was loose at the ends around the pot so they could still breathe).

It takes a bit of patience, but I just talked to them everyday, moistened the soil when it was dry, and 8/10 sprouted. These were from the local nursery. Once the sprouts are a few inches tall, you can experiment with taking off the bag. The plants will let you know very quickly how they feel about what you are doing.

They are SO beautiful!

Wow; personally I've been scared away from everything I've read about Datura, but glad to learn more about the plant nonetheless. I think I'm going to start growing some of the ethnobotanicals myself, thanks again ms_manic.

i wouldnt go near datura with a ten foot barge pole...

My friend had some and it does have a menacing aura to it. It seemed to engulf the room in this cloud of dark despair. I truly respect lady datura but I would never think of tripping on it... I like sanity thank you very much

Mine doesn't fill the room with despair. Quite the opposite actually. Any plant I've ever grown has been a welcomed addition to my living space. Are you sure that menacing vibe wasn't being projected on the plant because of all the crazy stories of people ingesting it and going loco? I dunno, maybe you had an evil one. lol

I've enjoyed growing mine for over a year now. I've seen it flower twice, and it is currently shooting sprouts out at the base of the main plant.I've also had it produce one spiky seed pod with a ton of seeds. I'm wondering if I should separate the new sprouts from the main plant and re-pot everything...any suggestions?

Little flowering devils

well, no. I haven't ever ingested datura nor would I ever want to. Hallucinations are one thing, delirium is insanity and incoherency. I respect the plant for its enormous energy and the incredible potential it has. However, I don't believe any properties that could be used for spiritual illumination.

Thank you for this inspiring thread ms_manic_minxx, I start germinate a couple of D.Stramonium today, I just cover them with compost and watered them a lot.
I will see how it's germinate from here.