So since I did actually receive my Diplopterys cabrerana alive and well from k*i*w*i*b*o*a*n*c*a*y*a, and I'm almost completely sure it is an actual chaliponga plant. I thought, since this is such a rare plant to find in cultivation, I'd go ahead and document my journey growing it.

It arrived completely dried out with all of it's leaves fallen off, so I stuck it in a mason jar in some water on a heat mat in a windowsill and threw a ziplock over it to act as a humidity tent. It's only been about a week and already Ive got a couple new sets of leaves. I look forward to being able to spread this rare and sacred botanical far and wide.

Excellent! I looked at their site and saw one myself and was quite tempted to get one. I was unsure whether it would be able to survive the trip over to Europe though.

They seem to be the only people that have Chaliponga plants that I can find, might have to give it a go when I am a bit more sorted.

I'm still unsure about how legit that company is, and would hesitate to give them a glowing recommendation. It took over 6 weeks, and I had to file a claim with paypal to finally get it sent to me. It did actually show up in the end though.

You can read moar about all that and other's experiences in this thread


Note: Ooops, I just realized I'm talking vendors outside the supplier section. Please let me know if I need to edit that info out or move the thread to a moar appropriate place.

Yup, I must admit that a conversation I had in chat as well as your experiences outlined in that thread made me question the logic of using that company…

The unfortunate thing is they seem to be the only people with Chaliponga plants. I have heard of other seemingly long-dead trades happening on other forums. Someone else needs to get down to it, other people must have plants somewhere!

Has anyone bioessayed the chaliponga supplied by kiwiboaXcaya? The potency of their dry product may give a good indication of the legitimacy of the chali plants they supply as you would assume they are sourced from the same species of plant.

you shouldnt leave it in the water like that dood, unless you have already taken it out?

Its been doing really good in there 3rd set of leaves coming in, and I've been changing the water daily but I'll go ahead and pot it up, I really really want this one to thrive.

I haven't tried their dried chali leaves but the dried cruna was legit, and the leaves that had fallen off the plant when I received it do appear to be chaliponga leaves, I'm pretty confident its the real deal.

Yeah dude, you definetly want to keep that one alive, chali plants are quite rare!

You cant argue with results though, and if it hasn't died yet and is benifiting from the extra water, its probably still fine. But prolonged exposure will prevent the roots, and therefore plant from growing any further because the roots are being choked of oxygen.

Good luck brother

Thanks kindly for your help

She's all set up in her new home now.

She's so pretty <3

Over the last 3 months I took her off the heating pad and very slowly started popping holes in the large ziplock that was acting as a humidity chamber to get her acclimated to the dry climate of her new home, the tent is off and she is fully acclimated at this point. She now has 5 sets of leaves and they are starting to get larger the biggest ones here being about the length of a standard bic lighter.

Very well done dreamer. Nice!

well, well, well

absolutely splendid!

I got my seeds from the same vendor way back in january. 3 germinated. One seedling died (didn't like to sit in pure worm castings at an early age), the other one is kinda sick but growing and the other one is ready to climb up on. Pretty weird because they all popped up about the same time.

I am still amazed that you can combine a vine and the leaves of another vine that is supposedly in the same family as the first vine and come up with something magical. How in the world did nature figure that out? I am just in awe everytime i think about it.

This plant looks just LIKE my caapi plant??


Check this out: Caapi pics:

Chaliponga Pics

Peace

They are very similar looking plants, in fact Chaliponga was once classified as Banisteriopsis rusbyana. It's also been classified under Banisteriopsis longialata and Banisteriopsis cabrerana according to the wikipedia article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplopterys_cabrerana

The main difference that I've noticed between the two is that chali grows like a bush just straight up and caapi puts off vines that end up growing every which way.

I'm hoping since they are so similar that taking cuttings from it will be just like taking caapi cuttings.

I noticed the same thing. Caapi became somewhat bushy when i didn't let it climb but chali just kept on growing straight.
How big are the leaves now? At 8 months old from seed, the best plant i have has leaves the length of my hand. I'm getting excited

And Alberto from kiwiboancaya is a cool guy. I've had numerous purchases without problems. He even offered to replace the seeds if the ones i got didn't germinate. Just be patient with his english

kinda late to this party, but sure appreciate the updates and the grow log for this rarity.

i have one on the way from the same source as well.

probably not the best time of the year for me to be starting, but im in florida and they should be just fine starting out down here.

heres to hoping my plants come in healthy and plantable.

This plant is pretty straight forward to grow. Just have something to let it climb on and keep it under a shade.
My plant is about 4 feet now and she is just focusing on elongating her stem. Leaves are smaller but that's understandable. This vine grows fast. Almost like caapi.

Good luck with your new friend

My Thoughts Exactly.