I thoroughly enjoy this plant as well. The extract and chewing fresh leaves are great. Truly rewarding plant to grow as well.

It's OK. It was a bit disappointing though. Not that it was bad, I just expected more.

For those of us completely unfamiliar with "Kratom" here are two websites with info. Also, I have included a photo in the album.

Kratom is a tree native to Southeast Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, and elsewhere). Its botanical name is Mitragyna speciosa. Kratom is in the same family as the coffee tree (Rubiaceae). The leaves of kratom have been used as an herbal drug from time immemorial by peoples of
Southeast Asia. It is used in folk medicine as a stimulant (at low doses), sedative (at high doses), recreational drug, pain killer, medicine for diarrhea, and treatment for opiate addiction.
www.sagewisdom.org/kratomguide.html

While the main alkaloids in kratom are structurally related to psychedelics, there appears to be no psychedelic activity. The dominant effects seem to be similar to opiate drugs, and include analgesia and cough suppression. These effects are roughly comparable in strength to codeine.
www.erowid.org/plants/kra...info1.shtml

Botanically and chemically, kratom is closely related to yohimbe. Other relatives include cat's claw, with which it shares several active chemicals, coffee and cinchona (the source of quinine).
www.murple.net/yachay/index.php/Kratom

Please tell me more!!!! Any experiences worth describing? What about legalities?

Greetings,
We have a nice Kratom plant here, and also offer a Spagyric extract of it. I've used it quite a bit, and like it very much. Here, we call our Spagyric Kratom "Magically Perfect Day", because no matter how sh*tty your day has been, you take a litte, sit back, take a deep breath, and sigh "that wasn't such a bad day after all!"

I like the Kratom-Khat-Mate idea, that would be a nice uplift but the Kratom would smooth out the edges of the other two. Good idea!

I have heard from a few people that Kratom can be tricky, that she pretends to be a better friend than she is, that is, she beguiles you to an addictive or dependent state. I will say that back when I had a stressful job I did find myself taking some Kratom every day after work, with it being as relaxing and unwinding as something like a beer or glass of wine, but never as intoxicating or muddling. At the time, I wondered about the warnings of addiction, but as soon as I left that job, I found I didn't need the Kratom as much, and, anyway, was probably better off than I had been if I were drinking every night.

Now, I use Kratom to enhance already positive feelings, when I am in a good relaxed mood with not much pressing to do, looking forward to a casual day in my garden, or the like. It enhances and stretches out the relaxed aspect of a Sunday-morning-type laziness, but without actually making me lazy or inactive (if that makes any sense!).

Strength & Wisdom,
leavesofjoy
www.al-kemi.com

Hi Phil, like the cat thing. From what I understand, Kratom has a biphasic response curve, stimulating and analgesic at lower doses, sedating and opiate like at higher doses. Erowid and Wikipedia both have good write ups of the different chemicals thought to be responsible for the effects. At the 4g dose, I gather it is stimulating. I think one of the problems with these 10X and 20X preparations is that its hard to find the right dose, unless you dilute it up. 4grams of 20X...lets see, 1gram equals 5 grams of leaf, but the strength of the leaf also varies...lets see...
therootofthematter.ca
www.therootofthematter.ca/cgi-b...go.exe

is selling this tincture. I will let you know what its like when it comes. The site came recommended from someone on this board...
The other thing about Kratom is that it is potentially habit forming, so I would approach it wisely.
Take care
F

I have found that kratom and kava complement each other very nicely, especially at lower doses. The kava seems to milden that simultaneous "up/down" effect of kratom which bothers many folks. However, the kava does not affect the kratom's aphrodisiacal effects, at least in my experience. I prefer Fiji kava powder; while not the most powerful of kavas, it is for me the most pleasant and euphoric.

I have found that it is best to watch the dosage with kratom - negative effects can ruin the experience if too much kratom is consumed. Also, resistance to kratom develops rapidly, and there is the addictive potential as well. Consequently, limiting kratom consumption to one time per week (or less) is probably a good idea.

Kratom effects can be "fine tuned" with lots of different substances, including red poppy and various herbs, many of which also improve the flavor. There is an active kratom group over on Yahoo with lots of recipies and other info. groups.yahoo.com/group/kratom/