Kava Kava Plant

You will get one healthy and very rare Kava Kava live starter 5-8 inches tall.

What is kava?
Kava (Latin name Piper Methysticum) is a non-addictive medicinal South Pacific plant species belonging to the pepper family. The plant – also known as asava pepper or intoxicating pepper – can grow to an average height of six feet, with heart-shaped leaves that stretch 10 inches wide.

For centuries, Pacific Islanders have used kava as a medicinal plant because of its sedative, anesthetic, euphoriant, and psychotropic properties. (In other words: It can calm you down and make you feel good.) The herb has been used to treat everything from migraines and insomnia to infections and rheumatism. In some cultures, kava is used for religious and cultural traditions, including weddings, political events, funerals and royal events.

What is kava used for?
Studies have shown that the properties in kava can ease anxiety, relieve stress, and relax muscle and nervous tension, as well as combat insomnia and improve sleep problems. That’s why many people who consume kava use it a natural alternative to anti-anxiety medication. “You have that ‘aha’ moment,” Pingel tells Rolling Stone. “You just feel better.”

Although kava’s anti-anxiety benefits are well known, research published five years ago supports its potential use in a clinical therapy setting. Specifically, a 2013 world-first clinical study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology found that kava had significantly reduced symptoms in people diagnosed with general anxiety disorder.

What does kava do to a person?
Kavalactones, the active ingredients in kava, are sticky, insoluble substances. It passes through the bloodstream when absorbed, causing the plant to act as a muscle relaxant, according to leading kava expert Dr. Vincent Lebot, who’s based in Vanuatu, a Pacific Island nation in the South Pacific Ocean. There are six major kavalactones found in kava, with “the most interesting one” being kavain, he says, concentrated mostly in roots of the plant, he says. That’s the one responsible for the feeling of relaxation.

But kavalactones don’t affect or work in the brain directly, so although it has sedative-like properties, it’s not an actual sedative. The mild euphoric feeling comes from desmethoxyyangonin, another of the major kavalactones that boosts dopamine levels.

A large evergreen shrub with 6-inch long, glossy leaves, Kava Kava (Piper methysticum) thrives in tropical gardens. Hardy outdoors in US hardiness zones 11-12, kava kava grows 10 to 15 feet tall and wide, but the shrub is smaller when grown in a container and overwintered indoors in colder zones. Most kava kava plants in cultivation are male, bearing 5-inch-long spikes of small, creamy-white flowers throughout the year.
Shady and moist
Kava kava lives 15 to years in its favored partial-shade, moist, sheltered growing conditions. Grow kava kava plants spaced 10 to 15 feet apart in a partially shady site and deep, organically rich, moist, well-drained soil. A partial-Vade site receives two to four hours of sunlight each day. Kava kava requires about 39 1/2 to 118 inches of water per year, including rainfall. Apply water regularly year-round to maintain constantly moist soil for the plant, avoiding saturating the ground. This evergreen shrub thrives in soil with pH of 5.5 to 6.5 and at an altitude not higher than 2625 ft, but suffers damage from moderate to strong winds. In USDA hardiness zones 10 and below, grow kava kava in a wide container to accommodate its large base and apply water to the soil slowly until it runs out the container’s bottom drainage holes.
A young kava kava requires regular weeding, and a plant growing in a container must be protected from frost. Control weeds around an inground kava kava shrub for its first 2 years and spread 3-inch-thick layer of garden compost or well-rotted manure over the root zone to suppress weed growth and conserve soil moisture. Overwinter a potted kava kava indoors in bright , frost-free area, such as conservatory or heated greenhouse, as this tropical shrub suffers damage at temperatures below 68F. Water the plant sparingly while overwintering it so that its soil surface remains just moist.
Green and well-fed
Regular fertilizer application maintains kava kava ‘s deep-green, lush leaves. Feed a shrub growing outdoors in the ground a slow-release, granular 12-4-8 fertilizer at a rate of 4 tablespoons to 4 square foot of soil surface within the shrub’s drip line – the area below its limbs, every three months year-round, mixing the granules lightly into the soil surface. Kava kava in a container requires a water-soluble 24-8-16 fertilizer diluted at a rate of ½ teaspoon per 1 gallon of water every 2 weeks. When overwintering a potted kava kava indoors, apply fertilizer in the same way if the plant produces new growth and stop fertilizer when the growth stops. Alternatively, apply fertilizer according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Check the potted soil surface of a container plant for white deposits, a sign of excess fertilizer salts. Run water slowly and steadily through the container until it runs out the bottom drainage holes to leach out excess salts.
Pest and Disease free
Serious pests or diseases rarely infest kava kava growing in garden, but occasionally it can suffer attack. Kava die-back, Pythium root rot, Phoma shot hole, root-knot nematode disease, spider mites and melon aphids are some problems that may affect kava kava. Wilting, dying foliage, poor growth, yellowing leaves and circular spots on leaves are some disease symptoms. Poor growing conditions, such as poorly drained soil diseased stock are the main causes of diseases, and moving or removing an affected shrub is the most practical solution for home gardeners. Signs of spider mites and melon aphids include yellow-speckled leaves and small, green insects on the undersides of leaves and shoot tips. Improving humidity levels with twice-daily, fine-mist water sprays helps control spider mites; aphids can be blasted off with a strong jet of water from a garden hose.