Harvesting Heavenly Blue Morning Glories?

[lsDxMdmaddicThc]

This is my first Heavenly Blue Morning Glory Grow.

It's a rather small grow along my fence.
The seeds were from Burpee seed company.
I'm planning to use the seeds for personal exploration.

Any experienced growers that can help me out with a few questions? ;

When is the optimal time to harvest the seeds for highest alkaloid content?
I've heard Sunrise or Sundown.

Also, should the seeds be fully ripe, or could I harvest them if they're still a bit unripe?
I'm storing them in an amber glass bottle with a Silica Gel packet to absorb moisture.

Thanks in advance

 

[Gone-and-Back]

I have a bunch growing on my fence from my neighbor. I harvested them once with her permission, dont know if she knows why i was doing so, but thats irrelevant. I harvested them in the late afternoon, no really sundown but around the time where the sun is at thr angle that makes everything look golden.

This is the only time i tried, and the only seeds i used when it came to morning glories. I only harvested the ripe, hard, brown seed pods. After crushing them all i had 600 seeds. I extracted it with acetone after multiple naptha washes (done until naptha no longer had any color after performing a defat).

Split the extract into six equal piles and added them to capsules. I could feel effects from a singke capsule, so about 100 seeds. This is supposed to be threshold, but was indeed a very noticable dose with minor tracers and slight visual distortions, so the seeds were of good quality.

Guess I am trying to say that what worked well for me was ripe seed pods, harvested at the period of the day where the sun engulfs everything in that beautiful golden color. They were all harvested slowly over about a month as well, as I would take the ripe ones that I saw, and then let more ripen.

 

[downwardsfromzero]

And, of course, harvesting ripe seeds means you can grow some more if you want to

 

[Gone-and-Back]

And, of course, harvesting ripe seeds means you can grow some more if you want to

That was my plan. I just so happened to crush some pods open and let the seeds fall along the fence, and they came back again this year! I really should get around to harvesting again for the year.

 

[Cognitive Heart]

And, of course, harvesting ripe seeds means you can grow some more if you want to

Or, otherwise. :lol:

This is my first Heavenly Blue Morning Glory Grow.
Any experienced growers that can help me out?
When is the optimal time to harvest the seeds for highest alkaloid content?
I've heard Sunrise or Sundown.
Also, should the seeds be fully ripe, or could I harvest them if they're still a bit unripe?
I'm storing them in an amber glass bottle with a Silica Gel packet to absorb moisture.
Thanks in advance

Morning glory can be re-established into larger area once mature and strong enough to do so. I started this plant in small pot, continued with moving to medium pot, than planting it outside near the bottom of a fairly tall climbing vessel, so to speak, allowing it to stretch out and remain wrapped around the vessel. Bamboo sticks are great to use for baby plants to grow with. Babies should be kept indoors, imo. Once they are medium sized they can be outside in a safe location. Wind, rain and any mild storms will encourage growth.

The idea is to move this method to the medium pot, so it continues to grow up. There should be enough vines as this is easier for the plant to rest itself on the final climbing vessel. In time, the plant will grow onto it. Morning glory has a history of being named 'snake plant' due to its ability to wrap itself around anything surrounding it. Also, temp should be above 15-20 degrees, although you want to water less.. 2-3 times a week, or less if it rains and keep it in full-part sun. Especially full sun in the morning. Beautiful and rewarding flowers in the morning. They tend to fall off later in the day where the seed will form much later. More flowers, moar harvest!

This plant will be and is soon going into harvest around early-mid-late Sept, onto mid Oct EST. Check your own area season for ipomoea tricolor/violacea. Here, this will be the time ipomoea flowers reduce blooming than pods begin forming, let them dry up. You'll want to gently open the outside pod and out come fresh brown, black-white seeds. Some soft and bendable while others may be slightly harder.

Their taste isn't as earthy as store bought dry weight, ime. They should have distinct characteristics similar to dry-weight and some may be too fungus! Be careful in knowing that fungus penetrates the seeds production and many other micro-organisms can disrupt that and can lead to contamination or deadly growths. Avoid any discolored seeds, or anything other than brown, black or white, those are safe! The seeds I harvested last year were slightly more watery, appeared visually as dry seeds but some had this white glow to them, and also less glycosides. Far easier to chew up or possibly extract. Far potent, too, so plan right. :thumb_up:

 

[downwardsfromzero]

I would have said that once the seed pod has turned brown and dried, the alkaloid content is fixed, but thinking about it, the activity of the endophytic fungus that produces the ergoline alkaloids is a mystery to me - and most other people, I suspect. Maybe it does like golden sunlight

And yes, at some point as time passes the alkaloid content of the seeds will become noticeably diminished. Hmmm...

lsDxMdmaddicThc - do grow your own if you possibly can, they're such beautiful plants...

I love mine but I think they're purpureas, so no alkaloids. Maybe I should check, though. The last time I ate ergoline-type seeds was HBWR - very spiritual, wise, surprisingly visual (after wilful purging) and was absolutely years ago.

 

[downwardsfromzero]

Good tips, CH.

Their taste isn't as earthy as dry weight, ime. They should have distinct characteristics similar to dry-weight and some may be too fungus!

What do you mean "dry weight" here? Dry white? And fungus - mouldy? Or fungus-y in flavour? Thanks.

 

[Cognitive Heart]

Good tips, CH.

Their taste isn't as earthy as dry weight, ime. They should have distinct characteristics similar to dry-weight and some may be too fungus!

What do you mean "dry weight" here? Dry white? And fungus - mouldy? Or fungus-y in flavour? Thanks.

Dry weight being what you buy at your local garden or elsewhere. Harvest should have healthy produced seeds. Referring to post below here.

Be careful in knowing that fungus penetrates the seeds production and many other micro-organisms can disrupt that and can lead to contamination or deadly growths. Avoid any discolored seeds, or anything other than brown, black or white, those are safe!

 

[downwardsfromzero]

Aha, terminology!

Thanks, getting the picture now.

 

[lsDxMdmaddicThc]

These are my own plants.

I stopped stealing other people's seeds after I exited adolescence and entered adulthood, lol.

I'd like to do some experiments to see if unripe seeds are preferable to ripened seeds.
Maybe they'll produce less negative effects?

I've been picking ripe seeds every morning a couple hours after sunrise.

There's much more unripe seeds than ripe seeds at this point, I'll try and take some pictures tomorrow morning.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[downwardsfromzero]

These are my own plants.

I stopped stealing other people's seeds after I exited adolescence and entered adulthood, lol.

I'd like to do some experiments to see if unripe seeds are preferable to ripened seeds.
Maybe they'll produce less negative effects?

I've been picking ripe seeds every morning a couple hours after sunrise.

There's much more unripe seeds than ripe seeds at this point, I'll try and take some pictures tomorrow morning.

Thanks for the feedback!

Clearly I failed to read your OP carefully enough!

I'll be keeping an eye out for the results of your experiment

 

[Hiyo Quicksilver]

Morning Glories are very good at telling you when to harvest viable seeds; They begin to drop the seeds once they are ready. These will be a tough, black or brown seed that is very hard and is covered by a papery shell. They are tricky to germinate and can remain viable for an incredibly long time if stored properly.

These are not what one would call "ripe" seeds.

A ripe morning glory seed is younger, has just reached its largest size and has become firm and fleshy, with a white to pale green color. These are the most potent and the easiest to process.

... They also contain far less of the toxic, notoriously nausea-inducing secondary alkaloids which often make LSA-bearing seeds unpleasant for some people. These are mostly concentrated in the dark outermost layer of the mature seed. Ripe, immature seeds do not have this layer, are more massive and are much easier to collect than mature seeds. Harvest of ripe seeds is best done shortly before sunrise, whereas time of day does not matter when harvesting mature seeds. Ripe seeds also should be dried thoroughly in a sterile environment after being wiped briefly with alcohol to prevent mold growth. The dark coating of a mature seed is hostile to mold growth and thus they do not need special care.

They also seem to be far more potent than mature seeds. I haven't seen any proper studies, but the efficacy of harvesting seeds this way is well known in folk knowledge and across the internet. There's a nexus thread about it here from a few years ago with many other links.



If you happen to already have a bunch of viable seeds already on hand that you wish to consume, 20 minutes in a rock tumbler with extra-course sand medium is great at gently removing that dark, nauseating layer. This will not however reduce cramping from commercially available, treated seeds. :thumb_up:

 

[downwardsfromzero]

A ripe morning glory seed is younger, has just reached its largest size and has become firm and fleshy, with a white to pale green color. These are the most potent and the easiest to process.

Right, I'm out there first light tomorrow and getting busy to check this out.

Thank you very much for the info, Hiyo Quicksilver!

 

[lsDxMdmaddicThc]

Awesome, Hiyo Quicksilver.
Most of the seeds are not viable yet.
I'm going to try harvesting them fresh and white on a day I can trip.

Instead of cleaning them with Alcohol, could I put them in a transparent container with Silica Gel packets (to absorb moisture) ?

Also, I'm waiting for the perfect morning to take pictures...
It's kinda cloudy here.

 

[BundleflowerPower]

Dude, if you ask me, and I've experimented with them every which way, eat them straight off the vine while white and fresh, but let get full sized, 80 - 100 seeds with 3 g of rue or some caapi or passiflora with five you a powerful experience. If not adding harmals take 200 of them, trust me this is the best way to have the cleanest trip without having to do something like kash's extraction tek.

 

[downwardsfromzero]

Dude, if you ask me, and I've experimented with them every which way, eat them straight off the vine while white and fresh, but let get full sized, 80 - 100 seeds with 3 g of rue or some caapi or passiflora with five you a powerful experience. If not adding harmals take 200 of them, trust me this is the best way to have the cleanest trip without having to do something like kash's extraction tek.

This answers the question I was pondering earlier on today, whether it's a good idea to use harmalas with MG seeds. Thanks!:surprised

Straight off the vine - I guess you'd at least remove them from the capsule? I have visions of just munching the whole thing straight off the vine, no hands needed (quite a nice way to eat some things )

 

[BundleflowerPower]

Yeah dude, I've done both, take them out of the capsule and munch the whole thing, I think the capsule must contain alkaloids as well. And I love them with harmalas.

 

[lsDxMdmaddicThc]

It seems reasonable that the alkaloid content will be highest in the early morning just at dawn break.
LSA is destroyed by heat and light.
I'm just waiting for a day off so I can wake up and take 100-200 on an empty stomach.

 

[downwardsfromzero]

tried 25 ripe seeds at sundown off the vine. Seems they're not purpureas after all...

 

[Hiyo Quicksilver]

25 seeds likely won't do much for you... Then again, who knows what Burpee is packaging. I'd recommend buying your seeds from a dealer of viable seeds which are intended for ethnobotanical research and/or consumption. I'm not on STS, but some people there might have good seeds as well.

Even with good, ripe seeds, my own dosage window is 100-350 fresh seeds, or 200-500 mature seeds. That may seem like a lot, but it's a fairly common dose. The ripe seeds aren't uncomfortably toxic like the fresh ones, so it's not quite as necessary to start low and work up slowly. I would recommend about 100 fresh seeds to start.

bundleflowerpower's advice is pretty solid; straight off the vine is usually best. However, unless you plan to eat the whole crop around harvest time, proper storage is still important.

And in regard to your storage question, I would recommend always wiping your seeds and storage materials with alcohol even if using a desiccant. The silica gel alone will not be enough to combat mold formation in a sealed container of wet seeds (the moisture content of ripe seeds is quite high). Although a desiccant is great for storing dry seeds of most all kinds, I would highly suggest drying the seeds in a sterile environment away from light and heat until they are hard and dry. They will keep for many months if then stored in an air-tight container at room temperature.

Even well-kept, mature seeds will lose most of their potency by springtime if well-kept, so it's important to keep that in mind during storage. LSA trips in the summer from last-year's harvest will produce a notably lighter experience which I feel to be more akin to a light dosage of mushrooms without the body load and a distinctly different character.

Rue and LSA work great together, and I've never had any problems... Though I personally find the vasoconstriction to be high with this combo, a large helping of chili-laced cocoa seems to bring things back into balance and add a positive character to the effects. (though I can't recall ever researching interactions between cocoa and rue, come to think of it)