Plants ordered now will ship OCTOBER 2021.
We look forward to sending them to you!
Jiao-gu-lan, Japanese (Gynostemma pentaphyllum) potted vine, organic
$7.50
Family: Cucurbit (Cucurbitaceae)
Hardy to zone 7 to 12, commonly grown as a potted plant and brought in for the winter.
(Immortality, Amachazu, Jiao-gu-lan) Herbaceous or perennial dioecious vine native to China, Tibet, Japan and Southeast Asia, the blue-green leaves of this perennial vine are commonly made into tea. Does well in pots and is commonly kept in a light window. Outdoors, a thick mulch will assist these beauties in surviving harsh winters, or you can overwinter them indoors (they grow!) or in a cold greenhouse to add some protection. Trellis. Traditional usage: adaptogen and life extension. To explain one of the gallery images–it is a specialized jiao-gu-lan bed in a greenhouse, with deep, rich soil surrounded by rocks. You can see the jiao-gu-lan roots planted to the perimeter of the bed. The vines (male and female) will drape over the sides and fruit in season. r
Potted Plant Certified Organically Grown
Katie Chang –
vigorous plants. Started with 3. This picture is from season 3.
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Question
Michell –
Do you have the plant in stock? I was reading and they were saying you need a male and female planted close together. Is this true Richo?
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Richo Cech –
Hello Michell,
Thanks for contacting! Jiao-gu-lan plants are still in stock. Yes, they are dioecious, meaning male plants and female plants. For herbal use, one does not require both sexes–either one will do. For the purpose of making seeds, you need both male and female plants. Seed production is rather difficult with this species, which is typical to plants that reproduce readily from running rhizomes/stolons. We don’t sell sexed individuals, its pot luck, suggest getting 3 if you want to assure both male and female. Richo
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Question
bethanyziman (verified owner) –
Is there any harm in harvesting Jiaogulan to dry for tea after it has gone to seed? Time got away from me!
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Richo Cech –
hi bethany, there is no harm. probably best not to use the fruits themselves in tea, they are a bit strong. richo
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Ty –
Is this considered the sweet form or bitter form?
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Richo Cech –
sweet
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Samantha –
Loved my Jiao gu lan for several years…but sadly through my own neglect, she is no more. I hope to see these offered in live plant form again soon! I miss my invigorating tea! Green Blessings to you beautiful folk at Strictly! ?
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Richo Cech –
Hi Sam,
Yes, we have these in the making and we have a good-looking seed crop coming on. Stay tuned.
Richo
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Tally Cats –
Since planted it has doubled in size in less than a month. I can literally watch this amazing plant grow! Its delicious in tea and a great Cilantro alternative.
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Lila McClellan –
Are the berries edible?
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Richo Cech –
not really
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Mary –
This healthy plant arrived with others. I live in northern MN (zone 3) with lots of deer, voles, slugs…so didn’t even think of planting it outside. It makes an incredibly beautiful potted plant, growing up a trellis. I need to regularly harvest and use the foliage in tea to keep it from taking over the world. It seems to overwinter well inside, too. Richo always delivers great plants!
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Question
Tristan –
Will a thick mulch protect Jiao-gu-lan from harsh winters outdoors in Indiana? I would like to grow it indoors and outdoors if possible.
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Admin Richo Cech –
Hi Tristan,
You’re one or two zones too cold for jiao-gu-lan to overwinter. The mulch idea might be good, I can’t really say, I overwinter mine in beds without mulch in an unheated greenhouse and they come back fine in the spring.
Richo
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Ila –
I’m in Scotland and I’ve had to grow it indoors for years. Goes dormant for many months here then always comes back in April/May. I grow it indoors now whereas many years ago I grew it outdoors because I was living in California back then. Soon I’ll move to a more temperate country so I can go back to growing medicinal plants outdoors again.
Much love, stay safe.
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adamjeanchristopher (verified owner) –
Ordered this lil’ guy a few weeks back(along with two other plants) and was incredibly surprised at the spectacular packaging!!
Having never ordered any live plants before, part of me expected to receive a wilted and sun-deprived little thing, hahaha!
But the plants were packed amazingly well, i was truly surprised to find un-smunched and perky plants! They are now established in their new home and growing happily!
Thank you guys!
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Bud –
Last year I ordered 3 jiaogulan with 3 ashitaba. Upon opening the package I saw the jiaogulan had wrapped tendrils around the ashitaba– for support during the ride, I’m sure! 😉
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Julie Wawirka –
This has overwintered well in my unheated greenhouse. Last year was cold enough to kill the Hill’s Hardy rosemary there, around -15F, but this plant was fine. It is increasing and spreading by rooting. I had plants overwinter with snow cover outside, but the voles were quite fond of it. ( The chickens love it as a green too!)
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maiacuclinic (verified owner) –
So glad to hear this! I’m in zone 4 so it’s be great to overwinter this outside if possible.
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rlance (verified owner) –
I searched everywhere for a source of organic Jiao-gu-lan. I have often been offered a healing tea from this herb when I am in Temples in China. I found these and ordered three. The price was so reasonable that I was sure they would be tiny barely rooted cuttings. Much to my surprise, I promptly received three beautiful balls of vigorously rooted plants in great condition. Thank you ever so much. I will so enjoy drinking tea next summer.
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M Warren (verified owner) –
I ordered 3 of these at the end of spring. They are in a hanging pot, mostly shaded, and have grown about 4-5 feet. Best of all, they survived and thrived throughout our hot Texas summer (many days 100+ degrees) with only minimal wilting! I’ll be ordering more…
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Rosemarie Schaefer –
I live in Texas as well and I’m delighted to hear that these plants tolerated our hot Texas summers.
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Jenn (verified owner) –
I ordered this plant last year and love it! The deer and the slugs and the pillbugs also love it. Struggling to get it to come back this year with all the love.
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Admin Richo Cech –
Right, my approach to this is usually to pull out old mulch from around the plant and replace with sand, which pillbugs do not like. As for deer, they can be devastating, and most of the traditional approaches (caging, fencing, dogs) are quite labor-intensive. A mixed planting with plenty of Mediterraneans in there can help.
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nrc3neal –
G. pentaphyllum is dioecious. How early can you sex the plant? Will I need to order randoms to eventually find mates or might you be able to determine gender in your nursery?
Grateful!
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Diana –
Sorry, we haven’t had it together enough to separate the plants into male and female. We probably will have seed coming on so if you click on the waitlist for seeds then you’ll get an e-mail when seeds are available, and you can start them from seed, and then you’ll be sure to have both males and females. Otherwise maybe order 3 plants and go for pot luck, you may get both sexes. The plants flower very late in the year so you can usually sex them in the fall of the first or second year. r
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Trin –
Your plants are quite vigorous! I ordered jiaogulan and ashitaba a couple of years back, when I opened the package I noticed that the jiaogulans had curled some tendrils around the ashitaba stem for support during the ride. I carefully uncurled them while removing the plants.
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Richo Cech –
Hello Trin,
Thanks for that!
Richo
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mike burridge –
Bought multiple plants nearly 3 years ago, growing like a wild fire, mother plant has vines that reach 30-40 feet during the warm season
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Katie Chang –
Hi Richo! 3rd or 4th season since purchase of 3 plants from Strictly Medicinal. All the plants I have ordered always arrive in fantastic condition. The packing really protects. Those three plants have thoroughly naturalized to my yard in zone 7B Baltimore Maryland. It is coming up everywhere! I harvested it moderately hard throughout the last season – necessary to contain it, but its nice when stuff is so plentiful you can harvest liberally and not be concerned about plant taking over. If I don’t like where it’s growing – I harvest it. There was enough to get me through the winter and plenty to share! Do you know if deer or other woodland animals like it? Rabbits don’t bother it. Slugs love it.
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Richo Cech –
Hi Katie,
Thanks for staying in touch. You must have a shady yard. I do think that deer will eat Jiao-gu-lan. Richo
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nrc3neal –
Mahalo Katie Chang for the review; it will help me situate them in my agroforest in HI.
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Jenny Wilder (verified owner) –
Will Jiaogulan seeds require cold stratification before planting? And also need light for germination? I am reading different info, and that they are hard to germinate. Any advice?
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Richo Cech –
hi jenny, they are easy to germinate in a cool greenhouse. Most growers fail with these because they cook them–I’d keep around 65 degrees F for decent germ. As with many plants that propagate readily from running rhizomes, the plant is a scanty seed producer (usually one or two seeds per berry) and given the very late maturation, most growers find they freeze out before berry production. In other words, my advice is to get a plant and propagate off of that–much easier. richo
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Jenny Wilder (verified owner) –
Thank you for the info! Much appreciated. I have seen conflicting info on cold stratification of seeds before planting. I assume that would also cause no germination…sorry for the rookie questions! ?
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Richo Cech –
hey, no problem, at your service
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