Can anybody tell me how to grow it good? When to grow it? When to harvest it? Places to keep it? Please and thank you!
Editor’s Update: While hoodia is still expensive, it has come down in price. As of March 2008, a kilo sells for around $190-$225/kilo. Editor’s Update: The price of hoodia gordonii has come down since this article was written. Today, in early 2008, the price is somewhere between $190-$225/kilo. It is still relatively expensive, but the price has come down and speculation is that it will continue to go down as more supply is introduced to the market. For more information, read the end of 2007 hoodia update. While the hoodia plant has traditionally been wild-grown, commercial attempts at growing it are under way. However, it has been difficult to cultivate using traditional agricultural methods. Growing hoodia is difficult because it will not grow in regular soil. It only flourishes in well-drained sandy soil – like the soil found in the deserts of South Africa. Only a few hundred acres throughout the world are devoted to the commercial growing of hoodia gordonii, and these commercial operations have had limited success. Hoodia seems to be especially vulnerable to rot and mysterious diseases. Growers lose crop after crop and often times they have no idea why. In addition, the hoodia plant is unlike your typical crop. It has its challenges that growers have to deal with that other crops don’t have. Unlike other plants which rely on bees for pollination, hoodia relies on flies. The flies are attracted to the plant by the scent given off by the flower blooms. If dealing with flies isn’t enough, the scent given off by the flowers has been compared to rotting or burning flesh! The growers who have had success with Hoodia have been picked clean, and even the seed providers have been left with virtually no stocks of seeds. To make matters worse, growing hoodia is a very slow process. The hoodia plant takes more than six years to grow to a height at which it can be harvested. This means the current hoodia shortage and high prices are likely to persist at least until the year 2010 – and possibly beyond. The countries of South Africa are concerned about the protection of their native hoodia plant and have taken serious steps to protect it and its active ingredient, P57. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) entered into agreements with Phytopharm and the San tribe. Phytopharm is a British pharmaceutical company that has patent rights to P57. The San tribe of South Africa have grown and used hoodia for centuries. The CSIR felt these agreements were necessary to protect the plant and the two parties that have a direct interest in it. They are now concerned that the commercial hoodia trade could put these agreements in jeopardy. To protect the hoodia plant and the agreements that were made with Phytopharm and the San tribe, the South African government made it difficult to commercially grow and export hoodia. For starters, growing hoodia in South Africa must be grown organically to ensure its quality. This makes it even more difficult to protect the crops from pests and diseases. With all these challenges to the commercial growing of hoodia, it is certainly easy to understand why authentic hoodia gordonii is in limited supply and is so expensive. You can also see why growing your own hoodia plant isn’t a realistic option. The next best thing is to buy hoodia supplements that contain authentic hoodia gordonii such as those listed on my best rated hoodia page. Editor’s Update: There are now commercial operations of growing the hoodia plant in the United States. These operations are located in Arizona and California. For more information on these, read about the hoodia plant farmer in California and the hoodia farmer in Arizona.
