The coca plant is one of the most prejudiced plants currently being produced and harvested. Most commonly associated with being the species which cocaine is derived from, it has the stereotype of being a dangerous plant. However, the coca plant has many valid and safe uses, which have been used by practitioners since the species' discovery. That's why it's also beneficial for you to have these plants in making your herb garden.
South America, Africa, Ceylon, Taiwan, Indonesia and Formosa are the places that the coca plant is mostly suited for survival. However, it is most commonly identified for its existence in the Andes of South America, where the greatest volume of cocaine is created. The first known written source of the plant was in 1783, but it was not officially registered until 1786, where it was given the name Erythroxylum coca. But, it is believed that the coca plant has been tended as a domestic plant for over 2,000 years. There is evidence within burial grounds of coca to support this belief.
Diligence and effort is much needed to tend to the coca plant. The life of the coca plant starts as a fruit, which is gathered when the drupes are almost ripe. These drupes are then placed within a basket and left to sit where the flesh of the fruit becomes soft. Once this has happened, the seeds are removed and the seeds are put outdoors to dry out.
Only once this occurs, the seeds can be planted. It takes 24 days for the coca plant to germinate. Once the plant has grown 4 leaves, they are protected by a lattice covering for a year.
Once that critical first year has completed, the plants are transferred to preparation fields. This transportation can only be done within the rainy season. Three years after this transfer, some leaves may be harvested. Once the coca plant is able to be harvested, they are gathered three or four times a year. A fully established acre of coca plants can yield 1,500 to 2,000 pounds of leaf per year.
While coca plants are annual, a field will be resown once every twenty years, as the quality of the plant depletes over time.
The most common use of coca plants is in the popular soft drink, Coca-Cola. While this soda no longer contains any drugs, it is still created directly from the coca leaf.
In starting your herb garden, as coca plants are so expensive, there are many steps taken to guard the crops from natural predators and disease. There are some varieties of insects that feed on the coca plants, as well as fungus that can cripple or destroy the stalks, branches and leaves. Weeds can also be fatal to adolescent coca plants, as the weeds remove the soil of the nutrients that the plants need for basic survival. In making your own herb garden, it's good to know that there are also some medicinal benefits with the coca plant. Contemporary medicinal uses of coca include use as a bactericide, as spinal anesthetics and as treatments for diseases such as shingles and eczema.
