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Herbs and Your Health, Manggahan, Manila (2026)

08/11/2020

NEW LEAF HARVESTS FROM SERPENTINA CROP

By Alfredo P Hernandez

TODAY, i harvested Serpentina leaves from about 12 plant-in-pots (pictured below).

From this heap, i expect to produce about 1,000 Serpentina capsules.

At two caps a day taken in the morning before breakfast, and before dinner, the entire lot would last one year, four months and ten days.

During the period, i could grow new plants from seeds produced last May.

This would sustain my supply of leaves, which i could either use as tea or for processing into capsules.

If you are into Serpentina to deal with your prostate, blood sugar or hypertension issues, growing your own plants is the key.

It would allow you to save a lot on maintenance cost - that is if you want to go drug-free.

At 300php for 100-caps bottle (the minimum selliing price at shopee or lazada), my projected savings from the 1,000 capsules i am to produce soon is about 3,000php, less the cost of 1,000 gel capsules which is 300php.

What is heartening is that i still have about 500 capsules in the fridge i produced last May from previous harvest.

And at least four zip bags of dehydrated leaves that i would use as brew once in a while.

On top of this is the 500 capsules my sister Bhebot brought with her to Oman for her blood sugar after her three lockdown vacation months in Bicol.

A diabetic, she used to take prescription drug Metformin 500. But this time, she wants to go drug-free with her diabetes.

As tea, Serpentina is a bitter herbal concoction. But drinking it regularly, you will get used to its awful taste and your taste buds won't bother about it anymore.

I have been drinking SetpTea for a year now as maintenance and so far so good, my prostate issues have been dealt with.

On occasion, i would take capsules, depending on the mood of my taste buds.

After the prostate doctor did a DRE (digital re**al exam) on me a year ago, he said, "good, nothing's wrong with your prostate".

He meant to say my prostate glands were clear of cancerous cells. God willing they.remain that way.

But i did not tell the doc about my maintenance regime -- Serpentina tea and capsules

SALAMAT SA DIOS!

-- Pasig City, November 8, 2020

In pictures: A heap of newly harvested Serpentina leaves. Right, the leaves for dehydration after being rinsed in water to rid them of street dust.

01/09/2020

SERPENTINA TEA/CAPSULE MAINTENANCE RESUMES

By Alfredo P Hernandez

TODAY, Tuesday, Sept 1, i resumed my Serpentina tea/capsule maintenance for my hypertension and prostate issues.

It will be a three-month regime of continuous take of this curative herb as my daily maintenance. This new set will end on November 30.

The past three weeks had been my "break" from this treatment. The three-week respite was advised by herbal cure experts.

It was explained that after consuming Serpentina either as capsule or tea for three months continuously, its potency declines towards the end of the third month.

Meaning, its effect against the disease being dealt with has weakened, during which the issue has also been successfully controlled.

So the resumed use of Serpentina would now serve as maintenance to keep the ailment at bay. Simply said "controlled".

The scheme is nothing new.

Prescription drugs are administered only to people with health issues over a period of time, usually three months, after which its use is stopped and the illness is assessed to see if new drugs would be required for the treatment.

Same thing goes with Serpentina.

I expect a smooth-sailing three months as I have enough Serpentina tea to use.

All this time, i have been picking Serpentina leaves from my potted plants for drying and storing.

So far, i have at least three big packs of dehydrated leaves and one pack of minced dried Serpentina branches and stems.

Not to mention Serpentina capsules i produced myself three months ago.

Sister Jean de Granzon, a church Kapatid based in Bicol, who produces her own Serpentina capsules for sale, branded HEAVEN'S LIGHT, told me the herb's dehydrated branches and stems are also used as tea.

I discovered they are more bitter than the leaves. And quite potent too.

These parts are cut into fine pieces and used just like the way leaf tea is used.

Now, i have noticed the proliferation of prostate cure advertising on Facebook, featuring Serpentina in various brands.

I have my own capsules, but are not branded as I had produced them myself at home.

So, here I go again with my Serpentina maintenance.

Am lucky because i no longer have to pay for a costly treatment of one health issue afflicting millions of super seniors like me in the Philippines and across the globe.

SALAMAT SA DIOS!

Pasig City, September 1, 2020

In pictures: A mug of warm Serpentina tea. A pack of dried Serpentina leaf tea. Home made capsules. Full grown Serpentina plants. Young Serpentina growing in plastic bottles.

25/08/2020

GOOD YIELDS FROM FIRST INSULIN LEAF HARVEST

AFTER almost five months yesterday, i was encouraged to make first leaf harvest of my Insulin plants.

I was able to grow at least 13 plants in pots from just two cuttings about two inches in lenght each (see pic).

Planting these two small cuttings in separate cut-up coke bottles, they grew into healthy plants which produced 11 rhizoids.

After almost five months, the rhizoids developed into healthy potted plants, producing wide leaves very much suited for making Insulin tea powder.

Insulin plants have become popular over the years among sugary women and men who got tired of taking costly prescription drugs for diabetes.

And the battle against this health issue has become more intense on Facebook and other social media platforms.

Atually, the truth is the diabetes war is being waged between online sellers of herbal products that promise cure for high blood sugar.

And with the pricy products, can't- afford diabetes patients could only heave a sigh of stress, wishing there should be other ways to cure them without much hurting the pocket.

I am not diabetic, and yet i have something that could surely deal with the problem with amazing effects.

Many laboratory analyses of its healing properties have confirmed that this plant has answers to diabetes, a disease menacing people across the globe.

Like what i said earlier, i harvested the leaves of my Insulin plants
and collected more than 100 wide and medium-size leaves.

Indeed, it was a modest pick from 13 plants.

But i could go up to 150 leaves or more had i opted to pluck leaves that i could have.

In harvesting, i used the alternating method.

Simply explained, in a series of 10 leaves sitting on a branch, as in 1 to 10, i picked No. 2, 4,6,8, starting from the bottom of the branch.

I did not touch leaves No.1, 3, 5,7,9.

This way, the plant shall still have leaves as if no harvest had been done. See?

And the plant would still look fresh and untouched.

Now, you may ask: ANO NAMAN GAGAWIN MO SA MGA DAHON?

Right now, the leaves are drying in three bila-o in my giant 'dehydrator'.

This dehydrator is nothing but the junked car of the family supposed to undergo restoration.

Inside, the temperature is quite high and it vaporates the water in each of the leaves without affecting their healing ingredients.

Maybe, in a week's time, the leaves shall have been dehydrated but not crispy just like those leaves that dried up under the sun.

I will decide on what to do with the leaves. I could powderize them for tea.

But I will have to research if Insulin plant could also lower my cholesterol level, which is my issue at this time..

You see, am not diabetic.

(I JUST RECEIVED AN INFO THAT AN INSULIN PLANT AS TALL AS MY PLANT COMMANDS AT LEAST 400php.)

SALAMAT SA DIOS!

Pasig City, August 25, 2020

In pictures: Insulin leaves for dehydration. The plant before and after harvest. The original cuttings that have spawned 13 healthy plants. The car used as dehydrator.

21/08/2020

RAINS AND MY SERPENTINA

By A P Hernandez

THE daily afternoon rains have been good for my Serpentina plants.

Looking at it close up, you would quickly notice the plants' bushy look, with leaves showing off a deep shine and varying rich green hues.

A Serpentina enthusiast told me sometime ago that a plant as lush as those in the pictures, two feet tall, fetches at least Php500.00 a plant.

(Those as tall as one foot commands 150 per. This plant is about a month old.)

At this stage, each of the mature plants would be three to four months old. Their flowering is expected to come in two months' time, after which seed pods will come out.

Mature pods cuddle super tiny black seeds from which new plants could popped for propagation.

Now i asked 'why pay 500 bucks for this plant?'

I don't have a ready answer. But the benefits its fresh leaves deliver to the users are many.

The plant is effective in taming hypertension, a cure that was first discovered 70 years ago and has since become a popular specimen in many medical researches for other therapeutic values that count up to more than fifteen.

Sugary women and men would now prefer to chew fresh leaves or drink a mug of tea from steeped leaves to popping Serpentina capsules that have become costly for being famous now on Facebook.

I just saw on Youtube a woman enjoying her fresh veggie salad laced with Serpentina leaves, which she has just plucked from a potted plant sitting next to her salad table.

Eaten raw, the leaves are super bitter but this woman in her 40s doesn't show it in her beautiful face.

Diabetic men with taste buds that tolerate bitter taste are also into chewing Serpentina leaves for the sap or juice that deal with their health issue.

And the strict regime of leaves-chewing normaly lasts three months, doing it morning and afternoon at the rate of three leaves per session.

Three leaves to be picked twice a day would be too much for the plant to injure.

Ah... That's one reason why diabetics are willing to shell out 500php for a plant or two to assure them of continued daily supply of fresh Serpentina leaves.

But the thing is that once the first plant begins to bear seed pods, the owner could expect to have seeds that will continue the "bloodline" of his Serpentina plant.

I can attest to that.

I started my serpentina crops from at least seven young plants i sourced in San Simon, Pampanga and around my Pasig neighborhood. That was a year ago.

Now i have more than 24 young and mature plants enough to provide for my daily maintenance.

I grew Serpentina for its healing poperties that dealt with my prostate issues and erratic hypertension.

Thanks God, He used this plant to cure me.

I continue consuming Serpentina capsules (which i produced myself) and drink the tea as my maintenance. But right now, i am on a three-week break from taking it.

By first week of September, i resume my daily maintenance dose for another three-month run. Consuming it beyond 90 days straight has some side effects.

Well, if you continue taking prescribed drugs beyond their prescription period, some nasty health issues could pop due to overdose. So, beware.

Meanwhile, one Facebooker PM'd, asking how she could have a Serpentina plant.

She is in Baguio. I am in Pasig.

SALAMAT SA DIOS!

Pasig City, August 21, 2020

In pictures: Three mature Serpentina plants with lush foliage...a plant fetches 500 pesos per, for which certain Serpentina users going natural would willingly pay.

10/08/2020

OVERUSE OF SERPENTINA LEAVES, CAPSULES CAUSES SKIN ALLERGY

By Alfredo P Hernandez

IT IS true that too much of everything is unsafe.

When you have extended the period in which you are to use a particular medication, expect negative effects to your health.

All literatures that go with particular prescription drugs would warn the user not to go beyond the period within which he is to use that drug.

Such overdose would result in different reactions from the body system -- from nausea, dizziness, vertigo to allergic reactions, among many others.

And even in natural medicines such as herbs, for instance Serpentina, this warning applies.

For almost a year now, I use Serpentina to deal with my prostate and hypertension issues.

It is good news that this herb works on me. The healing properties of this herb killed the tumor cells that had
threatened to overwhelm my prostate glands and are also helping check my hypertension.

I have grown several Serpentina plants in pots and they are the ones supplying me with tea leaves and those for capsule production (I produce my own capsules).

As prescribed, I take the herbs twice a day – one capsule or a mug of Serpentina tea before breakfast and another set in the evening.

Heeding advice from a brethren at MCGI (Members, Church of God International), I took a three-week
break from Serpentina use after consuming it continuously for three months.

When I resumed, I used it as my maintenance medicine. However, I became unaware that I was using it without break for nine months now.

Last June, I developed tiny rashes in my left and right forearms. As a matter of course, I just applied
some over-the-counter ointments.

However, the medication did not work and the thin blanket of itchy
rashes stayed.

Meanwhile, I continued my dose of Serpentina tea/capsules as my maintenance regime.

Early this week, I happened to read an article on the benefits of Serpentina, which also warned against its prolonged use – don’t go beyond three months in using it as its potency against the health issues you are dealing with might have already weakened (at the end of the third month).

A break of at least three to four weeks from its use is a must before continuing. By then, the healing efficacy shall have been recharged.

Not only that. There would be some nasty reactions from your body such as skin allergies and more.

True. I realized that I had used it beyond the prescribed period without being aware of it until the rashes popped in my forearms.

I just thought they were just rashes. Suddenly, the word “allergy” crossed my mind.

That’s it! This allergy has been triggered by my over-use of Serpentina.

So, the next morning, I dropped my usual serving of Serpentina tea and the one for the night.

A day after, I had noticed the itch was gone with the rashes thinning out.

At the moment, there are still
small clusters around my forearms but they no longer bother me. I know, they would be gone in no
time. That means I will totally dropped it for at least three weeks from now.

I’ll resume my Serpentina regime on September 1, and would be on it for another three months. Then,
stop. Then, go.

Meanwhile, my Serpentina growing goes on. It has become part of my day-to-day boring life. It gives me some pleasure looking at them – their deep green leaves and the bushy ball of leaves they have grown with over the past three months.

Of course, I miss my mug of Serpentina tea in the morning and at night. Despite its bitterest taste – maybe more bitter than that of bile’s -- I enjoy taking the bitter taste into my mouth until it glides down my throat.

It’s all for my prostate health and my hypertension!

LONG LIVE THE LINGERNG BITTERNESS! YES! SERPENTINA, THE HERB ….

Pasig City, August 10, 2020

In pictures: A mug of Serpentina tea and home-made Serpentina capsules. The bushy plants awaiting harvest. Two tubes of anti-itch ointment, now almost consumed after a month-long use.

08/08/2020

SERPENTINA
Androgaphis paniculata

YOUR NATURAL HERBAL MEDICINE FOR DIABETES, COLDS, FLU, LIVER, KIDNEY, HEART DISEASE, etc.

By Liver and Immune System Talk
(Guest Article)

SERPENTINA is a medicinal herb dubbed as the ‘King of Bitters’. Despite its bitter taste, it is widely sought after by diabetics because of its efficacy to lower blood sugar.

This herb can be taken by itself or mixed with food to lessen the bitterness.

I once suffered from diarrhea. Aware of Serpentina's potency, I took it by making tea (five leaves of Serpentina to one cup of water) thrice a day. I had to eat a little chocolate in between sips just to finish a cup of it!

The following morning my stomachache was history. I also noticed that I was healed from my cold and nasal congestion when I ate Serpentina leaves with honey.

Because of this, Serpentina makes it to my go-to list for stomachache, common cold and asthma remedies.

Some customers amusingly narrate to us how much they enjoy eating this fresh ‘Bile of the Earth’ together with their family.

Happy customers, too, relate unbelievable healing results from stroke, insulin and lung infection.

This herb is popularly known in the Philippines as Serpentina but its name in the ‘List of Philippine Medicinal Plants’ is Sinta.

It is known scientifically and internationally as Andrographis Paniculata. This traditional medicine is native to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, which is used as a cooling herb for fever and flu.

Indian tribes also use Serpentina as treatment for liver problems and cancer in their Ayuverdic medicines.

Serpentina’s popularity is not limited to its Southeast Asian roots though. It is also regarded as a remedy for common colds in Scandinavian regions.

The many names of Serpentina, Andrographis Paniculata and Sinta, boil down to one and the same herb, which belong to the Acenthaceae family.

It is not to be confused with Serpentina Ravoulis though because this herb belongs to the Apocynacea family, which is used as tranquilizer and cure for mental disorders, venom and reptile bites.

There are many scientific studies about Serpentina. Some notable studies are as follows:

In 1911, Dr. Fougere studied on the ‘Bitter Principle’ (pure bitter extract) from the herb. According to his research, this ‘Bitter Principle’ protects the liver.

In 2006, a research was conducted to study the extract from this herb.

One of its discoveries is one of the major constituents of this ‘Bitter Principle.’ It is an active ingredient, now scientifically identified as Andropholide, which is both anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant.

Serpentina’s Andropholide property is supported by Philippines Medicinal Plant studies.

It is said to be anti-diarrheal, anti-pyretic, anti-infective, anti-bacterial, anti-typhoid, anti-fungal, anti-hepatoxin and anti-cancer.

Chinese studies show that it also prevents blood from clotting. It also prevents reclogging of arteries post-angioplasty. It is said to lower blood pressure as well.

Research also supports the uses of Serpentina in Ayurvedic medicine as protection against hyperglycemia (for diabetics) and control of renal disease (kidney).

Studies also support that six grams of Serpentina is as effective as an Acetaminophen, which is taken for two to five days for cold, fever and sore throat.

To reap all these benefits, our common healing practice is to eat five (5) big leaves of fresh Serpentina or six (6) small leaves, thrice (3x) a day.

It may also be taken as tea but the infused leaves should be eaten as well three (3x) a day. You may start with a few leaves as it takes a while to get used to it.

Despite all its virtues, there should be some caution in taking Serpentina, especially, among the following:

1. Should not be taken by patients taking aspirin or any blood thinner medication since Serpentina is also a blood thinner.

2. Pregnant and lactating mothers should avoid this since Serpentina is an abortifacient. While there is no actual study on adverse effects on lactating mothers, it is better not to risk.

3. Individuals with Auto-immune diseases like multiple sclerosis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. should avoid taking this.

If Serpentina is taken regularly and continuously, it is important to note also that it should be limited to only three (3) months for adults and one (1) month for children, whether in capsule or fresh form.

It has side effects like swollen lymph glands, serious allergic reactions and elevation of liver enzymes. Too much of everything is unsafe.

(Recent information said you have to take a break from taking this herb for at least three to four weeks, before resuming its use. Reason given was that, Serpentina loses potency against the illness being dealt with such as diabetes after three weeks. However, the herb regains curative power against that illness upon resumption of use, this time as maintenance.)

Serpentina plants are very easy grow. Just make sure the plant gets sunlight for 3-4 hours, and that the leaves and soil are watered daily. Serpentina bears a pod that contains tiny seeds which pop and grow anywhere where there is soil - even cemented fences and floors with holes!

*(Herbalandherbswordpress.com)

Story Courtesy Liver and Immune System Talk

In pictures: Serpentina plant in various stages of growth. All began with a small seedling that just popped next to a mature plant. To nourish this young plant properly, it has to be transplanted to a bigger site ( translation: a bigger pot with rich growing soil.) -- Pics by APHdz, August 8, 2020 Pasig City.

06/08/2020

HARVESTING 14 OF MY SERPENTINA PLANTS

By Alfredo P Hernandez

YESTERDAY, I harvested my Serpentina leaves from at least 14 plants. It gave me a good heap of tea leaves, which could sustain my daily maintenance for about five months.

Or I may opt to produce Serpentina capsules if gel capsules would be available. This stuff is quite costly at Shopee.com, costing from 300php to 600php for a 1000-piece pack, depending on the volume of powder you could shove into the empty capsules. But I would always go for the cheapest, if you want to know the truth.

For the past three months, I have tended to my Serpentinas, seeing to it that they get the minimum care there was to have. And while I was looking at them – a total of 25 plants – it occurred to me that 14 of them were ripe for pruning. That means, cutting the branches starting from below the plant, following the usual pruning protocol so that new growth would be spurred again in a week or two.

This was my first time to do it. So, it would look like I am on an experimental journey with my Serpentina. Last year, when I harvested my first crop, I uprooted them all and replaced with new plants. But this time, I would like to see if I could still get a second growth with similar volume of leaf harvest.

At least eleven plants in pots are awaiting harvest too. They have grown at least two feet in height. I would like to wait till they reach three-feet tall. I would like to see how they look. I am anticipating they would start to flower then, to produce new batch of seed pods, which will contain the seeds for future crops.

I have new plants in the wings, about 12 and all are growing in half-coke bottles and small pots. I think, I could expect a good quality plants from this batch, as shown by the green and quality of the leaves they are having now.

I was just wondering: The ones that I harvested yesterday had narrow, corrugated leaves, very much different from the other half of the plant batch, which have deep green, wider, smooth leaves.

And to think that they came from the same crop seeds I harvested last year. What happened here?

A Youtube video I happened to watch some time ago gave me a hint as to why those leaves were narrow and corrugated, as in “parang bubong-yero ang itsura”.

The video host said it could be that the soil they were standing on lacked certain soil nutrients that support leaf growth. So that’s it! But, how come the other half of the batch has normal-looking leaves. I have asked the question because all my pots for Serpentina contained the same quality of soil. But anyway, I decided to feed the plants with urea and 141414 fertilizers. Urea spurs growth of leaves while the 141414 promotes plant growth as a whole. That was last month.

Still, until I pruned the branches yesterday, the leaves had remained the same – kulukulubot at payat na matutulis.

Anyway, they are Serpentinas and their leaves are packed with bitterness that has been the reason as early as 70 years ago why laboratory and medical researchers have made Serpentina a favorite dish particles in many laboratories around the world, trying to find out how they could further use the healing properties of the plant.

Back here at home, the Serpentina tea abounds in the cupboard and in few days’ time, I could have new packs of dehydrated tea leaf.

Cheers!

SALAMAT SA DIOS!

Pasig City, August 6, 2020

In pictures, a heap of pruned Serpentina leaves ready for dehydration and the usual storing in zip-lock plastic packs. The pots from where the branches were harvested by pruning the branches starting from below the plant. The rest of the crop, undergoing further growing, maybe in the next two months till they have reached the height of three feet.

30/07/2020

MY HAND-PROCESSED SERPENTINA CAPSULES

By Alfredo P. Hernandez

WOW! I have produced my own Serpentina capsules.

Yesterday, the urge to see if i could also produce my own Serpentina capsules made me stop all skedded afternoon home choirs.

And so by 10pm I had two sets of hand-processed capsules and counting them, it pleased me so much to learn that i came up with at least 523 caps!.

Three hundred pieces will be brought by my sister Bhot to Oman for her blood sugar maintenance (she's flying next week, finally, after being locked down for three months leaving her very poor!). l will keep the rest of the 200pcs for my home cure regime.

The capsules came from the Serpentina leaves i harvested last year from my own potted Serpentina.

And i am now awaiting a second harvest by September from the crops i planted in March.

Until last night, i was using Serpentina tea for my twice-a-day maintenance.

Starting tomorrow, i will shift to the capsules, which will last three months and ten days, while waiting for the next batch of tea leaf harvest.

Bhot wilk use hers for at least five months, taking one cap twice a day.

I seminarred myself with Youtube videos on manual capsule gels production. Having watched at least five vids, i decided i was ready.

The 1,000 pcs of empty gelatin capsules came in the other day, from Shoppee, an online shopper. I bled 316 pesos for the stuff..

And the coffee grinder to pulverize the dehydrated leaves was just waiting to be plugged in.

With all things on the ready, i set off.

Pasig City, June 26, 2020

Pictures: Two trays of home made Serpentina capsules. The tools i used - coffee grinder, strainer, trays and soft plastic hand gloves. My Setpentina plants nearing tea-leaf harvest.

26/07/2020

SOON, I WILL PRODUCE MY OWN SERPENTINA CAPSULES

By A P Hernandez

THIS is how my Serpentina plants (pictured below) look now after a few days of big and small rains.

Soon, i am going to produce my own Serpentina capsules to make my daily taking of Serpentina dosage less troublesome.

With no capsule, i normally steep the Serpentina leaf for at least ten minutes in a mug of newly boiled water, until it cools down.

That's the only time i could enjoy drinking the tea despite its super bitterness!

But what the heck.

The Serpentina healing properties keep at bay those nasty tumour cells that used to feast on my prostate glands.

Right now, i am browsing Shoppee for the right capsule gels for my Serpentina.

Of late, i did some "seminars" on Youtube on how to fill empty capsules with powdered Serpentina leaves.

Manually, it is a bit toublesome.

But i am certain, i can fill 100 capsule gels in eight hours! WOW!

I have promised my sister who is a bit sugary she will take lots of Serpentina capsules with her once she returned to Oman for her post-lockdown work.

SALAMAT SA DIOS SA DARATING NA SERPENTINA CAPSULES!

Pasig City, A. P. HERNANDEZ, June 17, 2020

23/07/2020

FIGHTING DIABETES ON FACEBOOK

By Alfredo P Hernandez

OF late, i have noticed the proliferation on Facebook of diabetes and hypertension herbal capsules with prices ranging from Php300 to php2000 per 100-capsule bottle.

Is there really a good market for these supplement foods?

Is diabetes now a "pandemic" in Pinas? Or just on Facebook?

My OFW sister takes Metformin prescrbed to her by docs in an Omani hospital where she works as radiology technician.

She got tired of Metformin and is trying to switch to Serpentina tea which i have offered her.

She is having it one mug in the evening, trying to adjust to the super bitter taste it has.

Maybe, once used to the taste, she will have it twice a day, before breakfast and before dinner.

As of now i have a good heap of dehydrated Serpentina leaves from my plants.

I began growing Serpentina about a year ago and had my first tea leaves harvest in October last year.

My second crop is off to a good start and my second tea leaf harvest should come in September.

Alongside Serpentina, i am also propagating Insulin plant, also a super cure for Diabetes.

It is a fast-growing plant and could provide wide leaves for daily tea after three months.

The trick is to grow a minimum of ten plants, as in, one plant per pot.

You will be amazed that if you have ten plants with each offering at least ten leaves, you will have 100 tea leaves good for 50-day supply, at a minimum of two leaves a day -- one in the AM and one in the PM.

The leaves are dehydrated (not direct sun dry). We have a junk car and that is where I "dehydrate" my tea leaves.

In mattter of four days, the leaves are crispy or brittle, which you can now pulverize in a blender, if you want to capsulize it, or just simply use it in its leaf form for tea.

--A P Hernandez, Pasig City, June 22, 2020

Pics below: My Insulin (right) and Setpentina plants. Both crops off to a good start.

20/07/2020

PROPAGATING MY INSULIN PLANTS

By A P Hernandez

IT SEEMED like a spur of the moment when the urge came by.

I was halfway into a Youtube video explaining how to propagate Insulin plants from rhizoid growths when something darted across my mind.

I sprang from my bed and blasted a thought inside my head: Of course! Why not now?!

The Youtube vid was great. It has accelerated the day to yesterday (Tuesday) my plan to produce new Insulin plants from the three plants I have been growing in clay pots over the past three month.

I had an earlier timetable and that was to wait for my Insulin plants to grow to a height of two feet before cutting the main stem into several pieces as plant cuttings.

But the video told me that I could have it now (as in yesterday)-

So, immediately, I checked the base around each of the plants for rhizoid growths and there they were, jutting up from the soil, complete with roots, mature stems and of course, healthy leaves.

Counting the young rhizoids, I quickly decided that I could have at least nine new plants. I have already found a container for them – those 1.5ml Coke bottles which I could cut in the middle and use the lower part as growing pots.

And it all came to pass that I instantly produced nine new plants, which I will grow for another three months. By then, each would have at least three young shoots to become new plants.

There has been a sort of incentive in doing this. The Insulin video host, himself a garden buff, said an Insulin plant a foot high could fetch at least 250 pesos. And there are people willing to pay for the plant, which they could also propagate at home using pots.

He must be talking from experience, one reason he has a lot of new Insulin plants which he grew in black plastic packs with a diameter of eight inches.

Browsing postings on my Facebook wall, I would see more than five insulin product brands at a time, enticing the oldies, the sugary and the diabetics to buy and do away with their high blood sugar count.

Of course, the target market are the desperate senior men and women who continue to struggle with their diabetes.

One Facebooker from Tanauan, Batangas, PM’d me asking if I was selling my Serpentina plants. She said her husband badly needed the herb for his diabetes and hypertension.

She saw my plants and a small story when it crossed her Facebook wall.

She mentioned that Insulin capsules are quite expensive and they could not just afford them. So, they would like to try Serpentina.

I begged off, explaining to her that my Serpentina plants are just barely enough to sustain my needs every three months in the form of dry leaves, which I make into tea for my twice-a-day dose. At age 72, It has been my daily maintenance for my prostate concern and hypertension too.

I suggested that there could be insulin plants around Tanauan, which she could grow herself for her husband’s use.

But while waiting for her plant to produce the needed leaves, should she decide to grow them, she could use the Insulin capsules being sold online.

Now, with 12 Insulin plants in my garden, all I have to think of is how to take care of them.

Already, I have a good experience with Serpentina plants, which I started growing about a year ago.

I had my first harvest of tea leaves recently, enough to supply my Serpentina leaf tea for about three months.

And I am now waiting for the second crop to deliver the leaves sometime in September.

Well, keeping my fingers crossed, I expect to see robust and healthy Insulin plants as days go by, nourishing them with eggshell powder, urea and 141414 fertilizer (complete fertilizer).

I had just checked my supply of urea and 141414 and found out they needed to be topped up.

Hah… that means a long walk to South Supermarket where the plant and fertilizer supplier sells his wares.

That’s about three KM walk from my place in Manggahan. How I really wish those jeepneys are back on the road.

But what the heck! All for the glory of my plants.

Pasig City, June 25, 2020

Pictures below: (Pic No.1) My Insulin mother plants just before I extracted the young rhizoids. (2) New plants sitting next to the mother plant. (3) The nine young plants awaiting transplant. (4) New plants sitting on a cup with water just before transplant. (5) 1.5ml coke bottles recycled as pots. (6) The three mother plants after their young have been weaned away.

Herbs and Your Health

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