Grow Your Own Source of Caffeine | Growing Yerba Mate

Easy to grow and tons of health benefits + a natural source of caffeine. What more can you ask for from a plant?. Yerba mate makes a delicious tea most popular in Argentina. Locally it can be found as the main ingredient in many organic energy drinks. Here are some growing tips we've learned over the years growing yerba mate.
Yerba mate ( Llex paraguariensis )growing tips:
-Best time to plant: Anytime night temperatures are 50-60F every single night consistently and expected to rise in the next month or so. (late spring, summer)
-Sun: All day, this plant will take scorching 120F direct sun all day and loves it. Can it grow in partial shade to full shade? Yes but don't expect to perform nearly as well as in the sun.
-Winter: Hard frost sensitive. This plant will take ambient temperatures down to low 20F's like it's nothing. We have never lost a plant in the winter even when we had our coldest winter (2 years ago 19F). They can even take light frost!!!!. This plant falls in the "bullet proof category".
-Growth rate: This plant once fully rooted in a pot grows like a weed. Once planted in ground, it will take a full calendar year to fully establish itself then it will grow at about 1-2ft a year up to 12-15ft tall. No top growth its first year in ground is normal. Remember though if your plant takes damage during that period, it will reset this 1 year time every time!.
-Root system: Shallow, safe to plant close to structures.
-Structure: This is a shrub not a tree unless pruned otherwise.
-Flowers/fruit: This plant flowers late spring. It doesn't produce edible fruits. The foliage is what you eat anyway.
-Water: Frequent water its first year in ground, concentrate on the rootball only, not filling up the berms 10ft deep and forgetting about the plant for a week...unless you want a dead plant. To be honest, only way to kill this plant is to not water.
-Container growing: Good candidate for container growing due to its root system not being invasive. It will grow fast so you will need to upkeep. Patreon: patreon.com/QCTropicals (Exclusive perks!)