Do you like to do things on your own? I do. I try to save money whenever possible. I would probably never hire a painter or a landscaper. I bake birthday cakes rather than buying them at the store.

I like to do things on my own to save money, but also because of the personal gratification of being a D.I.Y. (do it yourself) person. My latest endeavor was beating the weight loss industry at their own game. Rather than paying $60 for a bottle of hoodia appetite suppressants, I decided to try growing hoodia plants on my own.

Probably not my best idea. Hoodia is a succulent grown in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa. The natives have been chewing the stems of hoodia plants for centuries as a means to control their appetite when out on hunts through the sparse desert. Researchers found out that a compound in hoodia called p57 can trick the brain into thinking you do not need to eat. Although I had no way of making a pill out of the hoodia plants, I figured I could chew on the stem like the natives or maybe even brew up a tea.

So, I ordered my hoodia seeds and special Kalahari sand. The sand cost more than the seeds and I knew why soon after I planted them. In just a few short weeks, my plants were getting bigger and looked nothing like a hoodia plant or anything like a succulent for that matter. They were marigolds! I would have been taken! I called the company, but after being put on hold for 30 minutes, I decided to part ways with my $20 and move forward.

More determined then ever (I still had plenty of expensive sand; after all), I found a reputable seed dealer on the internet and patiently awaited their arrival. I knew I was in over my head because I had now spent far more than the little bottle of hoodia pills would have cost. Hoodia plants are scarce and so are the seeds, but I could no t face my friends and let them know my D.I.Y. plan had failed!

I planted the seeds and prayed for the best. In about three weeks, I had little finger-like plants springing up through the (expensive) sand. Okay, now that is what a succulent should look like! It was not long and I had little flowers on my little hoodia fellows. The smell of sweet success! Well, actually the smell of “stinky” success. The flowers on a hoodia plant have an odor meant to attract flies for pollination. Yes, they smell like rotting flesh!

And boy, did they attract flies! I moved my hoodia operation to the garage and fumigated the house. I put grow lights on the plants to keep them warm and continued to nurture my stinky little hoodia babies. Sadly, they began to deteriorate. I looked up everything I could on hoodia and learned that even professional, commercial growers are having difficulty keeping a hoodia crop alive. Apparently, they succumb to disease easily.

My plants withered away and I had to give up my D.I.Y. project. My friends have not said much. I suppose they are just happy they do not have to put smelling salts under their noses to visit my house anymore (or swat away the flies). South Africa can keep its corner on the hoodia market. And yeah, okay, I ended up paying the $60 for the bottle of hoodia supplements. There is a happy ending. I have lost five pounds so far!

Can you grow your own hoodia? Go there and become a member of our great hoodia community on Facebook.

categories: hoodia,hoodia gordonii,weight loss,dieting,natural remedy for weight loss,health,natural appetite suppressant,health and fitness