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Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2019 20:24:10 GMT -5
Neighbor has it on her fence, comes back from self-seeding every year. We like it as well as the spinach we grow.
Do any of you grow it, and have you any opinions as to its usefulness? We never eat it raw as you can eat true spinach.
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Jun 21, 2019 21:05:50 GMT -5
I've been growing it about 10 years or so. I Love it raw! Cooked, it's mucilaginous but raw, I don't notice the pasty consistency as much. I like it's crunch when it's fresh. It doesn't self seed here, winter kill from the extreme cold I imagine. And it doesn't do much until the temps heat up in the summer. I'm growing it indoors this year in my solarium in the apartment. It's quite liking it there.
The woman who gave me seed originally is Japanese. She said back in Japan it is used by apartment dwellers as a shade plant on balconies that obviously has other benefits.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 21, 2019 21:52:36 GMT -5
I only grew it one time - a red variety - and I liked it raw, but wasn't crazy about it cooked. I didn't grow it again because it became sort of invasive, both the vines growing through my tomato trellis, and dropping seeds, which germinated quickly, and I had to be diligent to pull them up, before forming more vines. They were killed by the winter cold, and only a couple seeds germinated next spring, but I could see how that plant could become invasive down south.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jun 21, 2019 22:26:01 GMT -5
I've got seeds for it someplace, but I never did grow as best as I remember.
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Post by paquebot on Jun 21, 2019 23:43:10 GMT -5
Interesting night as same question asked on Facebook tonight. Grew it years ago, in the 1970s. Long enough ago that I've forgotten exactly why we never grew it again. Consequently the very same support has nothing growing on it while waiting for 12 seeds to germinate. Seeds were soaked 24 hours and germination may take 21 days. I know that it likes hot weather and we haven't had much of that yet. Hoping to see something soon. Then grow it and remember why we didn't grow it again.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by spacecase0 on Jun 23, 2019 23:32:52 GMT -5
I think that I grew it once, then stopped growing it because I later confused it with basil figured out my error years later... never tried growing it again will add it to my list of things to try again.
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Post by september on Jun 24, 2019 8:29:53 GMT -5
I grew it once in the early years of my gardening. It only got about a foot high and then stalled out. It may have been during a cooler summer, just didn't do well here, or maybe it didn't like me or my methods.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2019 13:11:31 GMT -5
Neighbor gave me half a dozen volunteer plants. I found last year that it does not transplant well here, so I potted those seedlings to give them a chance to grow some root systems. I also planted about two dozen seeds in three beds along a fence.
I am hoping to get at least one vine so that I will have a chance at self-seeding volunteers next year.
WE DO NOT LIKE NZ SPINACH! Tried that a few years back.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 26, 2019 13:48:46 GMT -5
WE DO NOT LIKE NZ SPINACH! Tried that a few years back. I didn't like that either, when I tried it way back.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2019 21:18:51 GMT -5
Update; the seedlings dug from the neighbor's yard, put in pots and kept watered, are beginning to grow vigorously. Now to try to transplant them without destroying ther root systems!
Update July 15: One of the three plots where I put out seed has a couple of plants coming up. The potted plants are five to seven inches high, large enough to plant when I can get some clear ground along a fence. Certainly appears to be a tropical plant--It does not like cool weather but loves rain.
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