General Info for Altrei Coffee

[Admin2]

Lupinus pilosus 'Café de Altrei'
Uses: Culinary Duration: Annual
When to Sow: Spring Ease of Germination: Easy

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[cambrianridge]

so happy to see this site up and going,thank you. I just ordered 6 pkts of different seeds yesterday,very excited but also a little nervous. I am a beginner in rare seed growing, I did notice however the Altrei seeds were sold out. ? after seeds of germinated and plants started do you palnt these outside in the ground or do you keep in pots, I live about 2 hrs N of Toronto zone 4. Second ?do you have any extra to share or swap when my seeds get in. Not sure how long that will take,not long I hop ,Richters is only an hour away from me. Thanks and hope to use this site lots for info on growing and harvesting, Smiles Karen:)

[cambrianridge]

sorry about my spelling ,I guess I was just excited about the site ,lol

[MikeH]

Feb 21, 2012 8:41:28 GMT -5 cambrianridge said:

so happy to see this site up and going,thank you. I just ordered 6 pkts of different seeds yesterday,very excited but also a little nervous. I am a beginner in rare seed growing, I did notice however the Altrei seeds were sold out. ? after seeds of germinated and plants started do you palnt these outside in the ground or do you keep in pots, I live about 2 hrs N of Toronto zone 4. Second ?do you have any extra to share or swap when my seeds get in. Not sure how long that will take,not long I hop ,Richters is only an hour away from me. Thanks and hope to use this site lots for info on growing and harvesting, Smiles Karen:)

Welcome aboard. You ordered 6 different seeds. Fantastic. Were they SeedZoo™ seeds? What were they? Re: your questions about germination and planting, which seeds are you talking about?

Yes, I have Altrei Coffee seeds. Send me a personal message or an email with your address and I will share some with you.

Regards,
Mike

[cambrianridge]

should I start the Altrei coffee seeds indoor ?

[cambrianridge]

recieved the seeds today ,thank you so much.I am so excited to start them,should I start them indoors or direct sow them after last frost., Karen

[MikeH]

Our experience growing Altrei lupines last year at portageperennials.wordpress.com/?s=altrei with pictures at picasaweb.google.com/PortagePerennials/AltreiCoffee

and some info that I've collected from the web - docs.google.com/open?id=0B4z8GE1bbsDjMzNkODNhZDUtMWQwYi00NGVmLTllZDYtY2IwNTY5NmJiOGE5

[cambrianridge]

thank you for above info

[MikeH]

8 people have received seeds from me. From my original 10 seeds from Richters, I harvested +200 seeds from 8 plants. With a bit of luck, there will be a lot more seed available next year.

[blueheron]

Hello - found this forum searching for the elusive altrei lupines! Do you have any left that I may purchase from you? This "coffee" intrigues me, but I can't seem to locate it anywhere.

Thanks

[richardw]

Yes i'm keen to try them also blueheron,but here's me thinking it will be more mid season before some become available again i presume.

[MikeH]

I still have seeds left from last year. Email me at my gmail address portageperennials.

Regards,
Mike

[blueheron]

Hello Mike - email sent!

[blueheron]

Thanks again Mike for the seeds! They are quietly sprouting in my kitchen under a fluorescent light.

Question - do you think they would do well growing in a container? I was considering a 5 gallon bucket that I could move around in case of bad weather this summer.

Cheers

[MikeH]

You probably could but they wouldn't need that depth of soil. It would get a bit crowded though. They get fairly large.



We staked these with 3-4' bamboo stakes to support them against wind. Perhaps we could have planted more densely but I wan't good air circulation to reduce the chances of any fungal type disease that might occur because of the heavy mulching with grass clippings.