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Post by blueheron on May 8, 2012 13:17:18 GMT -5
Hello all
I'm relatively new to gardening, but already midly obsessed with it!
I recently purchased some seeds from SeedZoo am curious to learn of the experiences of others who also purchased them:
1) Luang Prabang Avocado Melon - not entirely confident this will grow in the GTA, but I am willing to do what it takes because I find it so interesting
2) Hashuli Brown & White Bean
3) Purple Rain Bush Bean
4) Mottled Grey Bean
Cheers
Lory
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Post by blueheron on May 19, 2012 15:02:55 GMT -5
On the topic of Mottled Grey Beans....has anyone purchased them? Mine were not "grey" at all, but decidedly brown. With some purple mixed in. The grey beans in the photo were not at all what I received.
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Post by blueadzuki on May 19, 2012 16:59:41 GMT -5
On the topic of Mottled Grey Beans....has anyone purchased them? Mine were not "grey" at all, but decidedly brown. With some purple mixed in. The grey beans in the photo were not at all what I received. There is often a bit of a dichtomy between the photo of the seed and the actual appearance, read the "Fort Portal Jade Bean" thread I posted a few months ago. On a realated note, while I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of the description, I will note that, when I opened the packet and planted them, the seed of my Serian Jungle cucumbers looked a lot more like the seed of a melon than that of a cuke (they had the little "nose" at the tip, that cuke seeds usually don't) Maybe it's actually a cucamelon. |
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Post by blueheron on May 21, 2012 10:25:37 GMT -5
I still planted them anyways....see what turns up. But I was really looking forward to a "grey" bean. The other seeds all looked as per the photos.
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Post by marshallsmyth on Aug 11, 2012 8:19:38 GMT -5
Are you getting a harvest of your grey mottled beans yet? How are they looking? I can think of several different reasons they look different than the photo. Some bean varieties deepen in color over the months after harvesting dry. Another reason might be that the beans in the photo may have been not quite ripe/dry, between shell stage and crisp dry pods. Photo error I suppose is possible. Beginner mistake with photoshoping can do it too.
About the "cucamelon"; I don't think those really happen. Melons in cucumis melo do have a wider variation in seed types than at first perceived. Not like corn or beans of course, but some melons have pale seeds off white, some quite small, others quite large, some almost orange tan, some dense, some not. My guess is that there are other variations to be found with the exotic rare varieties.
One diagnostic to use in deciding if a plant is melo or not is by smelling the plant itself. Melon plants actually have a sweet smell. Another diagnostic is that well grown, melon plants have a relatively soft lush quality. "Cucamelon" is anecdotal only, just as mules that are not sterile are anecdotal only. Not proved to really exist.
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Post by blueadzuki on Aug 11, 2012 19:43:54 GMT -5
Are you getting a harvest of your grey mottled beans yet? How are they looking? I can think of several different reasons they look different than the photo. Some bean varieties deepen in color over the months after harvesting dry. Another reason might be that the beans in the photo may have been not quite ripe/dry, between shell stage and crisp dry pods. Photo error I suppose is possible. Beginner mistake with photoshoping can do it too. About the "cucamelon"; I don't think those really happen. Melons in cucumis melo do have a wider variation in seed types than at first perceived. Not like corn or beans of course, but some melons have pale seeds off white, some quite small, others quite large, some almost orange tan, some dense, some not. My guess is that there are other variations to be found with the exotic rare varieties. One diagnostic to use in deciding if a plant is melo or not is by smelling the plant itself. Melon plants actually have a sweet smell. Another diagnostic is that well grown, melon plants have a relatively soft lush quality. "Cucamelon" is anecdotal only, just as mules that are not sterile are anecdotal only. Not proved to really exist. I was not implying that it was a hybrid. I simply meant that it might acutally be a melo of cucumber use ( (similar to the Carosellos and Metki listed. I just used the wrong term All I was saying was I was wondering if, since the seed of the serian had a "nose", which cucumber seeds usually do not have, but melon seeds do, if it might in fact be a melo used like a cucmber , not a sativus. None of mine survived so I am in no positon to smell the plants. Yes some of the species in the cucurbits can have serios variation in seed forms. Back when I was playing around with winter melons (not the ones listed in the seed zoo, I mean the big hulking Bencasia gourds used in Chinese cooking) I had a lot of confusion due to the fact that Canton Giant (the winter melon that is most commonly grown on a commercial scale (and hence the one you will most likely bump into if you are going to buy a slice of winter melon) has a seed form so different from any of the other winter melon varietals that not only does it look like it comes from a different species, it looks like it comes from a whole different genera (pretty much all the rest have seeds that look like a gourd seed (though often with a thicker ridge on each side) Canton giant seed looks like a dead white smoothed down watermelon seed without the seam on the edge (actually now that I have seen them, it looks an awful lot like the seed of the butterpip melons (Acanthosicyos horridus) of Southern Africa. Slight unripness could explain the beans. when I picked my fort portal pod early (I had to, the animals had eaten the previos two and it was a choice betwee take somewhat immature seed and hope to get it to grow or wait and lose that one as well) the color was quite different a much paler shade of green than the starter seed. And both of my cowpeas (not from richters, from my own selections) which were also picked a bit immature are decidedly green of seed when the planted seeds werent (since one of them is also brown mottled, it acutally makes for a very attractive seed) |
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Post by blueheron on Sept 25, 2012 21:10:54 GMT -5
Just an update on my purchases:
1) Luang Prang Avocado Melon - produced about 6 small melons that smelled amazing, but lacked a lot in the taste department. Also, I did not find that they had an avocado texture at all. Will likely not plant again next year.
2) Hashuli Brown and White Bean - wasn't sure what was going on with these beans until mid September, when I have now more than 5 times the seeds I started off with. Late harvester, huge climber, but abundant and will definitely plant again next year. Let me know if anyone is interested in acquiring seeds!
3) Purple Rain Bush Bean - nice novelty bean, produced a fair amount, but tiny and almost anemic looking beans. Not sure what to do with these, but maybe plant the nicest looking next year. Again, let me know if anyone is interested in these!
4) Mottled Grey Bean - I planted all of these and got absolutely NOTHING from them. Nada. Zippo. Very disappointed.
In addition to these, I also purchased the little Georgian pumpkins from Zedulat or whatever - much ado about nothing, as none of the flowers produced anything lasting despite a fair bit of pollinating from bees, etc.
And those Chilean warted squash. Again, much ado about nothing. Both plants climbed all over my lilac and maples trees, but again produced nothing despite ample pollinating insects.
Might try them again next year with remaining seeds, but am not hopeful.
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Post by blueadzuki on Sept 26, 2012 6:39:43 GMT -5
On my side
Serian Jungle Cucumber- Basically got nothing; plants dropped dead after setting first permanent leaves (this happened with nearly all my cucumbers, I think I put the sets out too early)
Huai Kung Giant Square Cucumber- One of these actually made it through the die off and in fact grow to about 2 feet (pathetic by normal cucumber vine years, but this previos year that actually beat the next longest by about a foot!) unfortunaly, it never produced any flowers, and eventually had to be removed (due to flopping out over the border of the garden, and getting it's end mowed off by the gardeners)
Fort Portal Jade Bean- two of these actually made it to adulthood They were seriosly short plants (maybe 6in) but prodced abundant flowers and pods. Unfortunately I never really got a chance to get seed back, since the extremely short stature meant that the pods were almost at ground level, making it VERY easy for the squirrels and chipmunks to pull them off and eat them. I also noticed an unusual tendency for the flower stems to be "kinked" and rather brittle (so that pod clusters had a tendecy to break off if touched) I think next year I'll try the Bantu maybe they will be taller.
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Post by richardw on Sept 26, 2012 13:50:23 GMT -5
Doesnt sound like it went very well for you,what a shame.
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Post by blueadzuki on Sept 26, 2012 14:39:02 GMT -5
Doesnt sound like it went very well for you,what a shame. Well, to be fair, NOTHING ever goes particualrly well for me, garden wise. We have too much shade, too many rocks and too much acid in the soil (waay more than simple lime adjustment can counter) in our yard 100% crop failure is the norm, 99% is considered a bumper crop. Or why practically every "fertile" spot we have is artificial; somewhere where we say took an old hollow stump and filled it with commercial topsoil). And at least I know the fort portal Jade's will GROW here, season wise, something I could not have banked on given they are African and I am in the Extreme north east. That's what I think is the best way, get a lot of different things, try them all out, keep the ones that work, and move on. |
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Post by richardw on Sept 27, 2012 2:57:31 GMT -5
Reading that helps me to appreciate just how easy i have it,i have a soil with a ph of 6.5,a low humidity climate where disease problems don't occur and my only garden pests are black birds and our young chocks who are currently in training to keep out out.The only hard part in gardening where i am is frost,but between woollen blankets and water sprinklers ive had a 99% success rate in the last 10 years in over coming it,it means some nights i have to get up and stick my head out the door and if a frost is near i turn the the sprinklers on which i normally have already set up.
Oops i should have added carrot fly as one of my garden pests,horrible little #*%
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