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Post by john on Aug 9, 2017 6:56:54 GMT -6
I nocticed the first flower on mine yesterday.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 9, 2017 17:57:48 GMT -6
We'll all be drinking Roselle Tea by the end of the month... Can't wait!
Last year, we stretched the calyces out until Christmas. Eight months is a long time to wait for the next crop. I planted Roselle in so many crazy places this Spring, I might not ever find it all. Maybe, we'll have enough to last us longer this year.
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Post by macmex on Aug 10, 2017 3:25:03 GMT -6
John, that is WONDERFUL news! I think that indicates that you will have a successful crop, all the way in Connecticut!
Ron, I think you're going to have more Roselle than you think. Yet, I can hardly imagine having more than I could use. I planted 16 plants this year. Last year I had only 3. I'd have planted more but time and space didn't allow.
I have not noticed any more blooms since the first. But my plants, especially the 7 out in the main garden, with full sun, are looking great and covered with buds. It won't be long!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 10, 2017 21:35:51 GMT -6
The rain tonight will be good for them. They seem to enjoy a good watering.
That's amazing that they do well all the way through Connecticut, especially knowing that they also do well through the lower Latitudes all the way to the equator. They are some amazing plants. Thanks, George, for introducing us to this 'feel good' crop. It's right up there with your Old Timey Cornfield Pumpkin.
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Post by john on Aug 11, 2017 5:35:13 GMT -6
It is very impressive. The seed George sent must be from a very adaptable variety, that can tolerate milder temps. We have had one of the mildest summers in recent memory. We really have not had any prolonged heat waves with temps into the nineties. Most of the summer it has been in the mid 80's. There have been days where it has had high temps in the 60's with clouds and rain. That has not seemed to faze these plants. Once they started growing, they seem to be trouble free. They are so pretty that I think they could be planted in flower beds toward the back of the bed. They would add color and texture to the bed. I am hoping to see a bunch more flowers before the end of the year. I wonder if they get verticillium? Often times my okra gets loaded with verticillium later in the season. I bet these would benefit from black plastic like okra.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 12, 2017 11:35:59 GMT -6
John, I have one Roselle growing on top of a pile of Hugelkulture, which is basically just a big leaf pile with some brush included, some topsoil, and a little chicken litter added. That one plant looks amazing! I've also got one okra growing there. It loves it! It's a first-year pile, so it was really hard to keep it moist all summer, that was not good for the plants as they were highly stressed during our dry spell in July. It will be a better location next season after it has decomposed more. It was definitely worth the effort of building it for the results I got. The plants there are disease free. I can;t say the same for the plants out in my main garden. I also have a pumpkin planted in the HugelKulture pile. It's the best specimen I've ever been able to grow here, even though the squash bugs are thick in there, the vines are still producing well.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 17, 2017 18:01:33 GMT -6
George, The Roselle you gave me the week you took your trip to visit your parents is blooming today! I have your tub washed out and ready to return, as well as some empty milk cartons. My air conditioner went out today, so I've been too busy to get any milk.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 23, 2017 14:58:02 GMT -6
We've had full sun for the past two days, but no new Roselle blossoms on any of my plants. I'm beginning to think they only bloom on cloudy days? It's 88 degrees today. Yesterday it was 90 degrees. We still had dew on the grass at 1:00 pm yesterday from the high humidity but it dried up by 11:00 am this morning.
THe Roselle is putting on rapid growth, showing many unfurling fronds of tender, light green leaves along the upper branches. It's really making good use of all this much-needed sunlight after so many dark and rainy days.
The banana tree George gave me is growing new leaves at an unprecedented pace! It's amazing to think of how rapidly the tiny leaf cells must be multiplying in this unusually wet August weather. I told my Wife, "That banana tree probably thinks it got replanted in the tropics."
My bitter melons are reaching lengths of nearly one foot. Last year, the largest ones were only 6 or 8 inches. The fruits on the vines this year are still light green and tender. They have a lot more growing left in them.
What a crazy gardening year! My pumpkins are putting on runners that stretch about 18" inches per day. Usually, by late August the vines are already dead or at least dying. This year, they are still blooming like it's mid June.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 25, 2017 18:57:07 GMT -6
Still no new Roselle blooms.
Maybe next week's hurricane clouds will block out enough light to get them blooming again?
We'll have to wait and see what happens.
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Post by macmex on Aug 26, 2017 7:13:57 GMT -6
My plants are blooming profusely now! The ones in my main garden are chest high too!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 26, 2017 18:51:53 GMT -6
Whatever you're doing in your garden needs to be done in mine... My tallest Roselle is maybe 3' feet tall.
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Post by macmex on Aug 27, 2017 14:29:38 GMT -6
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 27, 2017 20:31:16 GMT -6
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 27, 2017 20:47:28 GMT -6
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 30, 2017 5:19:42 GMT -6
My Roselle has started blooming again. Yesterday, one of my plants had 4 blooms, but just one of the plants; the rest haven't resumed their blooming yet.
Most of my plants have not even had their first bloom because they were sown indoors in pots in Mid March rather than min-February like the first bloomers were.
Valentine's Day seems to be a good start date for August blooms.
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