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Post by glen on Mar 11, 2019 15:45:41 GMT -6
This thread has motivated me. So, I dumped out some 6 gallon nursery pots and remixed the soil with a healthy dose of organic compost. I have one pot with a healthy Malabar spinach growing in it. It has plenty of nice long healthy vines. I fixed up 5 new pots and then arranged them around the pot with the malabar spinach growing. I placed vines into each pot and buried each one, not cutting the vines though. Its so hot outside now that I have found that this method means that all 5 pots should successfully have new roots established very soon. Once the roots are viable in the new pots I will cut the vines attached to the Mother plant. This is not the only way to do this. You can just cut the vines and bury them in a new location sort of the same way you plant sweet potato slips. You can experiment for yourself of course. Tomorrow I will also plant some seed. About Malabar spinach seed. It does not keep long. Sometimes it doesn't germinate well. At least for me this is my experience. I will try and use the seed I have. However, the cuttings seem to be more dependable. The Mother plant is a cutting from last years spinach season. I do not know how long you can keep taking cuttings from the same plant. Like all garden projects we learn as we go. I also plan to buy some plants at the fair. They charge 2 dollars per plant in a grow bag. You really only need one plant because you plant this in a bigger pot, then take cuttings later. I will take foto's later for you to see the project. I hope to have about 10 pots all together when this is in full production. You can do this in the ground of course but as you know, I do mostly container gardening. Its much easier for me and I will produce a lot of food for my kitchen. And, my garden space is very small. Once this Malabar spinach is in full gear, I might get enough to eat copious amounts of spinach twice per week for a few months. Maybe more. Spinach is something that is not sold in my grocery stores except, if you can find it, in the can. So, this crop is very valuable to me.
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Post by macmex on Mar 11, 2019 19:27:04 GMT -6
Makes me hungry, just thinking of it!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Mar 12, 2019 16:30:07 GMT -6
Springtime and fresh greens just go together. Funny, how by Summer's end I have no interest in greens whatsoever, but by March every year, I'd just about give my eye tooth for a good mess of them.
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Post by glen on Mar 13, 2019 15:35:15 GMT -6
Ron, I suppose we get tired of eating certain items. Then, in the future we get excited about the prospect of finding them in the market and cooking em up. I get okra'd out for example. Then, after awhile I need to eat them again. Here in Panama we have less options. My climate is so severe that I am limited to growing certain items. I would like to have some nice fancy mustard greens or collard greens for example. I haven't eaten them in so many years I forget what they actually taste like. If I had em around, I suppose I would get tired of them. I have had to completely change my lifestyle and diet since moving to Panama. I live simply now. I do not eat rich foods. Well, occasionally I do but not very often. For example, the other day we stopped into KFC. I eat there about once every couple of months. When you have been eating simple for a long time you are not used to eating something as rich as KFC, with the fries and mashed potato's and gravy. You put a little of that food in your mouth, it shocks your system. I mean, its absolutely a shocker to the taste buds. I find that when I finish the meal, all I want to do is eat more. You can't eat enough of that stuff. No wonder the average person in the US is obese! I am convinced that this type of food is not good for us. My new lifestyle includes steamed veggy's and lots of it. Less un-refined carbs. Smaller portions of proteins and the portions are leaner. More un-refined carbs and whole foods. I have been eating this way for a long enough time that eating KFC is a shock to my system. Something to be avoided. I am sure that food like that is unhealthy. And, will shorten our life. Lets practise better eating habits and try to eat right. I want to eat more greens. I want to try and avoid health issues that arise from careless eating habits.
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Post by glen on Mar 13, 2019 15:47:25 GMT -6
I have been having some problems uploading foto's onto the computer so I am forced to just use old foto's. This is last seasons malabar spinach. Very voluptious vines. If I can ever get the computer to let me down load my current foto's I will put them also. Ok, I am glad I edited. The first foto isn't even malabar spinach. It is bird pepper. Ignore the first foto and just look at the second. That plant isn't really as green as I would like but its an example of how thick this plant can grow in a small pot. I set the pot near the fence and let it support it. If the plant is real happy, the greens are very dark green.
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Post by glen on Mar 16, 2019 20:42:26 GMT -6
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Post by macmex on Mar 17, 2019 4:05:09 GMT -6
Nice! That's a great experiment!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Mar 17, 2019 8:24:18 GMT -6
Thanks, for sharing, Glen. A guy could probably do that same thing to propagate sweet potato vives for transplanting?
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Post by glen on Mar 17, 2019 16:15:37 GMT -6
Of course you could. This project could fail though. This is the wrong time of year to be trying to grow Malabar spinach. Nothing wants to grow during the dry season. You should see it here. Its dry and parched everywhere and even if you irrigate plants suffer now. I think I am going to wait another month before planting any seeds. I was intending to plant some today, but I think its a waste of time in this severely hot, dry, windy weather.
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Post by glen on Mar 31, 2019 19:20:47 GMT -6
This is an update on the spinach project. The vines are sprouting new shoots. I will separate all the pots from the pot in the center which is the mother plant. Probably in a week. It looks like I will have 5 new pots full of spinach. I have the green variety. I have been trying to view some youtube video's on growing this plant. I sometimes have trouble getting youtube to play right. However, there are two main types of Malabar spinach or Ceylon spinach. The red variety looks a little different. I hear people describing it as a climber. Maybe it is. My green variety can be trellised but it needs to be coached as it doesn't climb on its own. Its more of a sprawler and it will just crawl all over the place. I plan to make room for it. I will have 6 pots at least full of this spinach. I also planted some seed in the pots. Just as a back up. I have heard that the seeds can be eaten also. There is a you tube video on that as well. The vines can definitely be eaten in a stir fry. I usually just pick the leaves and steam them. However, if you do a stir fry try cutting some of the vines and stir frying that with the leaves. Also, if you see Malabar spinach in the Supermarket it should have some stems in the package. If the vines are fresh enough they will root if buried in potting soil and kept wet. Those vines gotta be fresh though. Malabar spinach can be grown as a perennial if you live in the right climate also. I wasn't sure about that at first. I am using cuttings from last years plant so I was concerned that the older cuttings might not be useable. Well, it appears that they are just fine. Good luck with your Malabar spinach. About 3 to 5 plants should give you plenty of spinach for the kitchen.
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Post by macmex on Apr 1, 2019 6:59:00 GMT -6
These are all great observations, and will be quite helpful for others who want to try growing Malabar Spinach. The seed I have is the red version, so I'll be able to report on climbing ability.
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Post by glen on Apr 2, 2019 0:27:13 GMT -6
George, I would like you to post some foto's later when you get yours going. People would like to see how it does for you there in OK. I will do the same thing. Also, if you come up with a favorite recipe that would be good. Also, I want to know how well the vines produced greens. I do know that when the plants have nice big leaves and lots of em it is time to pick em. The vines like to be harvested. You can either cut the vines or just pick the leaves or a little of both. All of it is edible. Like I said, in my house Bercy just picks the leaves then washes them and starts boiling em. She uses seasonings in hers and also likes to chop the leaves up smaller once it is cooked. The end product looks just like spinach and definitely tastes like it. Its easy to get addicted to this veggy and you will look forward to the next time you have enough to cut again. Again, the advantage to this green is its ability to grow in the heat of the Summer when most things won't grow.
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Post by macmex on Apr 2, 2019 19:32:07 GMT -6
Looking forward to it! I also plan to take lots of photos.
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Post by glen on Apr 3, 2019 16:40:52 GMT -6
I noticed today that my malabar spinach seeds are sprouting. It takes about 10 days for them to germinate. I planted seeds right in the pots with the cuttings. Plus a couple of extra's in smaller pots. I only need 6 plants. Looks like I will have more than that. This is the first time I have ever started plants from seed. They are as easy as planting okra. By the way, another name for this vine is ceylon spinach. There are probably other names depending on what country you are in. Very popular in some country's. Its not very popular in Panama. In Columbia, according to Bercy at least, its real popular and you can buy it in every neighborhood very cheaply.
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Post by glen on Apr 5, 2019 16:55:07 GMT -6
That is right, wait for warm weather to plant them. My new seedlings are about an inch tall now. I won't see any vigorous growth for awhile here. When the rainy season starts plants will take off. Panama is in a drought now. The rainy season should have already started in other parts of the country but there has not been any rain since Nov 23 of last year. We don't know if this will affect or delay our rainy season where I live or not. I have to be patient about planting things now myself. I may need to wait until May to plant my okra for example. Planting too early in front of the rainy season could invite white fly. Everything is dependant on when my rainy season starts. I have herbs planted. I also have planted jalepeno seed and peppermint and parsley and some other things. I am not seeing much germination happening yet.
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