|
Post by glen on May 17, 2019 13:18:00 GMT -6
The name of this plant is Curcuma zedoaria. It produces a root very similar in appearance to ginger root that you see in the supermarket. However, it is lighter in color or almost white. The root is edible but it has a bitter after taste. People have been eating this root for many century's, even longer than ginger. To me it certainly does not taste as good as ginger. However, you should google it to see its medicinal uses. You could probably find this root in a chinese grocery store. You can also youtube this plant as it is grown globally in many cultures. Extremely easy to grow. You just dig a trench and throw some rhizome's into the trench and forget about it. Every year you get beautiful flowers also. After a year or so you can start digging the roots and using them to make tea or to season food. The Hindu's still use this root as a spice I do believe. Someone gave me a pot with some of this growing in it. I did not know what it was for a long time. I finally took the time to google white ginger and do some digging and I found it eventually and identified it. I see it occasionally growing in folks yards.
|
|
|
Post by glen on May 17, 2019 13:31:08 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by glen on May 23, 2019 13:50:35 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by glen on May 28, 2019 22:05:19 GMT -6
Its 5-28-2019, Tuesday. Lots and lots of rain. Not much sun. Okra is pulling thru though and is growing albeit slow. Other plants like peppers and tomato's are suffering more. Tomato's tall and lanky. Making tomato's though. Peppers really suffering. Malabar spinach likes the rainy season. Leaves are huge. Plants look happy. Today we had 3 or 4 inches of rain. Every day is cloudy. Rarely do we get much sun. AfricanX okra can survive this type of climate but its not ideal. Friday I will post foto's.
|
|
|
Post by heavyhitterokra on May 29, 2019 22:03:16 GMT -6
Great photos, Glen. That new camera is working nicely, we appreciate the effort. That fence you built a while back is still looking good too. I like the symmetry you've got going on back there, it looks very well maintained. Keep up the good work, the sun's gotta shine there someday; and when it finally does, Look Out! Those okra plants will grow like crazy! I like to keep telling myself, "My plants are still putting on strong roots, even on cloudy days. Just because I can't see the progress doesn't mean it's not there." At least that's what I hope they are doing anyhow. It's been raining a lot this year. I feel sorry for those poor ranchers around here, trying to work their hayfields lately. That's got to be frustrating to have so many rainy days during harvest time.
|
|
|
Post by glen on May 30, 2019 21:39:36 GMT -6
I appreciate the compliments on the fence. It was the first I had ever put up in my life. It is just fence posts with the fence fabric tacked on with wire. No horizontal tubing on the fence at all. I just needed something to keep the animals out of my yard. It seems to be working. The rain I am getting is normal for my area. I plant AfricanX okra every year at the same time and I complain about the lack of sun every year. AfricanX okra does very well in my horrid rainy season. And, it does not do so well during the dry season. You can't help but complain about the conditions. Nothing grows well when there is low sunlight conditions. Okra does pretty well in it. Also, rainy season has no white fly issues. Dry season brings on the white fly which brings on leaf curl virus. These are the worst issues I have had to deal with growing okra in Panama. If I sew seed in Mid to late April, right before the rainy season, my white fly issue is non-existant. I had to learn from experience. I am seeing slight leaf curl on a few plants but it is nothing to worry about. Plants will get over it. No visible pests yet. The worst pests I see are stink bugs and a bug I call a bucket loader bug. Maybe a few aphids. Nothing much bothers this okra. I rarely if ever use pesticides. I do use fertilizers. Growing plants in pots without feeding them doesn't cut it. Tomorrow I will post foto's. Plants are growing slowly. Some are growing much better than others.
|
|
|
Post by glen on May 31, 2019 13:44:41 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by glen on May 31, 2019 13:51:08 GMT -6
I have 12 plants growing in rows in the ground. There is a total of 31 plants. I am going to harvest an enormous amount of okra this season. Normally it takes about 60 to 70 days to see the first okra. At this point the plants are trying to form side branches. It takes another 30 days for the side branching to become productive. Then the harvest goes exponential. Instead of cutting one pod every 2 or 3 days, you start cutting 3 or 4 pods every 2 or 3 days off each plant. At this point you are just over-whelmed with it. I am eating okra every day at this point. Crazy time. My harvest season will go on until December. A very long season. Clemson spineless cannot compete with AfricanX okra. No way.
|
|
|
Post by glen on Jun 7, 2019 11:23:34 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by glen on Jun 7, 2019 11:28:07 GMT -6
These 2 foto's show Leaf curl virus. I have it showing badly on only one plant. I am hoping it will pass. Most likely this specimen will have to be rogued. Sometimes a light touch of leaf curl virus won't hurt the plant. We also have yellow mosaic virus in Panama and if you see this it is always fatal. I haven't had this for a long time. Its real bad luck if you get hit with that one. Oh, leaf curl virus can affect many types of plants. I see it on peppers this year also. It can get into Malabar spinach, sweet potato's, etc.
|
|
|
Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 9, 2019 16:51:36 GMT -6
Other than the leaf curl virus, you've got some really nice looking plants, Glen. We are in the same boat as you are, up here, we can't get a sunny day to save our lives. I've been pinching okra calyces all week, just to give my plants a chance to focus on growing taller if the sun ever shines again. They are branching at every leaf node, but they are pretty darn stumpy for their age, due to cloud cover.
|
|
|
Post by glen on Jun 10, 2019 17:15:04 GMT -6
We got some sun last week. A couple of days of it. The plants wilted. I had to resist the urge to water the wilted plants. Okra is behind the curve as far as growth goes. Today we are back to over-cast weather. It is affecting all my plants. Eventually the sun will return but it is unpredictable. Without the sun, or at least partial sun, the plants will lack vigor and not be able to fight off the viral and bacterial deseases that run rampant during the rainy season. This over-cast weather will pass. For the moment, the plants are alive and growing slowly but there is not much branching going on. I can't do anything to help my okra except be patient.
|
|
|
Post by macmex on Jun 11, 2019 19:04:19 GMT -6
Around the 6th of June I dropped a couple AfricanX okra seeds into a depression in one of the gardens at the College of Optometry where I work. I envision it being ornamental when it gets big, and chose the perfect spot for it. When I got back to work, after the weekend, every seed had sprouted! That was fast. I didn't even soak the seeds.
I tried transplanting one of them to a second location. Can't wait to see how they look mixed in with herbs and flowers!
|
|
|
Post by glen on Jun 11, 2019 20:53:20 GMT -6
That was a nice idea. However, now that you have spilled the beans I am very curious to see pictures of the plants progress. Please don't forget to show us how the plant does later on. I noticed that also about the seed. Seeds have an excellent germination rate now and do not need to be soaked.
|
|
|
Post by glen on Jun 14, 2019 21:41:17 GMT -6
|
|