Grocery store gardening

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 5:20 pm

Wow, that's sure grown a ton!
Nice work Jesse.

I google imaged pomegranate and it appears to sucker freely, forming a nice-looking bush.
Would be a stunner as a single trunked tree. Fabulous flowers.

May have to try one next year with our hotter than hell summers.

Barb

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sat Mar 26, 2011 5:08 am

Pomms are generaly concidered hardy to zone 6 or 7. Ive found some sources say its hardy to zone 5, but it wont flower. Im sort of skeptic that the tree itself is fully hardy to zone 5. Im thinking it might be something like paulownia here, die back some and then continue growing. I think youd have better luck then me, concidering how dry you are. You also have days where the temps rebound quite well..

Grow it from seed barb. They are usualy hybrids, but they are VERY easy from seed. The same as the citrus, dont let them dry out. They germinate VERy quick.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Sat Mar 26, 2011 5:40 am

cool stuff! Can you grow the Yuca roots into plants? What is the procedure with all the wax on the root?

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 5:04 pm

I asked the same thing before, this is what i got from yahoo answers

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 520AABBulS

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 6:40 pm

Canadianplant, I think the hardiest pomegranates are hardy to zone 6b, possibly 6a. There is the Russian type called Kazake, and the Iranian type (probably the hardier one) called Saveh. I researched them before, but was never able to find much info on then, let alone find a source for either type

Fruit from the grocery store is usually from the variety called "Wonderful", which is probably good to zone 7b. There are the varieties called "Eight Ball" (or "Black Ball" or something like that) and "Russian Hardy" which are supposed to be hardy to zone 7a.

Here are some pics of how I start pineapple plants. This one was in pretty beat-up condition, so I don't know if it will root or not. It's a variety called "Venecia" from Costa Rica.

First, I twist the top off of the pineapple:

Then, I cut away the bottom portion and the lower leaves. Usually you can see little brown spots on the bottom of the pineapple, and these are the roots. This time, I didn't see any:

Next, I put it in some warm water, and can usually see the roots developing within a week or two. I'll post an update if this one starts rooting:

Cameron.

CTPalm · Post by **CTPalm** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 7:02 pm

Cameron - I love growing the pineapples too. I twist off the tops too then peel off several of the botom leaves, you can see the little white roots ready to sprout. I let it dry for a couple days in a cool dark place before placing in soil. Takes about a year to get a pineapple.

Paul

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 7:12 pm

Great job, Paul! You know that you're doing it properly when they start to produce pineapples of their own

Here's one that I've been growing for a few months:

I have another one which is even larger. Some of the leaves are close to 2 feet long!

CTPalm · Post by **CTPalm** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:04 pm

Cameron,
Yeah notice in my pic the short leaves - I cut mine because they are so long and sharp. I was afraid someone would get hurt.
Paul

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 5:53 am

God those plants are sexy.

I tried to do it the other week, but when i twisted off the top, i snapped the growth off, above the roots

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 7:53 pm

The new pineapple didn't make it, but my other 2 are still going strong

It was too beat-up at the store before I planted it. If anyone else is going to try this, make sure to get a very green & healthy looking pineapple!

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 5:46 am

I havnt tried a pinneaple, since i ripped the top of wrong last time. At least you have 2 others. They can take 2 or 3 years to fruit though.....

Im trying some bosc pear seeds. I know they wont grow true from seed, but the parents of the bosc ) european pear, and another, are good pears in themselves. SHould be interesting to see what I get...

Nothing from apricots, hazlenuts or peaches...... I should get those to work eventualy LOL

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sun May 29, 2011 11:16 am

The avocado started this winter is really growing, with part of the stem turning quite woody.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/southslope/5771720253/" title="DSC04732 by edible_plum, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2181/577 ... 576456.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="DSC04732"></a>

Repotting it today; outgrown its yoghurt cup.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/southslope/5771720235/" title="DSC04733 by edible_plum, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5186/577 ... 42e33e.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="DSC04733"></a>

Barb

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Sun May 29, 2011 2:32 pm

wow.... I didnt think they grew that fast

Im now on numbers 5 and 6 ( number of avacado pits ive gone through). Now im trying it your way barb, i should get one of these to sprout

The peaches havnt sprouted, neither did my apricots.....

THe peaches apperantly need a MINIMUM of 3 months stratification, while apricots need around 30 days. SO just to make sure I dont throw away good seed, I put em in the fridge. I also bought 2 more apricots the other day, and 3 more today to try ( i payed less then 2 bucks for all 6). Im also trying some more peaches ( yellow and white flesh).

My pear seesd sprouted a few weeks back, their leaves are wicked ( they have a sort of trident leaf) Im going to espiliar it ( somewhere), and graft some domestic varieties to it. I think the common pear is hardy to zone 5, so i have a great great chance to get it to survive, especialy flat against a wall!.

My apple tree i grew is planted now. Im going to do the same, and graft some desierable apples to it ( you never know what you get from seed of pears and apples). The best thing, the "wild" apple is really hardy, I think i read zone 3 or 4 ( perfect for here). Im hoping to get some spartan cuttings for that baby ( next year or the year after.

I finally decided to get a grapefruit today, and guess what, no seeds . This seedless plant thing is getting on my nerves

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sun May 29, 2011 4:21 pm

trying it your way barb

I've tried the toothpick in seed suspended over a glass of water method.
Bombed.
Just stick the cleaned seed halfway (lengthwise) in soil, baggie over it tied with tape, put it in a shady (not full sun) warm spot, don't even look at it for 3 or 4 weeks.
Presto...plant.

As to your other peaches, apricots, etc. etc., grafting won't do you a mess of good unless you have a good rootstock grafted to the stem.
Remember I used to have a 1100-tree apple orchard?

Just buy a properly root-grafted fruit tree, and then you can graft several varieties to the top branches.
Rootstock is one of the most important aspects of a successful over wintering fruit tree.

Barb

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Mon May 30, 2011 2:16 pm

Thats pretty much what I did. Although the one got a bit of fuzz on it in the bag, which has stopped growing ( i took it outta the bag), apperanlty didnt clean it good enough

As for grafting.... I wont graft till i know that the root half will survive here, other wise its just a waste!! Im just trying to cram as many fruit trees here as I can! The best way is a few normaly grown trees, and a some espalier trees ( apples and plums and apricots are all I know to be reliably hardy here. Pears are iffy apperantly ( they arent widly planted)). I may be able to espalier a sweet cherry, But I wont know till I try.

Apperantly apples , and pears tend to revert to the more wild form. In these cases they tend to be more hardy if im not mistakin ( then again you could get the next big thing, lots of apples are random seedlings that sprouted)..

ITs all just chance isnt it? Thats the best part of this! If the tree is reliably hardy, but the fruit isnt that desirable, I can just graft onto it, increasing pollination, yeild and appealing to my taste buds

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 4:49 pm

The new pineapple actually DID make it, here's a pic of a new pup growing:

I've got 2 other small pineapples started now, we'll see if those ones make it too

Here's a pic of one of my older pineapples (I have another one which is about 1.5 times this size):

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 4:56 pm

I still havnt had any luck with those

grats dude

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 8:23 pm

I haven't had any luck either Cameron and Jesse.

Mine rotted and got mold all over the soil where they were attached.

Yucky.

Congrats on yours Cameron.
Barb

bananieru · Post by **bananieru** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 8:42 pm

These instructions always worked for me:

http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/P ... eapple.htm

Tavi

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 8:48 pm

What a great link,
thanks bananaieru...

Will try again now that I've read that!

Barb

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 4:03 pm

I jsut tried that site.... Well see what happens!

lucky1 · Post by **lucky1** » Sat Jun 16, 2012 12:14 pm

Finally putting out a few new leaves.
Had stalled until now, probably from the cool weather.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/southslope/7184415415/" title="009 by edible_plum, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7104/7184 ... 569b_z.jpg" width="480" height="640" alt="009"></a>

Barb

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Grocery store gardening

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