capers

[heidihi]

Has anyone had any luck growing them from seed?

the plants are so expensive ..I did a search and could not find anything about capers so please direct me if I missed it?

I grow tons of nasturtiums and brine the seeds as a mock caper ...

but I am always up to try something new so when I did a seed order I ordered a package of caper seeds to try

then I looked online and wow there is everything from this elaborate procedure with a specific recipe for the kind of soil you need ... to "just stick them in a pot in regular potting soil

I have tried caper seeds in the past and got them all to germinate but not to grow very big

so any advice? I have (what is supposed to be) fresh seed and am ready to go!

thank you!

[mjc]

Here's a page with some good info...

www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/cropfactsheets/caper.html

It seems that, according to that page, what you were doing is what you need to do...but just keep at it until you get some transplant sized plants.

Since it seems to be a plant that will thrive in adverse conditions, too rich a potting mix could actually be bad for it. I'd probably got with a sandy cactus mix for them...and then once in a while mist them with about a teaspoon of salt dissolved in a half gallon of water (every few weeks/once a month), after they are at least 9" tall.

They have a similar temperature range to olives.

[atash]

You might just be having some trouble growing them on. They grow in quite a bit drier climates than ours. I think our winters are hard on them for being too cold and too wet. If you get one established we'd enjoy seeing pix.

[heidihi]

thanks so much for the answers ..anyone been successful at growing these? the good thing is I will ALWAYS have nasturtiums and honestly brining their "berries" works perfectly I tell you! ..they are not "capers" but anything you would use capers in you can use these and really have that level of enjoyment!

ok from reading the thread (thanks!) and all the other stuff I could find ..I am going to split my seeds into three piles and plant them three ways... "exact way" with all the hoops including hot water on the seeds then chill them off in the fridge after lanting ..."the medium way" I may just soak the seeds then put them in the dirt and put them on the sun porch ...and my favorite way to plant anything ..stuck them in dirt and see if it grows way ..these are "fresh" seeds so I have a decent chance to at least get them started! ... I will use clay pots with cactus mix (I just add lots of sand and some bone meal to regular good quality potting mix ) and then put them in a sunny spot ..well LOL sunny is relevant! I ... I have a sun porch and am planning to put my Penache fig and cactus .. in this summer..for extra warmth and light .. in fact anything I have that needs to stay hot and dry will go in the sun porch oven and it can play desert! ..next time I go over to Eastern WA I will for sure bring back some dirt it has magical something and I just need some for the potted plants

one of these days my neighbors are going to just ask what the hell I am doing ..I really do have so many grow lights that my house looks like a space ship during these very short days of the year!

[blueadzuki]

Much luck to you. You might also want to add a little lime (on top of the bone meal) I mention this only becuse of a really odd story of my own; when I some years ago though of doing the same thing someone, in trying to dissuade me from growing caper vines, claimed basically that they though that growing them here was impossible. According to him, caper vines could only grow on ancient Greek and Roman ruins (I heard the same story some years ago with the hairy Babylonian cucumbers). While this is manifesty impossible, it occurs to me that, if limestone and marble ruins are a good spot for capers to grow naturally, they may be used to fairly alkaline soil condions.

[heidihi]

lime is a great idea thanks ...love how you came up with it! ....our soil is quite acidic here anyway !

[tuttamatta]

I do think you are on the right track Blue, I remember seeing capers growing on old walls in my native Verona, the walls were in full sun and mainly limestone.
Verona is in northen Italy and not really hot, the temperature is very similar to Portland, Oregon (where I live now) it just doesn't rain as much.
I tried growing them here too with no luck, I could not get them to germinate at all, and since I have a greenhouse now, maybe I'll give them another try with different soil and some lime.
Good luck to all
Paola

[cortona]

i agree about cappers growing in ancient ruins and old walls is the way it grow here too in tuscany so souther tan tuttamatta, if people realy like capers i can collect from the wild how much as people want for free.
so give me a good remember around august and i wil prepare the seeds
Emanuele

[ottawagardener]

:-D Yes please.

[heidihi]

I am so excited about capers ..but I forgot my seeds in the fridge for a month I wonder if that will be ok if I plant them this weekend?

[pierre]

Among the most difficult plants to grow in a garden. Excepted on old thick limestone walls where uninvited they are magnificent (here french Riviera also). Excellent drainage and rich in limestone rocks are must for the plant to survive. A cliff plant in nature.