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Post by mountaindweller on Jan 13, 2015 17:31:32 GMT -5
I have them sprawling under trees in deep shade. The tubers are tiny and I would never like to clean them. Maybe they get bigger if grown in a proper bed? They are a bit invasive, not as much as this terrible invasive vinca on the picture. I would never consider it as a marketable crop, more like another edible plant in your garden you could eat if you really got hungry. Funny is that the mice did not eat it so far, maybe because we have better stuff to eat for them like corn. backyardnursery.freeforums.net/ |
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Post by darrenabbey on Jan 13, 2015 17:46:42 GMT -5
I'm curious about it, but have never actually eaten (or seen) it. That there are a series of related species with the same kind of tubers makes me think there is room for hybridization work to generate lines with larger, more usable tubers.
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Post by billw on Jan 14, 2015 6:08:33 GMT -5
Stachys palustris performed much better here than S. affinis this year - larger tubers, greater yields, no difference in flavor that I can detect. I've never grown either one before. Both set some seed, which is apparently common for palustris but not affinis. I wonder if I got some crossing.
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Post by ottawagardener on Jan 14, 2015 14:58:35 GMT -5
That's interesting. I've heard that S. palustris is supposed to be slightly bitter? I grow S. affinis which has tubers up to almost the size of my thumb. Never seen flowers on it.
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Post by darrenabbey on Jan 14, 2015 16:11:18 GMT -5
Stachys palustris performed much better here than S. affinis this year - larger tubers, greater yields, no difference in flavor that I can detect. I've never grown either one before. Both set some seed, which is apparently common for palustris but not affinis. I wonder if I got some crossing. I wonder if Stachys shows self-incompatibility. This would prevent a clonal plant (Crosnes) from usually setting seed. The plants would then be desperate for usable pollen when it does flower, even from related species, to set seed when possible. If they're crossed, the plants that grow from any of those seeds should be highly homogeneous, but distinct from either parent. This sounds like an experiment that could easily be replicated and would be the start to the breeding project I've been thinking about. |
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Post by Tiirsys on Jan 14, 2015 21:18:11 GMT -5
I grew this for the first time last year, but only started with a small plant. I didn't dig it up at all, just left it in the ground to regrow this year and hopefully get something more out of it. (Truthfully, I forgot about it with getting everything else out of the ground.)
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