Okra

I got a pot of okra from the nursery, thinking it's too much of a hassle to grow from seed. 

But with 3 plants in a tiny pot, I was advised by fellow gardeners that they are too crowded, yet too matured to repot. Leaves start falling off and the new leaves were barely bigger than 5cm. Fruits were also smaller and not tender. 

By fluke, I left the fruits on the plant and let it turn brown because I wanted to observe how long it will take for that to happen. I kept the dried pods and seeds because they were too pretty to throw. Turns out that is the right thing to do to save okra seeds!

The okra seeds in the pods were black and all dried up. 

Unwilling to pay for more okra plants, I decided to try my luck at germinating the seeds. Bearing in mind that I am not too lucky with germinating seeds, I am tip-toeing in this experiment.

I started 9 seeds in an ice tray filled with substrates (Welgro), because I had some lying around.  

We suffered a few nights of torrential rain and the ice tray was literally flooded and overflowing, as the rain managed to splash in. Each time I emptied the excess water, I am certain I lost some seeds, as it's hard to tell them apart from the peat.

On Day 3, 3 seedlings miraculously sprouted. Interestingly they turned up in assorted stages. The tiniest little sprout in the right most cubby can barely be seen.

So I potted the 2 more advanced seedlings in the substrate. 

It's the 5th day since we started growing the seeds. The cotyledons are peeking out from under the shell of the germinated seeds. We are still holding our breath and fingers crossed... 

Will keep this post updated. 

Update 12 August 2015:

1 week after planting the seeds, the seedlings have grown beyond 10cm and the cotyledons are looking healthy. I repotted them in more of the Welgro substrates and increased direct sun to 1-2 hours.

Update 28 August 15: 

3 weeks after planting the seeds, these saplings are more than 20cm and furry leaves have started to develop. 

Update 9 Sep 2015:

I came across a facebook post where a fellow gardener mentioned that he was given an okra plant grown from a sucker. He has no idea how it works and I could not find information online on how to propagate from okra suckers. So it's time to experiment!

On 4 Sep 15, I cut out a sucker that was about 20cm, from our existing okra plants and put it in a cup of water to hopefully root the cutting. Within 3 days, small white dots appeared on the stem. 

An okra sucker is the shoot that grows out from the side of the main stem, usually above the stalk of one of the leaves. I cut the sucker closely where it joins the main stem. 

4-5 bigger leaves were attached to this sucker. They were droopy by the 3rd day, so I snipped them off. 

On the 5th day, roots formed clearly at the base of the stem! Hoorah! I will leave it for a few more days till a healthier root system is established before putting it in soil.

Update 26 Sep 2015:

These are the okras grown from seeds. It's been 7 weeks since sowing the seeds and we are seeing our first flower buds!

Waiting patiently...!

Basil

I started planting basil as I love the spicy chewy leaves in simple pho soup and aglio olio pasta. 

I started with 1 hardworking pot and realised they deplete quickly, age quickly but are super easy to propagate. In the hope of not having to keep buying, I am working hard on learning to propagate these lovelies. 

I started out by saving the stalks that I use. Each time I harvest about 3-4 inch stalks (average one stalk per person) and after I cut out out the leaves, I pop the stalks in water to root at the window sill. 

Once the roots take shape and I have enough stalks, I pot them in soil.

Our original pot of basil flourished along the corridor, with some indirect sunlight. 

Eventually, I was told by fellow gardeners/farmers that flowering is a sign of the plant reaching maturity. Most gardeners maintain that the leaves lose their flavor once the plant bolts. Hence to save the flavour, we should literally nip the flowers in the bud. 

So when the original plant started to die back, I was glad I have been saving and rooting the stalks. 

To root the stalks, I remove the leaves (to cook) and simply place the stalks in drinking glasses or glass bottles to root. I top up water occasionally and change the water entirely weekly. 

This lot has been left at the sill for about a month. Healthy roots can be vaguely seen at the base. I keep the glasses/bottles by the window sill which is bright but without direct sunlight.

Update 31 July 2015:

We have recently moved and the herbs now have their designated rack in a bright but shaded spot. Basil propagation continues. 

I find the younger shoots less leathery and tastier. So now I maintain a few small plants instead of a big mothership. 

I also realised that proper pruning helps to keep the plant bushy and hence more productive of edible leaves. As a rule of thumb, basil generally forks at the node that you make a cutting. Hence, cutting each stalk as close to the base, will yield a bushier plant. 

I am starting the same process with Thai basil for more a authentic feel to our pho soup. Looking forward to potting this lot!

Mystery sweet potato

I love sweet potato leaves stir fried with homemade sambal chilli. So I got a bunch of heart-shaped sweet potato leaves from the market.

I picked out a few stalks and placed them in a glass of water to root. Within a week, healthy root systems developed on a few of the stalks. So I potted them and placed them in a sunny spot. It all happened so quickly I did not take photos of the process.

2 weeks after potting, the plants are surviving in soil and have sprouted new leaves.

I will be transplanting these along with the Vietnamese variety to the raised beds. So we are growing a variety from tuber/slips and another from leaves. Hope we can eventually yield some sweet potatoes and indentify the mystery sweet potatoes. Fingers crossed!

Vietnamese sweet potato

Sweet potato is one of the staples in the diet of our baby who just started on semi solids. 

Really want to try to grow our own organic version. Felt encouraged by the reviews that it is easy to grow and the thought of barbecued and tempura sweet potato is too attractive. The leaves are edible too - perfect when stir fried with dried shrimp and chilli paste!

I got two varieties - Japanese and Vietnamese. Could not find organic versions, so made do with these 2.

I halved the roots and placed them cut-side down in tea cups. The roots were left by a window sill with a couple of hours of direct sunlight. Water level is kept to about an inch from the base of the sweet potato. 

The water is changed once every couple of days. I change because it starts to smell fermented. Changing the water helps. 

After 7-10 days nothing happens. The Japanese variety started to go bad - soft and mushy. So I chucked them. The Vietnamese varieties went slightly pale at the portions that were soaked in water. Apart from that, they stayed very much the same - but firm.

By the end of the second week, roots started to appear and 4-5 days later, tiny shoots appeared. Once the shoots formed, the slips grew quickly. These slips are about 3-4 days old.

I noticed that the slips that receive more sunlight grow faster.

This half is skinnier. It rooted faster and formed shoots faster. However, the slips grew slower. This cup gets slightly less sunlight - so it could be a factor.

This half is fleshier. It was 3-4 days slower when rooting and forming shoots. However, the slips grew taller and leaves bigger more quickly. Do note that this cup received slightly more sunlight. 

I am waiting for roots to form at the slips before potting some. Will keep this space posted.

Update 6 July 2015:

After 2 weeks of soaking the halved sweet potato in water, the slips have grown to about 15cm.

I selected a few slips that were stronger and had some roots attached. Carefully removed them from the tuber. To be sure, I rooted the slips in water first. It took about 3-4 days to develop a heathy root system. By then the slips have grown to about 20cm long. I then potted the slips with roots in soil.

A week after potting, the plant has grown to about 30cm vertically.

They have been growing well in a sunny spot since, but have started to develop horizontally.

I have 3 plants in this pot. The plant to the left has been potted for the longest. I am in the process of setting up raised beds for the edibles. These ones would be allowed to climb horizontally and upwards. Hope it works!

Update 30 Aug 15:

Experimenting with the sweet potatoes. 

We tried harvesting some of the sweet potato leaves from this variety. Not impressive as the stems are tough. 

So I am trying to root them in a bag. There different schools of thoughts on how to produce sweet potato tubers.

Key pointers include:

1. Try not to trim leaves, if you want to produce tubers.

2. Avoid fertilisers with more Nitrogen (N) as those promote leaf growth.

3. Avoid watering too intensively when you think the plants are ready to put out tubers - the draught scenario tricks the plant into storing food and producing more tubers.

So I repotted the 3 long plants in a sack which I folded back. I fill it up with garden soil and just wait. Read somewhere that burnt soil might work better. So if I need to eventually fill up the sack, I would add burnt soil instead. 

The longest plant, has been trimmed. I placed it at the back, with feeble attempts to bury the stem as I coil it upwards. At the bottom left, the slip has also been trimmed. I buried the stem as deeply as I can. At the bottom right, the slip has not been trimmed. I also buried the stem as deeply as I can. 

Now I wait for the leaves to die back. Hopefully, we can yield some results or at least lessons to be learnt.

Lemongrass

I am rooting some organic lemongrass in water glasses. They started without any roots, in a couple of days they sprouted leaves (at the top) and developed thick roots. I leave them at the window sill - northwest facing, well lit, with no direct sunlight

It has been more than 10 days and the stalks are still going strong. The new leaves are longer and are a healthy green. The roots have extended and are starting to grow more rigorously. A couple of stalks have even developed a tiny shoot at the base. 

I should start to pot them in soil soon. 

Update 28 May 15:

So I potted the lemongrass in the images above about 2 weeks after. There were more roots and even little saplings. Some of the outer leaves were even dried up.

I left them by a lit window that did not have any direct sunlight (bad choice), but I did read somewhere that lemongrass does not need direct sunlight.

The entire stalk withered and died out in 2 weeks.

So I repeated the process of rooting. I selected thicker stalks to root this time round. I also potted the stalks in 3 weeks and am leaving the pot by a window sill that gets a couple of hours of direct sun each day.  Fingers crossed!

Update 5 August 2015:

For nearly 2 months after I potted the lemon grass, they looked like they were on the verge of dying off too. In fact one stalk did conk off. The remaining 2 looked fragile and were barely able to stand. Progress was super slow.

Then after ignoring the entire pot and almost neglecting it, the lemongrass stems started to firm up and new leaves appeared too. So now I leave the pot to its own devices in the background and hopefully it will sprout new shoots soon.

Kangkong

We picked up a bunch of organic baby kangkong (with roots) from the local wet market about 10 days ago. Stir-fried half the lot and kept the other half in water by the window sill - northeast facing, bright but barely any direct sunlight. 

The happy campers are thriving and have grown about 2 inches on the average, with new roots and leaves - which I take as a good sign. 

Some of the lower leaves turn yellow, so I have been picking those off. In a couple of days, I will be potting some stalks in soil, to test if they can be cultivated as a more steady source of vegetable. I hope to find a more permanent way to keep them, as I doubt they are getting enough nutrients in drinking glasses.

In the meanwhile, they just look so fresh and cheerful at the window sill.

Update 27 Jun 2015:

It has been about 10 weeks since I started experimenting with the Kangkong.

I tried planting a batch in soil and the rest in glass vases. The ones planted in soil started developing yellow spots on the leaves and eventually died out. The ones in the glass vases thrived.

I read that there are 2 different varieties of Kangkongs available here - land vs water based. The small organic saplings, about 10cm height, that I managed to get had roots that were not soiled. So I figured they should be the water-based variety that was grown via hydroponics. So I will continue keep them in the glass vases.

So far I have not been using fertilisers.

Some lessons learnt:

1. Vessel

I started the saplings in drinking glasses and when they were tall enough, I transferred some into larger glasses vases from IKEA. The ones that were grown the larger vases did better. I keep about 10 stalks in each vase.

2. Stalk

Generally, the saplings with thicker stalk and healthier root systems did better. When I got a second batch of saplings, I was more selective with the stalks and roots. Almost all of the saplings survived.

3. Sunlight

I tried out the original batch of Kangkongs saplings at two different locations. One was at a brightly lit window sill, with barely any direct sunlight and the other at a sill that gets a few hours of morning sun. Strangely the ones without direct sunlight did better. So I transferred them there. 

However, after a couple of rounds of harvesting, I noticed that the stalks got thinner and more strangling. The leaves got few and far between and smaller too. Classic signs of seeking for sunlight.

So I transferred the whole lot to a sill with a few hours of morning sun and the improvement is so apparent after a week. More shoots are growing, they grow straight up, with bigger leaves.

4. Roots

I top up the water whenever the water level drops. Once in about 10 days, I will rinse out the roots and glass and change the water. If left unchecked, the roots turn brown and cloud the water. 

To rinse out the roots, I just run it under the tap and gently rub out the rotten (brown) roots, careful to leave the healthy roots intact. I try to avoid taking out the main root but if it is partially rotten, I will rub out the portion that is brown and leave the stump. I also rub out any algae that might be forming. 

5. Harvesting

So far, because I have only established a few vases, harvesting is limited. Currently, 5 vases can only yield small portions for 2 pax once a week.

For cuttings, I have a few rules of thumb. Each time I will not take more than 1/3 of each stalk. I try to cut above where shoots are forming. If there are no shoots, I cut just above a node, leaving the leaf.

So far I have been leaving the Kangkong indoor by the window. I will work on bringing them outdoor and eventually try again to grow them in soil. Will keep this post updated!

Update 28 August 15:

The yield from growing the kangkong in water vessels without fertilisers is inefficient.

So it became inevitable that I had to pot them in soil. 

I have been experimenting with different containers to pot the kangkong shoots. Best results were yielded from the deeper pots. This pot is about 20cm deep.  

 

To plant the shoots, I generally select the stronger ones and plant them as deeply as I can in the soil. Here I have 3 shoots in a 30cm diameter pot. I top the soil up to at least 20cm.

When harvesting, I generally snip off entire shoots that are about 10-15cm. 

The idea is to let clustering shoots develop at the soil line. Once that is established, new shoots will sprout from that point, so harvesting can be more regular.

Kangkong when grown in soil needs full sun and regular watering. I use chicken poo occasionally to keep the soil fertile.

From time to time, spider mites may visit. I just cut off the infected leaves and wait for new shoots to grow. 

Hoping to establish 3 pots of this to supply a weekly dish of our favourite sambal kangkong. 

Update 19 Feb 2016:

We now have 5 pots of matured kangkongs in the yard. 

They are very abused. We return from trips and they would have flopped down and lost most of their leaves. At the end of a scorching day, the leaves turned yellow and fell off. They have endured multiple rounds of whiteflies, red mites, grasshopper attacks. 

After each calamity I brutally chop and trim back the stems, often leaving practically no leaves. After each trim, they bounce right back with edible young shoots. 

Another joy of keeping the matured stems are the flowers. Kangkong belongs to the morning glory family. They bear the most fragile white trumpet flowers at the break of dawn. 

Here is a matured stem bearing a spray of more than 6 flower buds. Too pretty. Let's hope I can catch these in bloom.

Update 20 Feb 2016:

Morning bloom on a rainy morning... Xo