Success with scorzonera...

[saddad]

At long last... having tried for three years with no results finally got some to germinate last year. Let them over winter and go to seed... the fresh seed germinates easily! Dug up the mother roots, having cut down the foliage and waited for it to sprout a little... roots a bit twisted because cell sown. Four plants has filled a colander after trimming. Parboiled and then the skin rubs off easily. Some thicker than my thumb. Despite having flowered they are not woody in the middle and OH thinks they have more taste than Salsify...
The book says you can leave them  in another year to get thicker roots, has anybody tried that?   ;D

[saddad]

[meg_gordon]

At long last... having tried for three years with no results finally got some to germinate last year. Let them over winter and go to seed... the fresh seed germinates easily! Dug up the mother roots, having cut down the foliage and waited for it to sprout a little... roots a bit twisted because cell sown. Four plants has filled a colander after trimming. Parboiled and then the skin rubs off easily. Some thicker than my thumb. Despite having flowered they are not woody in the middle and OH thinks they have more taste than Salsify...
The book says you can leave them  in another year to get thicker roots, has anybody tried that?   ;D

No haven't tried that, but my friend who is Dutch, says that her mother grew these and they also ate the flowers!

Meg

[saddad]

They are far too pretty to eat...  ;D
Similar to Dandelions but about 3-4' in the air...
Apparently the shoots and leaves are edible too... that's what the regrowth was going to be if the roots were woody...  :-X

[thifasmom]

i just got round to sowing some last week for an early crop next year and checked them today and found them germinating. i sowed from the same packet last year but never got round to planting them out ::). I got my seed from Lidl last year.

i dubble dug the area they are in for salsify earler this year from some seed i got in a swap which was in a dobies salisfy seed packet and african marigolds grew :-\ ::).

[saddad]

At least you got a nice show of Marigolds...  ;D

[thifasmom]

yes at least that, whats nice is that these are the exact same ones i see a lot growing wild in little patches in my home country Trinidad where they have escaped peoples garden so it was like having a little bit of home right here :D.

I'll be saving seed and also hoping they will selfseed as well, does anyone know if their seeds can deal with the English winter?.

[saddad]

Mine never do... except of course the pot ones...  :-\

[Robert_Brenchley]

Keep them dry and plant them when the soil warms up, that way you'll be sure. I've never got the hang of these; maybe if I left them an extra year I'd get a worthwhile crop.

[oliveoyl_25]

So how long is best to let them grow for... I sowed some around April, when should I dig them up?

Recipe http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2525/spicy-roots

[saddad]

I'd dig out a couple at the end of the season, if they are fatter than your thumb they are worth harvesting (they do length rather than girth) and if still pencil thick leave until they ahve flowered about this time next year...  :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

After the miserable results I've had in the past, I'd grow them all on for the extra season if I wanted to have ground tied up for a year and a half.

[oliveoyl_25]

Thanks.  I was expecting them to flower this year but no sign of anything yet. I haven't got many plants so they can stay where they are for now.

[Eristic]

This year I'm trying to grow them in bottles on top of ridges. This should make it possible to get the long roots out of the ground without breaking.

[saddad]

Good idea... do you sow them on the top in the bottles or earth up? I assume sow into bottles of soil but could be tricky keeping them damp for germination...  :-\

[Eristic]

I started of with the bottles in buckets and transplanted the bottles later.