This topic contains 4 replies, has 4 voices, and was last updated by Derek 6 years ago.
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Hi Perry,
No reason for not planting if you like experimenting!
I saved some seed from a Courgette 5 years ago. it was a climbing F1 variety. Each year the seeds germinated okay, but the plant provided a different fruit each year. Last year I had butternut squash from it, but they had none of the sweetness. Unfortunately they all failed to give me viable seeds for this year…
Another issue is whether you have the same growing conditions as those used to provide the flavour of the plants you ate and saved seed from. For instance, I never was able to replicate the flavour of my fathers potatoes which he grew in South West Scotland. I live in NW Kent inside the M25. It was only a couple of years ago I learned that Jersey Royals from Jersey are grown on steep South facing slopes so they get the Spring sun on them more than on flat land as I have. With retrospect, i now realise that SW Scotland has mild Springs and his garden was on a S. facing slope.Trust this info. helps you manage your expectations.
BR
NeilPerry,
I have had consistant success with shallots from supermarkets. Driven by reluctance to pay , Suttons for example, prices (£4.49 for 400gm), whereas Waitrose/Morrisons/Tesco each sell ‘Brown shallots’ around 95p for 350gms. Suspecting that they may have been treated to keep unsprouted, it has been found that by dunking in a bucket of water for 24 hours, they readily grow and have produced 6-7 shallots each, larger than the parent and which keep (untreated!) year to year. This year I have some surplus home -grown which will be used as sets, hopefully they will also thrive.
Another source of inexpensive plants are the ‘living salad’ packs which supermarkets often have.
I have planted out (from Lidl), more than 70 various lettuce from a 69p pack.They (probably) have been treated with a fungicide, as they do not seem to damp -off despite being crammed into a polypack.Last year I also found Komatsuma in a similar pack, again at Lidl, which produced quickly, more than we could use.The chemical generally used is Chlorpropham. For potatoes it used to be marketed as “sprout nip”, it may still be but my info is historical.
Derek
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