An update, yes they do. You weren’t kidding about the hibiscus rooting profusely. I put them in some water and they had full root systems in like a week. Faster than longevity spinach.
Does anyone else grow roselle? Mine should start flowering soon when the days get shorter. I know typically they are used to make syrups and jams, but does anyone just eat/cook them?
I don’t even bother rooting them, I just stick cuttings wherever and it roots 9/10 times
I got the last of my seed orders in. Probably won’t order anything else for the rest of the year. At least for tropicals.
Got 20 ilama seeds. Been in transit for 3 weeks from a guy on TFF. 4 different varieties, Marshmellow, Sweet Burgundy, Cotton Candy and Ice Cream; not that these are official names.
I also got Black Pepper, Kadsura, Bay Leaf, Sweet Calabash PF, and Yellow Mangosteen (Randia fitzalanii). I’ve tried Black Kadsura and Black pepper before; only had 1 black kadsura seed sprout and no pepper. I’ve learned to water less so I’m more hopeful this time.
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Had to Google them, knew the seeds looked like sugar apple but hadn’t heard the name ilama before. Do they grow relatively true to seed?
Theferns says they do most of the time. Even if they don’t, I didn’t get to taste the parent plants anyways, so I can always say mine taste better 
Not to worried about the variance.
Might be getting ahead of myself, but what I am worried a little bit about is pollination. Annonas are supposed to be pollinated by beetles and flies like pawpaws, but what I was wondering if its the exact same type of pollinators for all of them. We have whatever pollinates pawpaws in the area (apperently alot of our parks and woods have native pawpaws fruiting in them) and it would be awfully convenient if they could pollinate all my annonas in the future. Fingers crossed.
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We intercrop pigeon peas in our family farm in India. They are prolific and produce a ton of peas, half are sold/eaten for fresh peas and other half dried and split as beans. However, you will need a northern adapted variety, which I haven’t grown and unsure about quality of the beans.
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You can grow the regular variety as annuals in most of the southeast. Frost doesn’t come so early that the day-length should be an issue (supposed to start flowering when the days are under 12 hours) and the growing season is long enough that they should size up. Where @Gkight is, he might be able to grow them as pernnials as long as they have a little frost protection. Mine minded the drought alot more than it minded the cold.
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Interesting, I’d love to grow just plants which should give us sufficient fresh beans for family to consume. I suppose I could start them inside in a large pot and move them out in the spring, from your experience how many growing days would it need for sustaining decent harvest.
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To get a sizable harvest probably 120 days. You need a long summer, which is why I said good for the southeast. They’d probably grow pretty good in corn country, but not sure how well they’d do blooming into fall.
I had mine bloom at about 3/4ft tall in spring and was able to get half a mason jar’s worth of peas. Not a ton, but the plant was basically dead heading into December, so I’m sure that affected it (it was definitely undersized because of it).
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Update?
I wasn’t crazy about it, but all of mine have had peck damage so maybe I didn’t let them hang long enough to taste great. Still has some so I will bag them to see if they improve.
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Thanks @sharq for the red salvia recommendation so far so good
From the seed packet I ordered about 3 of the plants are blooming and 3-4 haven’t grown basically haha but none have died
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Glad they are doing well for you. They always grow really well for us, but we have a hard time starting them from seed more often then not.
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Yeah I hate growing small seeded fruit/flowers. Never have good luck with them but these did well. Also harvested my first Australian finger lime today, pretty good
And pruned my dragonfruit, lots of unwanted sporadic growth. Figured I’d dump some in the base of the live oak and if it lives it lives. Would be cool to see it climb up
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FYI Sheffield’s has 2024 harvest sapodilla seeds in stock:
I ordered 1.5 oz (estimated ~60 seeds) because the bulk pricing always tricks me into getting more than I can grow of everything.
One sapodilla is enough for me haha, also have 3 mamey growing and I’d like to get rid of 2 of them.
Sherbet berry growing wonderfully and the oak leaf papaya I planted seems happy enough. I have one in a pot in case it dies during winter. I don’t want it if it can’t survive winter so willing to test one of them this year. Chilly morning here at 61 degrees by far the coldest temperature since at least april
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One of my Roselles cracked in the wind, and it started pushing out flowers. Hopefully it stays alive in the water so I can harvest them. It is understandably not very happy.
I thought this was just fakahatchee grass or some ornemental grass, but apperently its a big bundle of lemongrass. It was also apperently in a pot, so I cut that off because its firmly in the ground. Its been there for at least 3 years, always thought it was just grass.
My sugarcane is sizing up. Probably going to harvest in October unless it doesn’t cool off.
Pigoen peas have gotten big, I’ve chopped about 2 feet off them twice and they are still 5ft tall. Great chop and drop. Should be starting to see flower buds soon.
I have tried on 2-3 occasions to root sugar can to no avail, maggots or flies or ants eat all of the sugars so fast. I guess next time I’ll try rooting them inside as that seems the only way. Have you had similar struggles or no
It was already a foot tall plant when I got it. The intial cane hasn’t really grown, but it has pushed out pups (the picture is only the pups, you can’t see the skinny original stalk from that angle). Its never had any pest issues though, just stunting from transplant and overwintering.
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