Oriental Summer Jade Spinach days to maturity

This winter I am growing a bunch of different leaf vegetables.  Among these leafy vegetables was spinach, as this always performs well for me over winter.  

Normally I get whatever variety of spinach seed that is available, and for no particular reason I rarely save spinach seed myself.  This year I chose Oriental Summer Jade spinach.  

I chose this variety as I don't have much luck growing spinach over summer, and this variety is meant to handle the heat well.  I am growing it over winter at the moment, and it is performing as well as any other variety I have grown.  

The days from planting the seed in the garden until picking the leaves is below.  Being in Australia, the date is written Day/Month/Year.

Days to maturity Spinach Oriental Summer Jade (Spinacia oleracea)

Planted in garden      09/04/2023   Day 0

Germinate                 16/04/2023   Day 7

Baby leaf                  14/05/2023   Day 35
Larger leaf                We have been picking leaves of increasing size ever since the baby leaf stage

Oriental Summer Jade Spinach

For some reason I don't often get around to saving spinach seed, which I always regret after a few years when I plant the last of my seed and need to buy more.  Spinach tends to be dioecious, which means some plants are female and other plants are male.  There aren't a lot of vegetables like this.  Occasionally some spinach plants, and some varieties of spinach, are monoecious with female and male flowers on the same plant.  

For a long list of days from planting a seed until harvest of many different vegetables and berries, please look at my Guide on Days to Vegetable Harvest.  As above, I recorded days from planting the seed until harvesting.

Days to harvest Hon Tsai Tai

I grew some purple stemmed Hon Tsai Tai (Brassica rapa) this year and recorded the number of days from planting the seed until harvest.  

Recording the days from planting the seed until harvest is far more useful for home gardeners than the ambiguous 'days to maturity' which has different meanings depending on who is recording it and is often starts being counted from transplants of an unknown age.  

Hon tsai tai is a nutritious vegetable that can be harvested as a leaf vegetable, or for flower stalks that are used in a similar way to broccoli, so I recorded the days from seed to both.  

This quick growing vegetable is sometimes called flowering choy as it is a type of bok choy that is usually grown for the edible flower stalks.  The leaves taste like bok choy, but are a bit sweet.  I have eaten the flower stalks raw when the first flowers were just opening, and they tasted really nice.  I expected some of the stalk to be a bit fibrous at this stage, but they were tender and perfect.  

I grew this during the winter, night temperatures have dropped to -8C and the days have mostly been overcast and cold.  If grown in spring, I think the days to harvest would probably have been a lot less.   

Hon Tsai Tai (Brassica rapa) - purple stem 

Planted in garden      09/04/2023   Day 0

Germinate                 14/04/2023   Day 5

Baby leaf                  14/05/2023    Day 35

Flower stalks            01/07/2023    Day 83

Hon Tsai Tai - larger leaf

Baby bok choy and Hon Tsai Tai - baby leaf

Hon Tsai Tai and Bok Choy can and will cross pollinate, which means care must be taken if saving seed.  It should also be possible to intentionally cross the two, do a little culling/back crossing/rouging out of undesirable plants, and develop a vivid purple stemmed bok choy.  

I have a few breeding projects on at the moment, add while I would love to develop a tightly packed purple stemmed bok choy I am not sure if I have the space, time, or energy to put into another project.  Then again, I could leave a few of each to flower, cross at random, and self seed, then cull heavily...  

Have a look at my Guide on Days to Vegetable Harvest to see a full list of days to harvest various vegetables and berries in my garden.  As above, I recorded days from planting the seed until harvesting.

Days to maturity Bok Choy

This year, as well as growing the micro dwarf Hedou Bok Choy, I grew a baby bok choy and recorded its days from planting a seed until harvest.  These baby bok choy plants still grew incredibly fast, and they produced a more substantial plant than Hedou.  

I like the look of bok choy, I don't know why but there is something about it that just looks right.  Bok choy is very fast growing, extremely nutritious, simple to grow, incredibly forgiving of harsh conditions or poor soil, yet it is not really grown or eaten very much here.  It is sold in supermarkets, so maybe things are starting to change.  

Bok choy seems to cope well with cold weather when little else will grow.  This bok choy has survived frozen soil and temperatures down to -8C with only minor damage.  Being compact plants you can plant a lot in a small space, and planting new seeds every few weeks guarantees a long harvest.

Bok Choy could be harvested at a tiny plant stage, or larger plant stage so I recorded both dates.  Being in Australia, all dates are written Day/Month/Year.  

Baby Bok Choy (Brassica rapa)

Planted in garden      09/04/2023   Day 0

Germinate                 14/04/2023   Day 5

Tiny plants                17/05/2023   Day 38

Large plants              04/06/2023   Day 56

Baby Bok Choy - larger plants

Baby Bok Choy - tiny plants are edible

To see a full list of vegetable days to maturity recorded in my garden from planting seed until harvest, please click here.  

Tokyo Bekana days to harvest

I grew a few different Asian vegetables this year.  One that was new to me is a leaf vegetable called Tokyo Bekana.   I recorded the number of days from planting a seed until harvest.  

Tokyo Bekana is a small Chinese cabbage that is often used for baby greens and for bunching.  I can't explain its taste.  It is said to have a great mild lettuce flavor with a slight hint of peppery taste.  It can be eaten raw or cooked, and is used in any way that cabbage or lettuce is used.  

I am told Tokyo bekana can be substituted for lettuce, to me they look a lot like lettuce and taste a bit different to lettuce.  Tokyo bekana is also much higher in nutrients than lettuce, it isn't bitter, and in my garden seems to cope with extreme temperatures a lot better than lettuce.  

Tokyo bekana is said to be both cold-tolerant and heat-tolerant.  So far it has not shown any damage from frosts in my garden that were a bit below -8C.  So far it's had no pest damage, but that may be different if grown over summer.  

Days to maturity Tokyo Bekana (Brassica rapa chinensis)  

Planted in garden      09/04/2023   Day 0

Germinate                 15/04/2023   Day 6

Baby leaf                  14/05/2023    Day 35

Large leaf                  04/06/2023   Day 56

Tokyo Bekana is a cabbage that looks like lettuce

Tokyo Bekana on left, Senposai on right

Please see my Guide on Days to Vegetable Harvest a full list of days to harvest in my garden.  To make planning simple, I have recorded days from planting the seed until harvesting.  

Senposai days to harvest

I recorded the number of days from planting a seed until being able to harvest senposai.  I should probably write another post on senposai as its history is fascinating as well as complicated.  For now that will have to wait.  

Senposai is a cross between a European cabbage (Brassica oleracea) and an Asian cabbage called Komatsuna (Brassica rapa).  This means, according to the Triangle of U theory, senposai is considered to be Brassica napus.  See what I mean about Senposai having a complex history?  

I recorded the days to harvest from planting a seed below.  The number of days to harvest listed below are base on how it performed in my garden this year.  I don't give anything perfect conditions, it is just how they perform for me.  It may be a few days more or a few less under different conditions, and it probably grows faster with warmer weather.  Being in Australia, the dates are written day month year.  

Senposai (Brassica napus) days to harvest:  

Seed planted  25/02/2023   Day 0 
Germinated    28/02/2023   Day 3 
Baby leaf       01/04/2023   Day 35 
Harvest          08/04/2023   Day 42 

Senposai

Very few places in Australia sell senposai seeds, and almost nowhere sells leaves for eating.  This is unfortunate because senposai is fast growing, nutritious, easy to grow, and rather productive over a decent amount of time.  

Like virtually all brassicas, bees and other beneficial insects like its flowers.  Senposai is also easy to save seed from, and the senposai I grow is a stable variety that mostly breeds to to type.  

Tokyo Bekana on left, Senposai on right

Senposai can be eaten raw or cooked.  I dare say it could be fermented like most other cabbages, but I am yet to try that.  People also eat senposai flowers and flower stalks, I have not tried them yet.  

Poultry love to eat senposai leaves, as do our guinea pigs.  I probably wouldn't feed too much of this to a guinea pig as they can be a little sensitive to eating large amounts of brassicas.  Chickens on the other hand can eat as much senposai as I can give them.  

Unfortunately I can't find any reliable information on the level of crude protein or iron or anything like that.  Given its parentage, it is safe to assume that like most brassicas it would be highly nutritious.  

Senposai - ignore the holes

I grow everything organically.  You will notice the many holes in the leaves in my photos.  The holes were made by caterpillars that did some damage before I noticed them and fed them to my chickens.  The leaves still taste the same, the holes don't make a great deal of difference.  

Given that senposai only takes a month an a half to reach harvestable size, and it survives rather harsh conditions, and how it crops for a long time, I think I will grow more senposai.  I will probably need to save seed myself because so few places offer it in Australia. 

For a list of days to harvest for many vegetables and herbs, please click here.    

Hedou Tiny Bok Choy days to maturity

Bok choy (Brassica rapa) is known for being a fast growing and nutritious vegetable.  Most bok choy varieties are relatively small and good for balcony farming.  This year I am growing a tiny extra dwarf bok choy variety called 'Hedou'.  

From all accounts, bok choy is a highly nutritious vegetable, very fast growing, and being extra compact in size makes Hedou bok choy super cutie.  All of this makes Hedou Bok Choi perfect for urban farmers and gardeners with limited space.  Being so cute and fast to grow also make it easy to get kids involved in gardening.  

Hedou Bok Choy

I grew some Bok Choy in pots for seed saving

The Hedou variety of micro Bok Choy seems to have some internet hype, yet very little actual information can be found anywhere on the internet.  There are a few pictures here and there, and a few places selling seed, but that is about all.

I grew some of these in the veggie garden between other vegetables where they took up next to no space.  Brassicas tend to cross pollinate like mad, so I grew some in small pots in my greenhouse for saving seed.  

As there is so little information around I decided it would be good if I recorded my progress to give an idea of what to expect when growing Hedou tiny bok choy.  The first time I soaked seed overnight, the second planting I didn't, I have recorded both below. 

Being in Australia, dates are written Day/Month/Year.

Hedou Dwarf Bok Choy 

Hedou Bok Choy gets some petiole/stem colour with high light

Days to maturity Hedou Bok Choy (Brassica rapa)

Seeds soaked       18/11/2022      Day -1
Seeds planted       19/11/2022     Day 0
Germinating         22/11/2022     Day 3
Heads forming     10/12/2022     Day 21   
Flowering            24/12/2022     Day 34    
Seeds ripe            25/01/2023     Day 67

I also planted some Hedou Bok Choy without soaking them first:  

Seeds planted     17/12/2022      Day 0
Germinated        20/12/2022      Day 3
Harvest from      13/01/2023      Day 27  (Note: most bolted to flower)
Flowering           16/01/2023      Day 30

On the face of it, three or four weeks seems like an absurdly short amount of time from planting the seed to harvest, especially when you consider that many other vegetables take 10 or so days to simply germinate. When I look at how small these plants are, and how quickly they germinated, it makes sense.  

To be clear, they won't always take three weeks, they may take four or five under harsher conditions, but this is still very fast.  

If conditions are bad (too hot, inconsistent watering, too cold etc) they may bolt to seed early.  The heat hit so my second lot bolted to flower.  If this happens you can harvest and eat them before they send up a flower stalk.  They still taste the same.  If you let the flower stalk get too tall they get a bit tough and stringy.  Once they have reached this point you can just allow them to flower and set seed.  Hedou is a stable heirloom variety that will breed true to type.  If your neighbour has any form of Brassica rapa flowering they will probably cross, any F1 seedlings will still be edible.  

Hedou Bok Choy grow fast, and are small at full size.  Most people eat several of these in a meal, meaning you harvest what you eat and you eat what you harvest - there is never any waste, and never anything to store.  You can also grow an awful lot of plants in a tiny space, so their small size can be an advantage.  

Hedou Bok Choy Flowering 

Hedou Bok Choy happily grows in a small pot of soil meaning it can be easily grown with no land and easily tended by children or the elderly.  This would be a great vegetable to grow in a school kitchen garden as the time from seed to harvest is so short.  

I think succession planting is key, each time you harvest some you plant some more seeds, and it does not take long to get into a rhythm that ensures a constant supply of this tiny yet nutritious vegetable.  Or if you had the space you could grow a patch of them and allow a few to self seed.  

One thing that surprised me was the short time it took Hedou Bok Choy to produce seed.  From planting a seed, until harvesting its seeds, was around ten weeks.  I am sure this could be less under different conditions.  This timing sounds pretty perfect for a school science project.  

Having such short generational time also makes me wonder if I should start a breeding project with it myself.  But that will have to wait.  For now I am happy growing it, eating it, and saving its seed.  There appear to be very few places in Australia selling Hedou Bok Choy seed.  At the moment I am saving seed to grow myself, once I have saved enough seed I will list it on my for sale page.

I have a blog post with days to maturity that includes a long list of vegetables and berries etc where I have recorded the number of days from planting a seed until harvesting the first crop. 

Time to maturity grape hyacinth Muscari armeniacum from seed

I wrote an earlier post explaining how to grow muscari grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum) from seeds.  Muscari grow very easily from seed, but they will NOT flower in their first year.  Growing them from seed is simple, but I thought I should record some timeframes to provide an indication of what to expect.   

Germination was inconsistent, but almost every seed germinated if they were left in the fridge for long enough.  After they germinated I planted them in a little punnet with soil and watered them occasionally.  Eventually I planted them in a larger pot of soil, and they pretty much just looked after them selves. 

Muscari grape hyacinth flowering

Unfortunately I grew my seedlings in a cup of soil for far too long and they were somewhat stunted, and when planted out I had them in poor soil, so they have not grown to their potential.  Few people are going to give them perfect conditions so I think it still shows the rough time frames that can be expected when growing muscari grape hyacinth from seed.


Days to maturity Grape Hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum)

Seeds in the fridge     02/12/2018                           Day 0
Seeds germinating    31/01/2019 to 11/03/2019     Two to Three months
Flowering                  Late August 2020                 Around twenty one months

Muscari seedlings flowering in under 2 years

Some of my seed grown plants are flowering now, meaning it took them a little under two years from seed to maturity. 

Some plants are far larger than others.  Some are not flowering this year, these will most likely be large enough to flower next spring.  Considering how little effort and how many new plants I now have, just under two years from seed to flower is a really good outcome.

It took less than two years for muscari to flower when grown from seed.  I have read in gardening books that muscari take up to six years to flower from seed, other places claim 3 to 5 years from seed, there seems to be unilateral agreement not to bother.  I guess these people never actually tried to grow muscari from seed themselves.

Very few places in Australia sell muscari grape hyacinth seeds.  When I have fresh seeds I list them on my for sale page.  I don't know how long the seeds remain viable, when the next lot are ready for harvest I plant out all of my remaining seeds.  This way the seeds are always fresh.  I really should keep some aside and see how long it takes for germination rates to decline.

Growing asparagus from seed - days to maturity

I planted asparagus seeds on a heat pad under lights, I did not soak the seed prior to planting.  I planted three varieties, Precoce d'Argenteuil, Connovers Colossal, and Mary Washington.  Oddly enough they all germinated on the same day.  I also planted a Purple Passion asparagus on a different day.

Days to maturity asparagus (Asparagus officinalis)
Seeds planted       10/08/2019       Day 0
Germinated           29/08/2019      Day 19
Flowered               22/02/2020      Just over six months
Harvest start          xx/xx/20xx      Day- I plan to update this later

Edit to add: There is a bit of genetic diversity among seed grown plants.  I probably could have harvested the larger ones in their first year of growth but decided it better to wait.  A small harvest was possible after 12 months for the largest Precoce d'Argenteuil plants, the smaller plants were ready a year later.  The other varieties were ready for harvest in their second or third years.  

Asparagus seedling germinating

Many people say it is difficult to grow asparagus from seed.  I have grown asparagus from seed several times and while asparagus isn't the easiest vegetable to grow from seed, it is far from the hardest.  Seedlings are easily lost to slugs or snails, and it does take a considerable amount of time from planting the seed until harvesting asparagus.  Buying year old crowns gets you past the danger of losing them to snails, plus it gets you 12 months closer to harvest.  

Two things seem to make growing asparagus from seed difficult, firstly getting seed from a decent variety.  Don't waste your time on F2 UC157 as it is poor quality and produces 1/3 the crop of the commercially grown F1 UC157.  Many sellers on ebay have fake seeds, they will send you seeds that are not the variety you paid for, or sometimes seeds that are not even asparagus and by the time you realise something is wrong it is too late to do anything about it.  Please don't buy asparagus seeds from ebay.

Secondly the large amount of time involved when growing asparagus from seed means there is a lot of opportunity for things to go wrong.  Most people buy asparagus crowns to dramatically increase their chance of getting a healthy asparagus plant.

It is said that it takes three years until you get a harvest, this is sometimes true and sometimes not.  It depends on the variety, the gender of the plant (they come in male or female), and how well you look after them.

Six month old asparagus seedlings, some are about one meter tall

Seed grown asparagus should not be harvested in its first year unless it is a particularly large and impressive plant.  Some plants can be lightly harvested in their second year if they are large enough.  The third year they produce a crop which seems to increase each year for quite a few years.  Some plants may not be large enough for a small harvest until their fourth year.  Some varieties, such as Precoce d'Argenteuil, are larger and move vigorous than many other varieties.  It is usually possible to harvest this one year before other varieties.

If you buy asparagus crowns in Australia they are often one year old, this will bring you a year closer to harvest than seed grown.  Asparagus seedlings are often decimated by snails and slugs, year old crowns still need to be protected but will often survive a snail attack.  For these reasons, it is best for most home gardeners to buy crowns rather than start seeds.  Notice that I said 'most' and not 'all', if you want to grow asparagus from seed go ahead.

Unfortunately it is very difficult to find asparagus crowns of many varieties in Australia.  A few places sell Mary Washington, one sells the dreadful F2 UC157 (which they have renamed to make them sound nicer), and occasionally some sell crowns of unnamed purple varieties.

I am currently growing a few named asparagus varieties.  In winter if I have any extra crowns I will hopefully be able to list several named varieties of asparagus through my for sale page.

Papalo days to harvest

Papalo is an ancient herb that is commonly grown and eaten in South and Central America but is practically unheard of here.  Finding seeds of this amazing herb in Australia was far more difficult than I had imagined.

Papalo has a unique and intense taste, it is often used as a substitute for coriander leaf but they taste different.  Young papalo leaves are mild and older leaves are more potent.  I love the taste of papalo, it is one of my absolute favourite edible herbs.

Unlike coriander, papalo grows well in the heat of summer.  It is said to be drought tolerant, but mine wilts badly on hot days and picks up nicely after it gets a bit of water.

Papalo leaf showing oil glands

There is a bit of confusion over the binomial name, I a told they were Porophyllum coloratum but there is a chance that they may be a different form of Porophyllum ruderale.  Until I am a little more certain I will only list the genus.

I planted two batches of seed, both had dreadfully low germination rates, which is meant to be common in papalo.  Papalo grows vigorously and its smell/taste is remarkably strong so you only really need 1 or 2 plants.  This summer was incredibly harsh so these days to maturity may not be representative of an average year.

Days to maturity papalo (Porophyllum sp)

Seeds planted       17/08/2019       Day 0
Germinated           03/09/2019      Day 17

These died off before the first true leaf stage so I planted another batch. I think heat/sun killed them.  I gave the second set of seeds protection from the afternoon sun, and they fared much better.  In a less intense year they would do fine with full sun, but this year we skipped spring and went straight from winter into a raging summer which isn't great for small seedlings.


Seeds planted       01/11/2019      Day 0
Germinated          18/11/2019      Day 17
Harvest start         22/12/2019      Day 51
Flowering             28/03/2020       The growing conditions are not ideal, I assume they should flower earlier than this

Papalo starting to flower

I started to harvest earlier than I should, but I couldn't wait to taste papalo.  I am guessing a decent harvest would have started around day 80.

Click here for a full list of vegetable days to maturity when grown from seed, this includes vegetables, fruiting vegetables, culinary herbs, berries, and carnivorous plants.

Quillquiña days to harvest

Quillquiña (also spelled quilquiña, quillquina, quilquina, and probably a few other ways) is an ancient herb that is similar to papalo.  While papalo is virtually unheard of in Australia quillquiña is even less common and no one seems to know of it.  They smell and taste pretty similar to me.

I was told that they are classified as Porophyllum ruderale but there is some confusion over the binomial name, and there is some confusion regarding if this is a different variety of papalo, or a different subspecies, or a different yet highly similar species.


Much like papalo these seeds displayed a dreadfully low germination percentage this year, but this is meant to be representative of these herbs so I was expecting it.

Please note that the days to maturity listed were recorded in my garden in Australia, these numbers will be slightly different under different weather conditions and different years.  They are intended only to provide an indicative guide.

Days to maturity quillquiña (Porophyllum sp)

Seeds planted       17/08/2019       Day 0
Germinated           03/09/2019      Day18
Similar to my papalo, these seedlings all died when tiny so I planted another batch.  I gave the second set of seeds protection from the afternoon sun and they survived and went to to produce large plants.  In a less intense year they would do fine with full sun, but this year broke many heat records.

Days to maturity quillquiña (Porophyllum sp)

Seeds planted       01/11/2019      Day 0
Germinated          19/11/2019      Day 18
Harvest start         29/01/2020      Day 89
Flower start          01/04/2020

Quillquiña, they were larger than this when I started to harvest the leaves

For a full list of vegetable days to maturity when grown from seed, including herbs, berries, and carnivorous plants, please click here.

Strawberry spinach days to harvest

Strawberry spinach is sort of a dual crop, the leaves are edible raw or cooked and taste much like spinach.  The berries look like mulberries and have tiny hard seeds in them.

This summer has been extreme and many things failed in my garden, but strawberry spinach kept on growing.  They did not yield as many leaves as either regular spinach or silverbeet, but they cope with the heat far better than true spinach and they provided quite a lot of little berries that my kids seem to like eating.

Below are strawberry spinach days to maturity from my garden this year.  It was record hot and dry this year, plus we had weeks of thick bush fire smoke and dust storms., so potentially they would have been a bit earlier in a typical year.

Days to maturity Strawberry spinach (Chenopodium capitatum)

Seeds planted       10/08/2019       Day 0
Germinated           25/08/2019      Day 15
Harvest leaf          ??/??/2019       I didn't record this, it was pretty early
Flowering             24/12/2019       Day 146
Berry harvest        20/01/2020       Day 173

To view a full list of vegetable days to maturity when planted from seed click here.

Strawberry spinach fruit looks like red mulberries

Almost ripe, growing in a polyculture with other vegetables

Strawberry spinach, when they are ripe the ants sometimes eat them

Edible chrysanthemum days to harvest

Edible chrysanthemum is also known as garland chrysanthemum, chop suey greens, shungiku, crown daisy, Japanese greens, chrysanthemum greens, tong hao, tung ho, tang ho, chong ho, kor tongho, tong ho choy, tong hao cai, thung ho, kikuna, tan o, cai cui, ssukgat, cooking chrysanthemum, khee kwai, gul-chini, and it probably has a few other common names. 

This plant was once classified in the genus Chrysanthemum (hence the common name of 'edible chrysanthemum') but has since been reclassified as Glebionsis. 

Edible chrysanthemum is a nice looking plant with pretty flowers that are not only edible but seem to be popular with beneficial insects.  I grow them organically and have no issues with pests or diseases.

Seed was planted on a heat mat in late winter and germinated incredibly fast!  The leaves, stems, flowers are edible.  Unfortunately I forgot to record when the leaf harvest started, but it was pretty early

Days to maturity edible chrysanthemum (Glebionis coronaria) serrated leaf

Seeds planted       17/08/2019       Day 0
Germinated           20/08/2019      Day 3
Flowering             22/12/2019      Day 127

Edible chrysanthemum flower

Edible chrysanthemum leaves - serrated leaf form

Pollinators and other beneficial insects seem to like the flowers

Venus Flytrap from seed

I haven't grown venus flytraps from seed in years.  I used to enjoy it, so I gave it another go recently.  Growing Venus flytraps from seed takes more patience and time than just getting a mature plant, but the seedlings are so cute.  Each seedling is genetically unique so you can end up with some interesting looking plants.

Venus Flytrap not too long after germinating

Days to germinate Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)
Seed planted             13/03/2019      Day 0
Germinated              08/05/2019       Day 56

I had one seed that was even slower!
Seed planted             13/03/2019      Day 0
Germinated              21/09/2019       Day 162 - over six months

At this size they catch fungus gnats

From memory, it usually doesn't take this long for Venus flytrap seedlings to germinate, and it certainly doesn't usually take this long for it to produce carnivorous leaves.  Slow germination can be caused by a few things.  Older seeds take longer to germinate (or don't germinate at all), but I don't think that was the issues this time.

Colder weather slows the germination process considerably, I think it was just too cold for fast results.  I suspected it was too cold before I planted the seed, but I was too impatient.  I got some seeds and just couldn't wait to plant them.


Edit to add: I planted some more seeds in warmer weather.  They germinated a bit faster but still took six weeks:
Seed planted             30/11/2019      Day 0
Germinated              11/01/2020       Day 42



WARNING: do NOT buy venus flytrap seeds from ebay.

Many ebay seed sellers are thieves.  They may be local, have 100% positive ratings, super low prices, large numbers of seed per packet, and incredibly fast postage, but it means nothing.  Almost all seeds for venus flytraps on ebay are not real, they will send you seeds from some packet of cheap flower seeds.

Never buy seeds for blue venus flytraps because they don't exist.  They will not even send you venus flytrap seed, they will send cheap seeds for some type of garden flowers, by the time they have grown and you realise something is amiss it will be too late to leave negative feedback or get your money back.  You will have lost your money and supported thieves.  Blue venus fly traps don't exist, the people selling seeds of them are thieves and liars. 

If you think blue venus flytraps are real (there is at least one very aggressive ebay thief who claims they do exist and says horrible things about buyers who claim they don't) then send me one, or send me seeds, or even send me a leaf pulling or a cutting from a flower stalk.  I will grow them, and photograph them, and link back to you, so thousands of people will see them and many will buy from you.  Seriously, thousands of people will see your amazing plants and I will link to you so you can make a fortune selling them.  None of these thieves will ever take me up on this offer because blue venus flytraps don't exist and they never will exist.

For a full list of vegetable days to maturity (I know that flytraps are not really vegetables) please click here.

Drosera Capensis from seed

When I was young I grew a cape sundew (Drosera capensis), it lived for many years and was rather large by the end.  It was the first carnivorous plant I successfully grew, through that plant I learned how to grow carnivorous plants, how to things from seed, basic seed saving, how to take cuttings, and some basic plant breeding.

They are so easy to grow that I ended up with more of them than I could count.  The lessons I learned from it allowed me to successfully grow and reproduce venus fly traps, and I eventually grew a whole lot of other carnivorous plants too.  I missed growing carnivorous plants.

For a few years I have wanted to grow carnivorous plants again, but haven't had the money or space, and I had nowhere safe from my kids to grow them.

Drosera capensis sending up a flower stalk - not my photo

Recently I got some seed of Drosera capensis.  Seed was cheaper than buying a plant, but it is risky as seedlings are tiny that things can go wrong and old seed or poorly stored seed can have low or no germination rates.

I had good rates of germination and decided to record the number of days from planting the seed.  If I remember I will try to record the flowering date, but that is a few months away and any number of things could happen between now and then.

Days to germinate Drosera capensis
Seed planted             22/03/2019      Day 0
Germinated              06/04/2019       Day 15
Carnivorous leaves   21/04/2019      Day 30
Seeds ready to plant 19/12/2020      Around 21 months under poor conditions

Drosera capensis seedlings

The seeds are tiny, several would fit on the full stop at the end of this sentence.  The seedlings are far too tiny at the moment for me to be able to take a decent picture, so I found some pictures on the internet of mature plants.

For a full list of vegetable days to maturity (I know that sundews are not really vegetables) please click here.

Drosera capensis leaf curling around prey - not my photo

Days to maturity Buckwheat

This year I grew some buckwheat.   I grew buckwheat mostly for the flowers, it was planted so late that the frost will likely kill it before it gets a chance to set much seed. 

Days to maturity Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum)

Seeds planted       02/03/2019       Day 0
Germinated           04/03/2019      Day 2
Flowering             26/03/2019       Day 24

The time from planting the seed until buckwheat flowered was remarkably short.  I had dry seeds in my hand, then a little over three weeks later they were flowering!  I heard it was fast, but was always skeptical, so I'm happy to have seen it for myself.

I was also surprised to see some plants had white flowers, others had light pink, others were dark pink.  I much prefer the dark pink flowers.  I wish I planted buckwheat a few weeks earlier so it could set seed.

For a full list of vegetable days to maturity please click here.

Buckwheat setting seed

Fruit and Berry harvest times in Australia

I wrote a guide detailing the vegetable days to harvest from planting a seed.  It has many different vegetables, as well as strawberries and a few other edible things.  That guide has been very useful for me to plan when to plant seeds, to know how long it takes after flowering until a tomato is ripe, and other things like that.  Each year harvest time does vary a little depending on the weather that year.

That guide is very useful for vegetables, so I made a quick chart of the harvest dates for various fruits and berries in my garden over the past few years.  I have all the dates in a spreadsheet, but that gets a little difficult to find, so I thought a quick chart may be more useful to help me plan garden things.

This chart is only representative of fruiting times in my current garden in cool temperate Australia over the past two years.  It is not guaranteed to be representative of other gardens, or other climates, or other varieties of the same fruit tree.

As some plants get larger and more established the harvest will likely increase.  Igloo's seed grown apricot tree for example will likely have a longer harvest as it grows larger and bears more fruit. Some years the harvest will be larger or smaller than others.

Keeping all of the above in mind, this chart should help me to plan harvests, help me decide on new varieties of berry to grow to increase berry season, and things like that.

Fruit and Berry harvest guide

Fruit and Berry Harvest Guide

I also have a bunch of fruit trees and berries that I didn't record, I plan to update them at some stage in the future.

Nashi pear 'Nijisseiki' - it has provided huge crops over what felt like a very long season
Dwarf pomegranate - used to fruit but it hasn't flowered the past few years for some reason
Feijoa - currently too small to flower
Huonville crab apple
Pink lady apple
'White fruited' mulberry
Thornless Gooseberry 'Captivator'
Jostaberry

Plus there are probably a few other things that I have forgotten about.

I will possibly sell some of these berries and trees through my for sale page when I have built up numbers of them.

Days to maturity yin yang bean

I grew some Yin Yang beans this year, they are a dried bean that is one of the most beautiful beans ever. 

Days to maturity Yin Yang Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris)
Seeds planted       27/10/2017       Day 0
Germinated           05/11/2017       Day 9
Flowered              13/12/2017       Day 47
Harvest start         03/02/2018       Day 99 - this is for dry beans, green beans would have been significantly earlier

Yin Yang beans days to maturity

Days to maturity Chester Thornless Blackberry

One of the berries I grew this year was a thornless blackberry known as 'Chester'.  Chester is meant to be one of the tastier and more cold hardy of the thornless blackberries.

Unlike some of the varieties of thornless blackberry such as Waldo, Chester is said to be relatively productive and tasty.  Also unlike many varieties of blackberry it is legal to grow, sell, propagate, distribute etc Chester blackberries in NSW.

Unfortunately the heat hit at the wrong time and we lost most of the berries, hopefully next year when the plant is larger we get a larger crop. They do taste good, but I far prefer my thornless youngberries.

Days to maturity Thornless Chester Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus species aggregate)

Seeds planted       N/A grown from divisions
Germinated           N/A
Flowered              26/11/2017       Day 0
Fruit Ripe              06/01/2018       Day 41

Days to Maturity raspberries from seed

Not many people grow raspberries from seed.  To be honest, unless you have some reason to grow them from seed it is probably best not to.  Most people grow from existing plants, which is far easier, much faster, and far more reliable.

Raspberries are not the easiest seed to germinate, or the easiest seedling to care for.  Most, if not all, are highly heterozygous, meaning that each seed will be genetically unique.  They take a long time to germinate, they are tiny and take  a long time to grow, meaning you have to water them and protect them from slugs, snails and insects over this time.  Then the resultant fruit may be delicious or bland or sweet or sour or anywhere in between.

If you are going to grow raspberries from seed you should NEVER  EVER buy it from ebay as there are too many thieves on ebay selling fake seeds.  Very few seed sellers carry raspberry seed, and many who do make all kinds of dishonest claims about them.  This means if you plan to grow it you will need to get fresh raspberries and save the seed yourself.

Knowing all of this, if you still choose to grow raspberries from seed (perhaps you have some interesting breeding project in mind) I thought I would record raspberry days to maturity from seed.  I wish I started keeping a record of days to maturity a long time ago.


Days to maturity Red Raspberry (Rubus idaeus) from seed

Seeds planted       16/09/2017             Day 0
Germinated           21/12/2017             Day 96
Flowered              Not Yet Flowered - still tiny
Fruit Ripe              Not Yet Fruited

Raspberry seedling with first true leaf

Raspberry seedlings next to chilli seedlings - raspberry seedlings are tiny

Days to harvest Rhubarb from seed

I was sent a few different varieties of rhubarb seed that was originally collected from different countries.

Very few people grow rhubarb from seed.  It is said to be too difficult, and it is said to take too long.  yet no one ever tells you how long it actually takes.

Most varieties of rhubarb, even if it self pollinates, will not grow true to type and you will not get anything similar to the parent plant.  Each rhubarb variety that I was sent was said to breed true, which I find almost impossible to believe given the polyploid nature of rhubarb.

Each set of seeds looked different to one another, some larger and some smaller.  Each set of seedlings did show a remarkable lack of diversity from one another from that group, yet each group was very different from the others.  Even at cotyledon stage it was simple to tell each group from all the others.

Other than one variety collected from Korea, which I am not convinced is rhubarb or even a species of Rheum, all of these rhubarb varieties went dormant over winter and re-sprouted in spring.

The largest was a variety originally collected in China.  It was the largest right from the start.  The others are not yet ready to harvest.  Some are closer to harvest than others.  They have all grown a lot since the photo was taken.  They have also been battered by the heat and shredded by hail, gone dormant over winter and resprouted in Spring.


Days to maturity Rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum)

Seeds planted       04/11/2016       Day 0
Germinated           ??/??/2016        Day ? Oh why didn't I record this!
Harvest start         14/01/2018       Roughly 14 months from seed planted to first harvest
Flowering             ??/10/2018       Roughly 23 months after seed planted (I removed the flower stalk)

Some of the rhubarb varieties.  Left to right seed collected from: China, Poland, Finland, Germany

Considering that when you buy rhubarb crowns it is not advisable to harvest in the first year, growing from seed didn't really take much longer.  Time will tell which ones are worth keeping.

I also listed the days to harvest from seed for a heap of different vegetables, if you are interested please click here.