Small Flowered Willow Herb

For a few years I have been growing willowherb (Epilobium parviflorum).  Some of its common names include 'small flowered willow herb', 'hoary willowherb' and 'small flowered hairy willow herb'.   

There are a bunch of different plants that have the common name of willow herb, so it is important to pay attention to the binomial name.  

I believe this is named willowherb because its leaves grow long and slender, like willow.  It also likes to live in damp places, much like willow.  This plant is not remotely related to willow, and (while I am not certain of this) from what I have read it does not produce any aspirin/salicylic acid.  

Small flowered willowherb

Willowherb is edible, it doesn't really have much of a taste on its own, it isn't bitter or unpleasant in any way.  The leaves can be added to a salad and eaten raw, dried and used in herbal teas, and it can be eaten cooked.  Every part is said to be edible, but I have only tried the leaves. 

The texture of the leaves is not remarkable in any way.  They are not unpleasant, or hairy, or slimy.  Certainly not bad in any way, it's also not overly memorable or impressive.  If using raw in  salad I would probably tear or cut the leaves somewhat.  

This herb has been used as medicine to treat prostate and kidney issues, there are a few studies indicating it could be effective in treating these ailments.  

This plant handles frosts well.  It grows tall and flowers over summer, and goes back to a short plant in winter.  Over winter here it does not go completely dormant, but it does die back considerably.  

The heat of summer doesn't seem to be an issue as long as it is well watered. 

Willow herb has small pink flowers

I grow willow herb in a few different ways, it always does well, it does particularly well if given a lot of water and fertile soil.  

I grow some in a pot of soil, and it does fine.  I grow some in a pot with no drainage holes that always has wet boggy soil, it does very well.  I have some in my goldfish barrelponics, and it thrives there.  

Full sun and part shade both work well.  It doesn't like to dry out, and seems to prefer lots of moisture.  That being said, it copes drying out better than I had expected.  For a week my barrelponics pump didn't work and my pot of plants dried out completely.  The Vietnamese coriander and other plants died off quiet badly, while the willowherb looked fine.  

Willowherb in barrelponics 

Growing small flowered willowherb from stem cuttings is simple.  It puts up a tall stem for flowering, cut it into sections, plant each section vertically in moist soil or put the base of each cutting in water and they produce roots quickly.  

Sometimes I plant the cuttings directly into moist soil and I get similar results.  

Small flowered willowherb also divides itself.  Plants slowly produce several growing points.  If I snap one off and plant it in damp soil they usually produce a new plant.  These growing points usually have a few roots if I snap them low enough.  While this is very reliable, it is also a very slow way to propagate them.  I find it a lot faster to take cuttings once they send up a flower stalk.

Goldfish barrelponics - willowherb and Vietnamese corainder

Growing willowherb from seed is surprisingly simple for a perennial herb with such tiny seeds.

The plants send up tall stems in summer, these grow small pink flowers on long stems.  The flowers are at the end of long pods.   

Small pink flowers on tall stems

After the flowers die the seed pods grow longer.  When the stem dries, it splits open and releases dozens of tiny seeds.  Once the pod begins to split, all the seeds are ripe.  

These seeds look like dandelion seeds, except tiny.  Each has a little parachute, and is gladly carried off by the wind. 

To sow seeds I open a dry pod, tip the seeds onto moist soil, water it in, and in a few days every seed germinates.  It is that simple.  

I don't remove their parachute, I don't bury the seeds, I just put them on soil and water them.  

Fresh seed seems to yield close to 100% germination.  They produce tremendous numbers of seeds, so you probably wouldn't need to even plant an entire pod's worth of seed to be more than enough.  I have no idea how long willowherb seed remains viable.  So far I have not had any volunteer seedlings pop up anywhere other than in pots.  

Seed pod opening

Tiny seeds with parachutes

Each pod makes a lot of seed

The seedlings are tiny, and very slow growing.  It seems to take may months before they grow true leaves.  This may be because the soil I am growing them in is low in nutrients or they are not getting enough sunlight, perhaps they would grow a lot faster under better conditions.

So far I have not had issues with slugs or snails, but I think that's just luck.  I am guessing snails would eat out the tiny seedlings before they get established.  Once established they don't seem to have any pest issues.

If you had a damp area in the garden I think these would do very well.  They produce nice looking flowers on tall stalks, the leaves can be long and slender.  Other than making sure they are not too dry, and cutting off flower stalks once per year after they are sent, they take no work to look after.  You would then be able to harvest handfulls of leaves most of the year from a nice looking perennial herb. 

If you are interested in growing willowherb, I sell some plants from time to time and may sell fresh seed next time I collect it.  I can post plants bare rooted throughout much of Australia.  Willowherb will look a but sad after being posted, but it tends to pick up very quickly after being planted and watered. 

Woolly micro tomato update

It is time for an update on my micro woolly tomato breeding project.  

For a bit of background, I crossed a micro tomato which only grows to about 10cm tall, with a woolly leaf tomato which reaches about 6 feet tall.  I used a micro tomato as the seed parent so it was simple to see if the cross worked really early. 

I grew the F1 in the year 2021, the F1 plant reached about 5 feet tall, was very productive, and the fruit looked intermediate between both parents.  

Micro woolly tomato breeding

I culled the F2, only keeping the smaller woolly leaf plants.  Then culled subsequent generations based largely on plant size, and to a lesser extent based on fruit colour and taste.  Last year I had a mishap and lost many of my seeds from this project, sadly things like that sometimes happen in breeding projects. 

This summer (2023-2024) I culled and was left with four candidates, I put the four candidates in one pot for ease of handling.  

While it is far better to have them in separate pots, or even in the soil, that was not an option this year.  

Woolly foliage tomatoes

The four remaining plants are between 5cm tall and 15cm tall, they all set flowers at their terminal bud, all are woolly, and all appear to be expressing anthocyanin in their leaves and stems.  

At this stage I don't know what base colour the fruit will be, or how they will taste. 

Unripe woolly tomato 

While several of the plants are larger than Micro Tom (pictured below), up to 15cm tall, or about 6 inches, is still probably considered to be a micro dwarf tomato.  These were partly shaded in the greenhouse and are likely taller than they would have been if grown under direct light.  There are a few generations until they will be stabilised, so even if they are not micro dwarf tomatoes that is ok at this stage.  

The smallest candidate is producing flower buds, and is only around 5cm, or about 2 inches, tall.  This may be a genetically tiny plant, or it may be stunted by growing so close to the pother plants.  I won't know until I grow out its seeds.  

Micro tomato plants are tiny

One of the things I like about micro tomatoes is they are so quick to mature that they can produce several generations each year.  My winters can be a bit long, so I sometimes lose a generation to frosts, but in a mild year I can grow a few generations and make some decent progress.

I was growing these plants in my greenhouse as I didn't start them until late in the season and they needed protection from the heat.  I have recently moved the pot outside into full sun.  Hopefully there is enough heat left in the season for them to set fruit and for me to collect seed.  

Woolly foliage, high anthocyanin 

Even if all goes well, this project is still a few generations away from completion.  Hopefully one or several of these four are what I am hoping for, then I can work on stabilising the lines.  

Fingers crossed in another few years I have a few stable lines of new micro tomatoes that taste good.  If not, I can do a little back crossing to lock in the traits I want, or I could start again.  

Variegated string of pearls tiny cutting

I have been growing string of pearls succulents (Curio rowleyanus also called Senecio rowleyanus) since late 2016 or early 2017.  They are a lovely looking trailing plant with spherical leaves with little windows. 

I wrote an earlier blog post on seeds of fake string of pearls, sadly they don't come in blue or red or purple or with multicolours.  I mentioned in that post how string of pearls com in green, green with larger pearls, or variegated.  

Late in 2023 I got a lovely variegated string of pearls plant.  It was small, and I took a few cuttings.  As well as this, a tiny part broke off.  It had one variegated leaf and a tiny part of stem.  

I planted this to see if it would grow.  Even though it only had one leaf and a tiny section of stem it did start to grow.  

Variegated string of pearls cutting

The single pearl and tiny piece of stem grew some leaves.  At the start none of them had any chlorophyll.  They were all white.  

There was a high chance that the tissue that gave rise to the baby plant was derived of all white, and may not have had any green.  If this was the case it would survive off the mother leaf for a time, and die when the leaf got too old.  They need some green to be able to produce food.  

After growing a number of leaves, it then produced a variegated leaf!  

This variegated leaf has some green, which means it is able to photosynthesize and feed the plant.  As it has produced one variegated leaf, there is a high chance that it will produce more.  If this is the case, in time this tiny plant should be able to grow into a large trailing variegated plant.  

Variegated mother plant

Sometimes variegated plants revert to all green.  Once they are all green, they don't become variegated again.  

If you grow a variegated string of pears succulent and notice a strand that is entirely green, remove it.  Being all green will be more vigorous than the variegated parts.  Plant the green strand in a different pot as a cutting and let it develop into a green plant - don't leave it attached to the mother plant or it will eventually take over and you will no longer have a variegated string of pearls plant.  

If you notice a strand that is all white, feel free to just leave it.  It will eventually die, until then it will look pretty.  Unless the mother plant is very weak it should be able to have a white strand without ill effects.  

Each leaf has some white and some green

I find string of pearls succulents to be surprisingly easy to grow.  They don't love full sun, and can't survive in heavy shade.  The variegated form is less vigorous than the green form, but they are both lovely.  

Even though they are a succulent, they tend to perform better when given decent amounts of water.  I keep hearing about people planting them in special succulent mixes, while this is probably best for them I find they perform well in equal amounts of potting mix and garden soil.

I sell string of pearls plants and cuttings through my for sale page.  At this stage I only have green ones for sale, I hope to have a few variegated ones large enough to sell in Spring.  If you are interested, you should have a look.  

Vegetable fern Diplazium esculentum

For a few years I have wanted to grow vegetable fern (Diplazium esculentum).  This is a beautiful and ornamental looking fern that is commonly eaten as a vegetable though the warmer and wetter parts of Asia.  

Small vegetable fern - Diplazium esculentum

There are a few ferns that are commonly eaten, some are meant to be easier to grow than others.  I am told that vegetable fern spreads rapidly and is easy to grow.  It prefers some shade, it likes heat, and like most ferns it needs decent moisture to thrive.  

I am told the fronds of this species are highly nutritious, and has a host of medicinal properties.  All of the research into vegetable fern indicates that it is highly nutritious.  

One study demonstrated  that its fronds were high in protein (52.3%), carbohydrates (28.2%), Vitamin C, antioxidants, minerals (including calcium and iron), and dietary fibre (17.44%).  That study also stated it contains 324 Kcal 100 grams.  

Vegetable fern thrives in part shade

There are a few edible ferns should only be eaten in smaller amounts due to mild toxins.  Vegetable fern is unique in that it has not been recorded to have any negative effects when eaten.  

Some edible ferns (such as bracken) contain a substance called Ptaquiloside.  This compound is water-soluble and rather unstable, I have read that scientists were able to isolate this and test it on rats and ferrets who went on to develop tumors.  From everything I have read, vegetable fern does not contain this compound and is completely safe to eat.  

Not only is vegetable fern meant to be completely safe to consume, and highly nutritious, it is also highly ornamental.  It is a good looking fern.  Some fronds almost shimmer silver in the right light, I haven't seen a fern do this before.  

Most vegetables will be unproductive in shade, whereas this plant needs shade to be productive.  It also is rarely eaten in Australia, meaning if hard times hit people would not think to steal this if they raid gardens for food.  

I can't capture the silver shimmery fronds

While it doesn't matter to anyone unless they are intending to do any breeding with this plant (ferns are difficult to breed with and not something I have been able to achieve), the vegetable fern is diploid with 2n= 82.  

Vegetable fern spreads quickly through rhizomes, and I am told that it produces readily from spores.  Growing ferns from spores can be fun, the ease that this fern reputedly grows from spores means it could pop up in damp places by itself.  

I like plants that do this.  It is killed by frosts, and does not love full sun and dry areas, so I can't imagine it posing a weed issue where I live.

Vegetable fern stating to divide

My vegetable fern has grown since these photos, and has divided a little.  We have had a few cooler nights and it is showing that it does not cope with frosts.  I now have it in a sheltered spot where I think it will survive the winter.  

Hopefully in spring it will be large enough and healthy enough to grow and divide and maybe even produce some spore.  If all goes well I should be able to start eating this in spring/summer and hopefully have enough plants to be able to share them around a little.

Grechnevaya kasha - our food

Grechka = buckwheat
Kasha = porridge
Grechnevaya kasha = buckwheat kasha (buckwheat porridge) 

There is an old saying along the lines of "Shchi da Kasha, Pisha Nasha", which roughly translates to "Cabbage soup and buckwheat porridge are our food".  

There is an old Russian proverb that I not overly familiar with but am told goes along the lines of "Kasha - matushka nasha, a khlebets rzhanoy otets nash rodnoy", which roughly translates to "Kasha is our mother, rye bread is our dear father".  

There seems to be solid logic behind this saying and this proverb that goes beyond the fact that these were among the few foods that were almost always available in the old days.  

Raw buckwheat 

For some time my body weight was too low (I know, right), even though I am thin my cholesterol levels were too high, and I had too much fat around my organs.  This is not a great combination for health.  People's advice that I need to 'fatten up' strangely wouldn't help my situation health wise.  

Over the past few years there have been supply chain issues and supermarkets had been unable to get staple foods.  Since I was a child I had eaten Wheatbix for breakfast every morning.  Then for several months the shops were unable to get wheatbix.  You know the theme song, 'Aussie kids are wheatbix kids' - not any more.  

My son would only ear wheatbix for breakfast, so I decided not to eat wheatbix again, and I would let my son eat what we had left in the hopes that we could buy wheatbix again before he ran out.  

While this worked well for my son, it posed a problem for me as I wasn't sure what to eat for breakfast without wheatbix.  I don't know what other people eat, this isn't a thing I have ever had to think about before.  

Other breakfast cereals are too sugary for me, and they leave me feeling hungry early in the day.  I would need to eat an awful lot of toast to not be hungry by the time I get to work.  Eggs or oily foods on an empty stomach make me feel bad all day.  Half a dozen muesli bars each morning would fill me up and become expensive quickly.  

I started making kasha from steel cut oats.  This was ok, but left me feeling hungry pretty early in the day and my stomach felt weird.  I started to seriously consider skipping breakfast but wasn't sure how to cope with the blood sugar issues that would cause.  Even though I am thin, my blood sugars tend to be a little erratic. 

Then I made kasha using buckwheat.  This left me feeling full for a lot longer, and I like the taste.  After a little research, it appears that buckwheat kasha is extremely nutritious and healthy to eat.  That link is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to buckwheat nutrition, it contains a lot of minerals, flavonoids, rutin, fiber, and other things that are good for your body.  

For over a year I ate grechnevaya kasha for breakfast each day.  During that time I also recorded my weight, and my Body Mass Index, by chance I also had blood tests before and after.  I weighed in at the same day each week, roughly the same time, and wearing the same thing (ie before getting in the shower).  

Over that year my fat visually reduced and my weight increased (meaning I was gaining muscle).  During that time my cholesterol levels dropped, and my HDL:LDL cholesterol ratio went into the ideal range.  During this time I also stopped having blood sugar issues.  I gained strength, and I started to feel almost younger.  The only thing that changed during this time was that I stopped eating wheatbix and started eating buckwheat.  

You should eat grechnevaya kasha every morning for a month or so and see if you become stronger and healthier too.  Eating for a few days will do nothing, this is not magic.  Eating it a few times per week probably won't do a lot either.  You need to give it at least a month of eating it every day to see if it makes a difference to your health.  

If it doesn't work for you, then go back to eating...whatever it is people eat for breakfast (I can't work it out).  

Buckwheat after being soaked overnight in milk

There are a lot of ways to make kasha, and many people make kasha differently to me.  Below is how I make it.  I am not suggesting that this is the right way to make it, or even the best way to make it, but is is fast and simple and it works for me.  

1. I scoop 1/3 cup (50g) raw buckwheat into a bowl.  
2. I add a little under 1/3 cup of milk or water (some days I have milk, others I have water)
3. I leave it in the fridge overnight if possible 
4. In the morning I put the bowl in the microwave for 50 seconds
5. Sometimes I put honey on after microwaving, sometimes I don't
6. That's all, it's good to go.  

You can toast the buckwheat first, which changes the taste.  While I prefer toasted buckwheat to raw, I have only done this a few times.  It is faster/easier/cheaper to just use raw buckwheat.  Overseas they sell toasted buckwheat, here in Australia it is easiest to buy raw buckwheat that has the hull removed.  

Sometimes I soak buckwheat for two nights instead of one night.  I have only done this using milk, and I have it soaking in the fridge.  The extra night of soaking changes things, and it tastes creamier.  

Sometimes I forget to soak it.  That's ok, it still tastes good even without being soaked.

Many people add butter and salt, or egg, or onion, or fat.  All of this is good, but I think more suited to dinner meals.  For breakfast I eat a simple kasha made from buckwheat and either water or milk.  You could also add yogurt or fruit to your kasha, this is also very good.  Sometimes I add yoghurt on weekends when I have more time.

Some people cook kasha in a rice cooker, or boil on the stove top, this is also good and it needs slightly different ratios of buckwheat to water.  I don't have heaps of time in the mornings before work, plus I am sometimes half asleep, so I just put it in the microwave for 50 seconds.  It is so simple and so fast.  

Image from: https://www.goodness.com.au/organic-buckwheat-hulled-25kg/

Easily avoided problems

Some people complain about their kasha.  Most, if not all, of the problems people complain about are easily avoided.  

Gluggly or disgusting kasha is something people complain about.  The reason behind this is most people suggest using far too much water/milk, which makes it gluggy and gross.  I have seen people suggest ratios of 2:1, 3:1, or even 4:1 with more water than buckwheat.  Not surprisingly too much liquid makes it gluggy.  

I originally used a 1:1 ratio, then realised if I used less liquid it would all be absorbed and I much prefer the texture.  I now add liquid in a ratio of 1 buckwheat to about 0.8 liquid, and this works well for me.  If you prefer more liquid, then add more liquid, it won't hurt you, I just prefer the texture when there is far less liquid.  

Some people complain about a mysterious bitter taste.  Buckwheat reacts to the oxygen in the air, and the taste changes after a while unless it has been stored in an air tight container.  This is easily remedied by storing buckwheat in an air tight container.  We have issues with pantry moth if it is not in an airtight container, so I prefer to always store it in something reasonably air tight.  

Somehow, soaking overnight in too much water results in slightly bitter kasha.  I never taste any bitterness when I make kasha using milk, when I make it using water (and older buckwheat) I can sometimes taste bitter.  This is easily fixed by using slightly less water or adding a little honey.  

Other people complain that their kasha has too much liquid.  Easy fix - use less liquid.  Seriously, I don't see why this is a problem for so many people.  It seems like common sense to add less liquid if your kasha has too much liquid for your liking.  While it may not be the traditional way to use less liquid, if too much liquid bothers you then add less liquid and the problem is solved.

As I said before, eat buckwheat every day for a month and see if you notice a difference to your health.  If you become healthier and stronger then keep eating it.  If you don't like it, or you don't notice any improvement, then eat something else.  Just make sure you eat it consistently every day for a month or more if you hope to notice any difference. 

African Violets double and single

I have always liked African violets, for some reason I didn't get one until the year 2021.  

The first African violet I got was a small weak plant that was not flowering when I got it, it had no variety name and was labelled as 'light blue'.  It was in a self-watering pot, which made it very simple to look after.  The plant grew larger and stronger, eventually it flowered, and flowered, and kept on flowering.  

African violets really are remarkable with how long they can flower.  

After a few years it eventually stopped flowering, and stopped growing.  I meant to repot it, but didn't.  I fertilised it with leachate from my worm farm.  It then grew leaves far larger than it ever has before, and started flowering again.  

I also have another African violet that I grew from a leaf cutting from a different variety.  This is growing in a normal pot with soil that I mixed myself because I am too cheap to buy African violet potting mix.  The leaf babies were growing well, I am not sure how many were in there.  I then fertilised them with worm farm leachate, not long after that they also started flowering.  

Perhaps it is a coincidence, or perhaps African violets like worm farm leachate.  I don't know, and as long as they are healthy and flowering I don't really care.  

My African Violets

Below are the plants I am currently propagating.  I hope to have a few baby plants of each large that are enough to be flowering and ready for sale by spring.  

Light Blue, has very large double flowers, frilly petals, and I am not sure of the variety name.  To the best of my knowledge there are no true blue African violets, most are some type of purple like this one, in the right light it kind of almost looks blue.  I don't care what the colour name is, I really like it.

African Violet

Purple or Magenta (I am not great with colour names), single pansy type flowers, small compact and highly vigorous plant.  The colour of the flowers is a little darker than in my photos, it is an amazing colour.  I was told the cultivar name is 'New Hampshire'.  The baby plants only have a few flowers per stem, I assume this is because they are still very young as the mother plant I got the leaf from had a lot of flowers per stem.  

African Violet

I like the larger frilly double flowered types of African violets.  There are also a few colours that I am considering trying to get.  I wouldn't mind doing some breeding with African violets to see what I can produce.  

I saw the picture below on a social media page, I would love to grow one that looks like this some day.  If you have a plant like that and are interested in a leaf swap, or would be willing to sell me a leaf, let me know and we will see if we can work out something.  

African Violet - not my picture

Hopefully in spring I will have a few flowering plants of my magenta/purple and the double blue African Violets for sale, and there is a slight chance I may have another few varieties.  If I have a few flowering plants for sale the details might be found on this blog's for sale page.  

100 Year Old Mint

From time-to-time, people contact me to tell me about some incredible vegetable that they are growing, sometimes it is an heirloom that has been growing in their family for years, and they generously ask if I would like it.  I don’t have unlimited space, as I get older I have less energy to look after things, and while my climate isn’t too bad it can be a bit harsh and unsuited to some plants.  

For these reasons I sometimes decline these very generous offers (and often I regret this decision later).  Other times I accept the generous offer and end up growing some amazing thing.  

Recently someone told me about a mint that they have grown in their family for over one hundred years.  They asked me if I would like to grow it.  

100 Year Old Mint

Mint is an edible herb that is also used medicinally.  Mint is perennial, it can grow virtually forever if conditions are right.  Most of the mint I grow is a few decades old at most, some varieties are far younger as they were only recently bred.  Being over one hundred years old, that is far older than any other variety I grow.  

I currently grow a few different types of mint.  Some of the fruity mints are fun, but do I really need another variety?  Also, I am trying to grow less things and invest less time in the garden.  

Growing several types of mint varieties is a bit of work as they have to be kept in pots, the pots must be off the ground to reduce chances of escape, the pots have to kept away from one another to prevent runners invading nearby pots, flower heads must be removed prior to seed drop to prevent thousands of genetically diverse seedlings sprouting and taking over.  I also tend to under utilise mint, we don't eat it or make tea from it very often. 

Even with all of this in mind, I was interested in this family heirloom mint. 

100 year old mint

Most mint is well suited to cool damp climates and struggles badly in heat and dry.  This mint is said to be better suited to heat, as evinced by having been grown in a dry area of South Australia for over a century.  

The taste of this variety is said to be part way between spearmint and peppermint.  A few other things about this mint variety also sounded good.  I think the thing that sold me on this variety is its history.  

This is a family heirloom that has been passed down generations for over a hundred years.  I love the idea of one hundred year old mint!  

Mint leaves - upper and lower surfaces

The leaves are are green and smooth with jagged edges.  They aren't fluffy, or crinkled, and I think I would be able to tell it apart from my other types of mint even from a distance.

I was sent some runners that arrived safely in the post.  I planted the runners in pots of soil, kept them in the shade for a few days after being posted, and watered well.  Other than watering it I just left it to do its thing.  

Like most mints, this is very vigorous and did a lot of growing pretty quickly.  

100 year old mint

As far as taste/smell goes, this is a good mint that to me tastes a lot like spearmint with a touch of peppermint.  

It will be very useful and versatile in making various dishes and drinks.  This variety also makes a refreshing herbal tea.  

Leaves from 100 yr old mint

I haven't grown this for long, so far it is doing everything that I want it to.  I will probably baby it a bit over its first winter just to be safe.  Given how vigorous it has been so far, I have no doubt it will easily thrive in my climate.  

Most of all, I love the history behind this particular mint.  

Fish and Chinese water chestnuts

Years ago it used to be common to read on permaculture sites how people would grow Chinese water chestnuts (Eleocharis dulcis) in those plastic clam shell pools.  People would usually also speak of having guppies in the water over the growing period.  Back then I was researching how to grow water chestnuts, and thought it was a great idea, but there were no tiny fish in the local rivers so I grew water chestnuts in buckets without any fish, and it worked well.  

Late 2023 I tried to read up on this again to see if people had noticed any difference in yield, and for some reason I couldn't find much mention of people growing Chinese water chestnuts with tiny fish.  Perhaps people no longer do this because it makes no noticeable difference to yield, or perhaps it was useful but has been mysteriously forgotten about?  

There are plenty of tiny fish in the local rivers where I now live, so thought I would give this a try and see what I can learn.  I have two identical buckets, put a pot of soil in each, and planted one water chestnut corm in each.  The buckets are next to each other.  I left them to grow for some time, then put some fish in one bucket, and no fish in the other bucket.  

From here I will see if there is any noticeable difference in the yield from each. 

Fish in bucket on the left, photo taken 02/02/2024 

After a month or so of growth there were not a lot of noticeable differences.  The plants looked much the same in terms of size and vigor.  Perhaps the one with fish had slightly thicker leaves, I am not really sure.  

It was obvious early on that there was significantly less azolla and duck weed on the bucket with the fish.  Perhaps the fish were eating some of it, or maybe the fish were eating something that helps the duckweed and azolla grow.  I'm not really sure.  

By the end of February the difference in duckweed and azolla coverage is pretty dramatic.  The bucket on the left with fish has less than 10% coverage, the bucket on the right with no fish has over 90% coverage.  Often it is fully covered by azolla and duckweed, this gets disturbed when I fill up the bucket with water.  

Still early, both plants look similar 

Fish in this bucket - hardly any azolla and duckweed

No fish in this bucket - plenty of azolla and duckweed

I probably should have done this with no azolla or duckweed, but it is too late for that this year.  

I tend to grow a mix of azolla and duckweed on top of the water as it prevents mosquitoes from emerging.  Duckweed seems to eliminate any algae growth.  The azolla also sequesters nitrogen from the atmosphere and releases this when it dies and breaks down.  

Perhaps the fish are eating the azolla and duck weed, maybe they would starve without it.  So perhaps it is for the best that I did include it.  All I know is the bucket with fish has considerably less azolla and duck weed.  

Perhaps fish are eating the azolla and duck weed 

Now that autumn is upon us the leaves have yellowed and mostly died back.  It won't be long before I can lift these pots, let them dry slightly, then harvest the corms.  

Both buckets were growing in my greenhouse, I think the amount of shade will reduce the number (and average size) of corms produced in both buckets.  They both have significantly less leaves than the ones grown in full sun.  

The bucket with fish still has limited duckweed and azolla, the bucket with no fish is covered in azolla and duckweed.  I am keen to compare the yield of these buckets, both in terms of number of corms as well as the size/weight of corms, and see if there is any noticeable difference between the two buckets.  I probably won't get around to digging them up until some time in winter.  

Most winters I sell water chestnut corms, and duck potatoes, through the for sale page on this blog.  Being dormant over winter means they handle postage really well.  If you are interested, they are normally ready mid to late winter.  At this stage I only sell within Australia.  

Johnny jump up

Back in 2019 I bought some seeds of a flower called 'Johnny Jump up' or 'Heartsease' (Viola tricolor).  It is one of the wild pansies.  

The flowers are pretty.  They have edible leaves and flowers, the leaves have a bunch of medicinal properties, and are said to self seed so easily that once you plant them they are there forever.  While they are edible, and have various medicinal properties, I wanted them because they look nice and are said to mostly look after themselves. 

I planted some seed, the plants were small and the flowers were rather pretty.  

Johnny jump up flowers

It was too dry that year so I could only water some plants, I decided to stop watering these and figured they should return from seed they dropped.  The summer of 2019-2020 had record breaking heat, it was very dry, there were extreme bushfires across the Eastern side of Australia, and the air was thick with smoke for weeks.  The following year was cooler and wetter, but no Jonny Jump Up plants grew, not a singe one.  

The 2019-2020 summer was dreadful

Many of the annual plants I grew over the summer of 2019-2020 produced seed that never germinated.  The smoke certainly stopped pollinating insects from flying, but I think there is more to it.  Most produced seed, but the seed never germinated.  Many plants that are not insect pollinated also produced seed that never germinated.  

I thought about buying more Johnny jump up seed, but never got around to it.  This year (2024), after not having any of these plants for years, one grew.  

Wild pansy flowers

I thought after such a long time that there must not have been any viable seed in the soil, clearly there was at least one.  

This plant is growing with a lot of competition from neighbouring weeds and things.  I pulled out some of the taller grass so it has sunlight, I gave it a little water, other than that I tried not to intervene.  

You will notice that the two flowers look very different.  This is normal, the parent stock used to do this too.  It has nothing to do with the age of the flowers, the dark one was dark when it first opened, and it stayed darker.  The lighter one was lighter when it opened, and it does not appear to be getting darker as it ages.  

While I will probably try to save a little seed from this plant, I won't do that until it has had a chance to drop some seed first.  I would hate to collect all the seed and inadvertently prevent it from setting up a seed bank in the soil.  

It is getting late in the season, hopefully it has time to set seed and establishes a little population of self seeded plants.  Winter shouldn't kill the plant, even if frosts come early it should survive and be able to flower and set seed in spring.  

I like it when things self seed, and I like it when plants produce self-sustaining populations.