Seed and Plant exchange for 2015

It seems the lesson we are learning here is that the "exotic" from around the world do not always produce well here. We had a lot of donated seeds from other countries last year that we had limited success from most. Many grew but did not provide fruit.
We started the following seed this week in a effort to determine whether they will germinate: tomato, Tomato discovery, Smooth Green Okra, Basil, Eggplant, capsicum pepper, Pavito, Sweet Corn, Watermellon Sweet F1, Watermelon Sugar Baby, and Zucchini Felix F1/

Last year's results: The Watermelon grew and produce sub-soccer ball size melon but it was difficult to keep the bugs off of them.Tomatos grew but had very limited fruit. Zucchini did well, and was one of the few plants that had some economic success against the prices at Robinsons Market but seed are expensive. . Okra did well, Basil plants grew but had about 6 month life. Pavito are too cheap in the market to grow unless you want to control you own produce. We did not try corn last year.

I will be focusing on locally supplied seed, or seed harvested from fruits and vegetable we purchase at the market this year..
I will have some potted seedling available this years, and encourage other to bring the same. With proper communication here on the Forum we should be able to provide the correct seeds and seedling everyone wants.

Let's keep posting on our efforts with seedlings and finding seed so the exchange is a bigger success this year with minimum duplication of efforts.

 

I've started some new seeds (should have more seedlings than my garden can support) so I should be able to donate a number as well. I had planned to re do my garden and with the kids leaving the gate open the pups expedited things for me. I had good luck with the Afghan tomatoes, okra and peppers. I had limited success with sweet corn and no luck at all with cauliflower. I think the cooler weather plants will be what I look at in a future aquaponics set up.

This time around I am going with grape tomatoes (US), various chili peppers (US), zucchini (US), eggplant (Afghan) and okra (Afghan). I think I will also try to direct seed some green onions once the plants go in. I have a fairly small area at the moment so I am going to keep it a bit more simple than what I tried before. It has only been a few days but my seed trays have tomatoes, eggplant and okra pop up so far. Chili peppers have always taken the longest to germinate but am really hoping to get them to germinate and with the weather here I think they should do well.

Shawn

 

If we can post what we have planted for the exchange and what we would like to get, then we can get everyone's desires met. I am anticipating the event to be in the first half of March, but am open to suggestions for timing, and even have some follow up meeting for slow germinating seeds.

 

i hope this works, much confusion trying to do multiple quotes.

dave... thanks for putting the seed/plant swap together. if you do it again, please consider doing it during the rainy season which is more garden friendly.

i think we have to keep in mind that most "exotic" seeds are designed to grow in temperate climates with average elevations and rains and a long photoperiod during the growing season.

as far as successful germination and growing, seed storage is more of an issue here than most temperate climates due to humidity. i've also ordered exotic seeds and they came in paper packets where the seeds i've purchased in da fils are packaged in moisture proof envelopes. even then, i've yet to plant out a whole seed packet so i take precautions to keep the packets sealed in two refrigerated zip lock type bags.

i'm surprised you're planting seeds from market veggies, i'd think they'd be from hybrid fruits grown for market conditions where flavor and nutrition aren't the priority. how'd they taste/produce?

with that in mind, i got some tomatoes from a neighbor who was growing for the market and they were (absolutely) tasteless compared to our garden tomatoes which are a long ways from resembling nutrient dense but they at least remind me of tomatoes i ate as a kid.

btw... i recently ''successfully'' placed a seed order with Allied Botanical Corporation| Enhancing Agriculture to Improve Your Life many of their seeds are available at JB Marketing. not like ordering online but this IS the fils, you know...


thanks again, dave...
norm : ))~

 

Norm thanks for you suggestions and observations. I had a positive history with plant in the US, but I certainly a "fish out of water" here. I have noticed that during the wet season everything grows great, but it is not spring so I usually start in my native spring system. Any suggestion your have or others here are greatly appreciated. When do you suggest we have the seed exchange in the furture. I will keep trying to "break the code here" until I succeed but friendly help always speeds up the process.
@kelpguy

 

Nijosa store has closed since our last seed exchange, and moved most of the small gardening seeds and equipment to JB Marketing, inc. It has the most complete supply of seeds, but check the dates because I believe a lot of the seeds may be old stock. I wish I could tell you exactly where it is located but It is on Locsin Street, near the hiway through town, close to the gas station. It is a white building with royal blue trim. It is a good source for many small scale gardening needs.

Sorry I can not figure out how to attach picture from camera.

 

@Dave & Imp Dave, have you had any success with Potatoes?
[DOUBLEPOST=1421729392,1421729228][/DOUBLEPOST]Hmmmmmmmmmm I meant to ask about lettuce and cucumber as well

 

Dave, have you had any success with Potatoes?
[DOUBLEPOST=1421729392,1421729228][/DOUBLEPOST]Hmmmmmmmmmm I meant to ask about lettuce and cucumber as well [/QUOTE]

Sorry Cucumbers are not my favorite. I get too many locally when I order hamburgers locally that I do not grow them. I love potatoes but have not tried them...something worth trying. The market seem to have a good supply of potatoes most of the time.. There is a fellow that grows lettuce commercially in Darin with hydroponics. My history in the states was always lettuce heads turned into condominium for bugs.... I usually do not like my protein and vegetables mixed that closely together during the growing season.
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Does anyone have tips on growing Potatoes?

 

Sorry Cucumbers are not my favorite. I get too many locally when I order hamburgers locally that I do not grow them. I love potatoes but have not tried them...something worth trying. The market seem to have a good supply of potatoes most of the time.. There is a fellow that grows lettuce commercially in Darin with hydroponics. My history in the states was always lettuce heads turned into condominium for bugs.... I usually do not like my protein and vegetables mixed that closely together during the growing season.
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Does anyone have tips on growing Potatoes?[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the reply Dave, I am not keen on the local Cucumber and not being a Gardner I doubt I will try to grow , Lettuce I find a bit Overpriced here and the variety is little But again I suppose I will have to grin and bear, maybe I will hang on and see if any one will answer that brilliant add on you put in, I have always found home grown Potatoes a lot better than the ones Azon has been getting of late. Full of Eyes
As a European I find I can use Potatoes in so many more ways than rice and just lately I have put on a lot of weight in the wrong places, people tell me to eat less rice and I am not keen on Ocre? so I may just look at the potato issue

JP

OH! Seems like I got a bug in the System, replies are a bit Haywire here.

 

you're not the only one out of the water here, i've been in the garden since i was a toddler but this place is a whole new ballgame. i've always just planted, watered and harvested but that hasn't worked for me here. could be the soils? the rain? the short days? or???

about 3 months ago, i gave up on conventional organic gardening and plunged into korean natural farming procedures and i saw good results at 1st, then things went downhill. i made some adjustments and things are looking up again but i'm not holding my breath.

anyone else doing knf?

i'd consider scheduling an exchange in the early part of the rainy season. my rain records for the last 3 years show that june can be iffy for planting out but it should be a good month to start plants.

norm : ))~