Corkscrew Vine(vigna caracalla)

This message was edited May 3, 2005 10:23 AM

Kim, you have email from me...

christmas..have you got some already? or do you still wanna trade?

ahhh christmas..let me clarify this...ha ha ha ha
I have not germinated a Datura seed. Matter of fact..I'm getting pretty ticked off too..ha ha ha. I'm about to post to propagation. I have sooo many of them and tryng to germinate them. The only ones I've seen germinate are the ones that came up by themselves last year :-/
Sighhh sighhhh

Spring Hill Nursery has Vigna Caracalla for $9.99 each or three for $26.99. So far that's the best price I've found. Mine came the other day and while small, they were very healthy.

http://springhillnursery.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_20180

Diana

FYI:

Spring Hill has a 58% + Garden WatchDog rating. I did just get nice plants from them too.

Steve

bump.
Did anyone ever have a corkscrew (vigna caracalla) plant or seedlings to trade?
I think I got left out :( I think the one who started the post should at least get one trade for one of these plants:)

So you still would like to trade? :-D

This message was edited May 3, 2005 10:28 AM

Steve: I wasn't aware of that. I also ordered from Spring Hill last year, and was very satisfied with my purchase. I believe I heard somewhere that it was under new management now? Not sure but I think so. At any rate, I would buy from them again.

Diana

"a cow or two"

imagine the shipping charges! LOL

My two tiny seedlings each have a pair of leaves and seem to be loving the heat mat & fl. light downstairs. I promise to post when/if I get seeds, or when/if the vines need pruning (for cuttings)!

critter,I hope your 2 seedlings will grow into 2 huge beautiful vines for you.
And when they do-I want to see pictures.

BTW, Spring Hill (along with retail division of Stark Bros & others) got caught up in the myseasons.com fiasco a couple of years ago, which may explain a lot in terms of their GW rating. I've been pleased with most of the plants they've sent me over the years, and they always promptly replace anything that doesn't arrive in good condition. Lately, I think Wayside has sent me bigger/better bulbs & plants than either Spring Hill or Becks, but I do business with all three of them & have been happy.

Heck, I'm going to post pictures as soon as they get their second set of leaves! I'm very excited about them, and I'm so pleased that I got both seeds to germinate!

Critter,
Do you have any info on how to care for these seedlings? Obviously we have to repot but they are a bean ! And green beans dont like having their roots disturbed. Also, do folks have trouble getting this plant to produce seed? Is that the reason they are scarce.
charlotte

I've just been told to put them under lights & keep them warm. Will repot when pot fills with roots. PF says family is Papilionacea, same as garden beans, but this is a different genus, so I'm not sure bean culture information applies. Phaseolus caracalla is the same genus as beans & garden peas, however. I've heard P. caracalla needs ants for pollination, but I don't know if that's also the case with V. caracalla. Since I plan to overwinter this in my bathroom (and it may just stay there next summer too), I don't want ants! I will try hand pollinating the blossoms to get a good seed set. Boy, I am really counting my seeds before the seedlings have grown!

To reiterate, P. caracalla and V. caracalla are both known as "corkscrew vine" and as "snail vine". P. caracalla is the purple one with little or no scent; V. caracalla is the cream & purple one that smells glorious. Check the scientific name when buying plants or seeds so you won't be disappointed!

Well, I ordered a plant from Park "it hasn come yet " and it BETTER be the fragrant one :)
I have 3 seedlings that I received from a fellow DG'er. I too am trying to count my seeds before they hatch :)

Snail Vine (Phaseolus caracalla)
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/53274/index.html

Corkscrew Vine (Vigna caracalla)
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1884/index.html

Family: Papilionaceae, Genus: Vigna: 148 plants found
http://davesgarden.com/pf/b/Papilionaceae/Vigna/

HTH

~* Robin

cowpeas...yum

I grew this last year and sent out some plants.

It put on three flowers and one fell off. The other two lasted but only flowered singlerly. It was heavily perfumed and it's a very easy vine to grow. I kept mine in a large clay pot. Full sun and I watered too much and since was educated that they shouldn't be watered every day.

Any who, my precious is over wintering in the sun room. Recently, it's put out some new growth since all the foliage fell off in the fall when I brought it inside. Should I cut it down to the ground and let it grow up new? That single bare vine with a few leaves is an eye sore.

Here's a picture from last year. http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/57269/

It's my preferance to refer to the simpler purple flowers as snail vine and the more ornate orange, etc. colored one as corkscrew vine.

For this thread, can we please avoid confusion by sticking with V. caracalla & P. caracalla rather than snail vine or corkscrew vine?

Lovely photo, Micha!

v. is the fragrant corkscrew and p. is the simple purple snail. right !

yes, that's right! at least, that's how they are in PlantFiles, so I'm going with that.

Thank you! I hope to have a much better one this year!

There seems to be little info on this vine. Lots of folks want it but I dont find alot of data about actually growing it and how many folks are successful at getting seeds.

I purchased the Corkscrew vine on eBay about a month ago, I have it in a large pot and it is already putting out leaves, hope to get some lovely flowers

What kind of soil does it like?

I have mine in reg. potting soil with MG. included

I orded seeds from www.selectseeds.com and shared some with the ladies. Mine germinated in water and have just pushed out some leaves. I was able to identify it as Corkscrew Vine (Vigna caracalla) by the seed which is quite a bit larger. (here's a pic of the seed germinating):

http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/67445/

According to what I have found on the internet, the vegetative growth will continue until you pinch it and then it will flower but often not until the second year. It also did say that in Australia where it is native, it is indeed fertilized by ants much like our peonies. I thought that if I put it out, one of my many obnoxious ants would indeed find it and perhaps get some pods for me. If you look at my little test - the one on the computer vent was the first to pop out with big fat healthy leaves. Guess it liked the heat. It is now on a southern window in my bathroom since someone in here said it like lots of humidity. I am sorry to say I have shared my two packages of seeds (with 5 seeds each) but will gladly share more if I get some from my plants.

Mindy




This message was edited Mar 20, 2005 5:01 PM

PudgyMudpies

How did you do cuttings? Did you just lay the vine and wait for it to root? Might be an quicker way to share :).

Mindy

Thanks Mindy, looks like I have the correct seed.
Two years till seed ? Heck I dont want a 10ft vine in the house !

Wow, I was surprised to see this one resurface, 2003, seems so loooong ago...LOL
I have been growing both varieties for a while now & I can highly recommend. I am also glad to see that Plant Files has succeeded in getting the names and pics straightened out which is a big help in the confusion between the 2.
I will tell you what I have learned about these beauties.They like the sun and I have not noticed them being picky about soil. The first year I grew mine from seed in pots with potting soil & the last 2 years I grew the same ones from the pot in the clay soil. They have not been at all unhappy with me. I have heard they do not like wet feet but it is so hot here in the summer that I cannot keep the ground that wet. I rarely get yellow leaves on the bottom as I have seen others post about. I also do not fertilize to speak of. Maybe twice a summer I go around the yard and throw handfuls of triple 16 in the beds, but to say twice may be a serious exageration... I had alot of problems in the beginning with the ants chewing off the buds and that has not changed, except now I have soooo many buds that the ones they chew off are not even missed. It is also true that ants pollinate both varieties. I had just as many ants the first year as I have had in the years that followed, but I did not get a single seedpod the first year on either variety. Maybe it is a maturity issue? I grow both varieties on the same vine fence & cannot tell the leaves apart. The seedpods are very different though. But they just really compliment each other & I will continue to keep them together.
The phaseolus dies back completely and I have to run to Home Depot each year to replace, but the Vigna does not die back. I just loses its leaves and the ends of the vines die while the lower parts stay green. Surprising really, as I expected the Vigna to be much more tender. And the fact that the Phaseolus is sold common here, makes no sense.
I have tried many times to start cuttings & while I have seen people claim it is easy, I have not had any success with any method suggested. The only thing that has worked for me is to tack a vine down & wait for roots to form.
I have finally mastered the seed starting on them, I nick/soak overnight in the hottest tap water & then plant in damp seed starter mix. I put this inside a ziplock & set it on my computer monitor where it stays 69 degrees. I have had nearly 100 percent germination in a matter of days.
I now have these planted all around my house & started 8 more from seed this year for my moms fences. I am so in love with this plant & I think if you could smell it, you would be too. I cannot imagine why this plant is not more readily available. Maybe cuz of the ants? They get really aggressive with anything that dares to land on the flowers, I have sat and watched them swarm and attack butterflies and bees, and even seen butterflies take off with ants on them. LOL
So I am guessing that is some super yummy nectar. ;~)
Oh, one other thing, some people claim that the solid purple phaseolus is slightly fragrant. I have not detected any fragrance at all, so maybe my sniffer is failing me?
One vine can get VERY big. I have 1 vigna on a 15 ft long fence & it totally engulfs it from all directions. I think I will allow 20ft per plant when I do my moms.

I hope someone finds this info helpful,
Donna

Wow Donna. Mine will have to go in a pot and come inside during the winter. I have (had) a mandevilla vine that I cut back and allowed to go semi dormant during winter and hoped to do the same with v.c.
Thanks for your good info. Pollinated by ants huh. I dont like ants !.

I've been following this so HAD to order a plant from Parks I guess....

My vigna comes in with me and the other tropicals every fall and blooms and grows, in the pot, all winter long with just some indirect light through the window in the bedroom. Thanks for all the great info on this, one of my favorites.

Haighr, what size pot is your vigna in and have you ever had seed?

Sent you a link Charlotte and here it is again:

http://www.hhcreations.com/Vigna%20caracalla.htm

nice photos! but they don't show pot size or whether your plant set seed.... IMWTK! :-)

Here is my phaseolus that I putchase when it was a 3yr old plant. It is now almost 5 yrs old and planted in an 18 gal. sterlite tote container with drainage holes in the bottom and a 4ft trellis.
I put it in the garage for a couple days when we had a frost chance but other than that it has been outside year round with no problems. I can easily root the cuttings but I found it best to use fairly mature vines, even those blooming. I use rooting powder and put in damp perlite/sand mixture and leave alone till rooted just keep mix damp. I probably get 5 out of 6 to root in less than 2 weeks.
I'm hoping to replace my wood fence with 6ft chain link this year and I will transplant it in the ground at that time. Right now, it just runs over the side and down to the ground and out. I have had tons of blooms and the right ants, but no seeds as yet. I had what appeared to be a few pods but they fell off early on. This is my first year growing the vigna so I can't say as much about it as yet but I can't wait for the blooms.
Jan...

budgielover,what kind of soil are you growing your plant(s) in?
It looks so nice & green & healthy.

That one is growing in a potting soil from Lowe's called Professional Grower or something similar.
It's 10.00 for a 3 cu ft back. I have since switched to a potting soil mix I get in bulk for $15.00 yard.
It's topsoil, decomposed horse manure and shavings to which I add perlite. I've had pretty good luck with it so far and it is sooooo much cheaper.
Jan...

Jan,
Thanks-you did get a good deal.
You will have to show us some pictures this year of your vines on your new fence.