Cherry Rose Nasturtium

Heard these were great for keeping away certain bad insects. I just got the seeds in the mail today and the packet says you can eat the blossoms. Anyone ever tried them? Do they taste good? I also read that they attract bees and hummingbirds!

Well the slugs sure like them. I planted them last year in the hope the slugs would focus on them (they're pretty indestructable) and leave my other plants alone. Not sure if it helped or not, my other plants still got munched!

Edit/add: Yes, I've used them in salads, leaves and flowers, pretty and tasty.

This message was edited Mar 30, 2006 12:15 PM

Slugs...YUK. You can eat the green leaves, too?! Wow!

Eat the leaves when they're small and tender. Peppery taste, some like it and some don't.

mmm... I love nasturtium in salad. I use both leaves and flowers. The flowers make it so pretty

Karen

Well, I'll have to try it!

I just cannot get those darn seeds to germinate. Tried them last year- nada. Planted them twice this year and still nada....what's with them?

You have to talk nicely to them! ;o)

I've never had luck until the weather warms up a bit. Then, watch out! I'm not planting mine outside for at least another couple of weeks.

Me too! But my plants all literally grew about three inches since yesterday afternoon. I woke up this morning, and my pole bean plant, which was about 2 inches yesterday, is FIVE inches this morning! My pumpkins are losing their little minds too! Yeesh! I'll have to transfer them to pots so they can grown nicely until the last frost is over!

I always grow 'Whirlybird Cream' and 'Strawberries and Cream'. Last year I bought seed from an unreliable source and believe the seed may have been old. Giving very low viability. This year (Thompson-Morgan) the germination rate is probably 90%. I follow packet instructions and cover with seran wrap under lights. Time-4 to 7 days. Good luck in the future.

I planted my nasturtium seed yesterday. I soaked the seeds in quite warm water 24 hours, forgot to use the Hydrogen-peroxide --water mix. I haven't planted many seeds outside yet. We got a very welcome rain yesterday for a couple of hours.

DonnaS

I work in a commercial greenhouse where we grow micro-greens for restaurants, whole foods, etc. and we just started growing nasturiums. We harvest the plants when they're only a couple inches tall ("micro") then pack 'em up and ship 'em out. So, yes, nasturtiums are definately edible!

Donna, did you start them indoors or plant them outdoors already?

KatyMac. planted the nasturtium seed outside, but on a southfacing slope where it is warmest. I have never tried to plant them inside and transplant, but I know others do that. I plant the seeds about 5" apart and so if they germinate well I just thin them to 10 inches or so.

DonnaS