what have you bought so far? part three

Wow - sounds like you have your mind set on the BMG, Thom!

LOL, Thom.

Now we're going to have to say:

Thom!


Victor! Al! Thom!

Lotta shouting going on!

Thom, you've got mail :) I recently received some Datura seeds to try and the lady who shared them with me gave me some good information on sowing, care and saving the seeds for next year. The double yellow Datura pics she posted last year were gorgeous and she said she's had excellent success with the seeds - 100%!

Thank you for the dmail! Again this is new to me...brugs are new also! I really never heard of anyone growing them before...until I stumbled across DG! I've seen them in the catalogs, but they just seemed like a lot of work...something I usually try to avoid, but times are changing!

Since they are poisonous maybe I'll try feeding them to the local bunny population!...lol.

Happy Easter everyone!

Careful Thom...he heard you.....

Is that the Easter bunny gone bad, Anita?

rcn - I'd love to have those instructions, too, since I have four packages of Datura seeds to get planted. Thank you.

I'd like to know if there is an area on DG that lets you know how deep to plant seeds? I've looked in the Plant Files, but I'm not finding the info I need.

they have instructions on TM... when I did these I covered them 1/2 the depth of the seed... did not like them though.. the blooms were not impressive

http://www.tmseeds.com/product/7773.html

pirl, i'll post the instructions I received...might help anyone else who's lurking :)

Datura seeds take a while to germinate. Start them inside in a cell pack and that way you can transplant them on to a 4" pot when they are a decent sized seedling. Allow them to grow in this 4" pot until they are 4"-5" tall--in other words--as big as you would buy them in a nursery.
Prepare a place for them in full sun--allowing about 3' space for each plant. Lift the Dat. out of it's 4" pot and gently place it in the hole you gave dug. They don't like their roots messed with! So--be gentle....Label each Datura--yellow or purple--as they look very much alike. Just that the purple ones have a more purlish stem.
All parts of the Daturas are toxic if ingested. When full grown, they can be 2'-3' wide and about 4' tall and all branched out. I would say that some benefit from staking--especially if they will tend to lean towards the light. Once they start growing--they grow very fast.

As each bloom is done--it will get all limp and hang down. Do not pull the dead bloom off by hand--allow it to fall of naturally, as the seed pod will be forming right at the base and you don't want to pull that off accidentally.
The seed pods grow quite large and look like small hand grenades. I have pictures.
They will start ripening in early-mid Fall and continue until early winter. You MUST wait until the pods start splitting open before you cut them off. Don't pull--they will fall apart in your hand. Each pod has maybe 100 seeds in it. Remove them on a paper plate and put in a warm spot (I did top of fridge) to dry out. Then store in an envelope or such. WASH YOUR HANDS after messing with the seeds!!!.
The only difference in the seed pods between the 2 colors is that the pods on the Purple one are smooth and the pods on the Yellow one have soft spikes on it. You DO need to know which is which when collecting seeds.

Also, there's some information here with photos of the seedlings from the Datura forum http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=4354179.

Some people recommend soaking the seeds before planting. Also, because they are so slow to germinate, if you can provide bottom heat it gets them going faster.

Here is a link that might be useful about Datura and Brugs. http://www.abads.net/Rich_Sanders/rich_grow_datura.htm Use site map square at page bottom for more info. Also there are several links now on the Useful Links sticky thread about all kinds of seeds and planting them. :)

This message was edited Mar 24, 2008 7:38 AM

Thanks for the help. I'll be starting them today. I can provide bottom heat so I hope I do well with them.

Me too, I'll start mine today and have a few heating matts so that should work.

Deb, thanks for the info. I'm ready to start mine, too.

2 out of 6 germinated so far

http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/viewentry/178459/

here are the datura seedlings from my previous post.... I know the one on the right is hard to see... but it's there... just right of the one you can see...they were on a heat mat in the little plastic "green house" they come with

Looks like chocolate cupcakes - yummy!

my mom said brown marshmallows

here are some better tasting ones for you Victor... the yellow are lemon ... the pink are rasberry.. green are mint... sorry the orange ones are gone already

Double yum! Thanks.

my mother also said i am BETTER than martha stewart after seeing the table and eating my food yesterday

:)

so warm and fuzzy

Very nice. Mom's know best.

Thanks for the seed sowing info. That's a great site.

Onewish, don't you love those compliments? My son's girlfriend said my cooking was better than her moms. Then she told my son not to tell her she said that.

I write down compliments like that next to the recipe in the cookbook along with the date and the people and the occasion. It's fun to look at a book filled with comments. So far the most rave reviews is for my Baklava.

That's fun.

I'm my worst critic of my own cooking, and my son's girlfriend also rolls her eyes when I start to say something didn't turn out as well as I wanted.

I think we're all like that with most things we do.

And David and Lindsey just appreciate a home cooked meal.

I think we all do.

Sure do! Still love my mom's cooking the best.

How many of you get disappointed going out for a meal that you could have made better yourself?

Oh yes - very often.

We narrowed it down to a very few restaurants we like and where we're very happy with the meals we enjoy there. I can't stand the chain restaurants and wish we had more diners around here just for the chicken salad sandwich or bacon and eggs on a grilled roll when we don't feel like making anything ourselves.

Oh yes!
For sure!
Could have prepared it much less expensively and so much better!

We have a great diner near us and a few very good restaurants.

Chicken salad is one thing I don't make well, and love to get a good one out.

are you guys kidding I was glowing after all the thank yous and compliments... makes the whole crazy day worth it to me.. and trust me I have had my downfalls learning to cook though.. I made wood out of turkey meatloaf I tried once.. my honey did the right thing and kept trying to eat it until I told him to stop before we are both in the ER... you should not eat something you need a reciprocating saw to cut.... but if any of you want to see the ham recipe i used here it is... it was wonderful.... thank you thank you alton brown

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_15538,00.html

Diners are wonderful. We have a couple of great ones near us. obviously not someplace you can eat every night, and retain your health, but after a day spent taking care of the grandkids, we went to one tonight.

Grilled cheese and bacon sandwich, chips, pickles, and a side salad for me. Chili and a cheeseburger for my husband and coffee all around. $10.32 plus tip. And it was all good. Nothing I couldn't cook at home, but no cooking, no clean up. It was wonderful.

I love chicken salad sandwiches.

great idea about making notes of compliments Arlene. I always want to organinze everything on the computer. Somehow, I never find the time.