HiveComb

Putting sticks in the ground and see what happens is my absolute favorite method of propagating plants. But I already wrote about that. Currently, the raining season is starting in Ecuador, and that is always a great moment to sow some plants. My Rocoto-Chili has been very weak (which is okay after 4 years), so I’m going to replace it with a new plant. Since my old seeds were indeed too old (only a potato and something I don’t even know grew in the seed pot), I took some of the seeds out when I was making pickled chili on Saturday.

There’s always something in my fridge that suddenly has roots or is sprouting already. I planted a lot of peas that way, as well as beans, and had quite the success. So, I went into the garden today (both rooftop and outdoor) and put the rest of my seeds in the ground, before they get too old, too. Can’t wait for the peas to sprout! Young peas, right out of the hull, are just the best. So sweet and delicious. People here always look at me a little weird when I first munch one of the peas they’re selling to determine how fresh and young they are.

A lot of times, my attempts fail. Yet, I never went to a plant nursery to get seedlings. I should, honestly, though mainly to get some good earth for my pots – the compost is still not enough for them. There are also some seeds that just don’t grow well here, so getting and adapted variety from the nursery down in the valley (500m from here… no, I really don’t have any excuse) makes more sense.

When I arrived here, I plantes an avocado tree in every house that I moved to. But I never got to harvest even one avocado from them. The first one was at my ex-wife’s house. It was a plant I got out of a pit if I remember correctly, and I was pretty proud to see it grow. The second one was indeed a grafted one, a friend gave it to me – his father owns a big avocado farm, 5km from here, the Hass variety. Good stuff, though not my favorite since I discovered a native green one that, if let ripened correctly, is even creamier and tastier. But that didn’t matter, as the house was sold and I had to move out before I could harvest one. I didn’t even try here, as there already were 5 citrus trees and 2 apple trees in the yard. And many friends have avocado trees. But maybe for the next round I’ll try grafting – the place where we moved the bakery to has an old variety from the region that is said to be the most resistant against any kind of diseases, and the other tree is the variety that I love. So, if I ever buy a house or piece of land, I might finally venture into the next level of plant propagation.

Riverflows mentioned “Air Layering” as a propagation technique under one of my posts. That is maybe the next feasible step for me, before grafting, as it’s not really as god play as the other. From what I read until now, it’s mostly for woody plants, though – and I don’t have much space for those. Yet. Doesn't mean I won't try this method with everything I get my hands on, as soon as I figure out a good way to keep it moist.

And until then - I'll just keep sticking things into the dirt and see what grows.

What are your thoughts about this topic? Please feel free to engage in any original way, including dropping links to your posts on similar topics. I'm happy to read (and curate) any quality content that is not created by LLM/AI, as well as read your own experience and point of view, I love to learn!