Fun Experiment to Grow Yard-long Bean

Couple years ago one of my good friends sent me couple of yard-long been seeds via mail. From five seeds, only two weren't crushed and one seed were a half crushed, so I decided to plant them (three seeds). Two grew well but only one plant survived because I accidentally broke the young stems on another seedling. I took care one plant till it grew very well. I was satisfied with its result. I could grow the longest yard-long bean ever. almost 60 cm or over 60 cm if I flatten it.

During its growth, I watered it once/day except it was rainy day. Mostly I used washed rice water because it is a wonderful way to conserve water. The starches from leftover rice water will help encourage beneficial soil bacteria. It also contains vitamins, especially Thiamine; and minerals. They will add small amounts of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (NPK) to the soil and they are good for plant's growth. Thiamine was my topic in my research for mushroom's growth to get my Bachelor Degree in Agriculture with my specialist program/major in Agronomy. I also used small amount of fertilizer contained NPK, only twice during its growth to boost harvest.

Yard-long bean plant in my backyard garden, summer 2017.

The longest yard-long bean, almost 60 cm, summer 2017.

Harvest from my backyard garden, 2016.

Harvest in 2017. I brought them to Massachusetts for dinner in the Glades in summer.

Our late son showed my harvest. It was the last time he enjoyed yard-long bean.

I harvest the young leaves to make soup with coconut milk.
In Indonesia, we call the young leaves of yard-long bean is daun lembayung.
It has more nutrients than its fruits.

I cooked stir fried yard-long bean for dinner at the Glades, summer 2017.

I made Urap using yard-long bean, cabbage, and seasoned grated young coconut, summer 2018.

Yard-long bean
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Genus:	Vigna
Species:	V. unguiculata
Subspecies:	V. u. subsp. sesquipedalis
Trinomial name
Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis (L.) Verdc.
Synonyms[1]
Dolichos sesquipedalis L. Vigna sesquipedalis (L.) F. Agcaoili Vigna sesquipedalis (L.) Fruwirth

Source: Wikipedia

Fun Experiment to Grow Buttercrunch Lettuce

Summer this year I plant butter-crunch lettuce for the first time. I didn't grow it from the seed but bought the baby plant from Walmart for $1.50. I wanted to know what the issues I would face during my planting.

When I harvested this afternoon, I considered using a cut-and-come-again method by cutting the entire plant at the base and leaving a short stub to re-sprout; or to extend the harvest, I can pick outer leaves first an allow the center leaves to enlarge.

Harvested on Thursday, May 17, 2018

Baby slug was the main problem I faced because too much rain during this week. When flipping the leaves, I saw many baby slugs on the ground. That was why after I cut the entire plant at the base, I left a short stub to re-sprout. Then I washed the leaves in the running water. That is the best way to clean them.

Taken on Thursday, May 17, 2018

Lettuce
lettuce field
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Lactuca
Species:	L. sativa
Binomial name
Lactuca sativa L.
Synonyms[1][2]
Lactuca scariola var. sativa (Moris) L. scariola var. integrata (Gren. andGodr.) L. scariola var. integrifolia (G.Beck)

DESCRIPTION

Common Name: Lettuce Buttercrunch
Botanical Name: Lactuca sativa Buttercrunch
Family: Asteraceae

Lettuce Buttercrunch, Lactuca sativa Buttercrunch, : Originating in India during ancient times, lettuce is one of the oldest, most popular salad vegetables. Buttercrunch has dark green tinted, wavy, yellow leaves, with a flattish open but tightly bunched fan-shape to each. Crisp and sweet, with a pleasant buttery taste.  The baby leaves are highly rated for salads.  A good source of vitamin A and phytonutrients. Slow bolting (running to seed). Enjoys near neutral, rich well drained soil. Whilst heat tolerant, most lettuce dislike very hot conditions and will tolerate some shade. Keep moist during growing period. Seed may be planted at 4 week intervals during the warmer months to provide a succession of this lovely salad vegetable.  70 days.

Sowing Advice

Sow lettuce seed on surface and barely cover during spring summer and autumn. Do not allow seed bed to get really dry. Thin gradually, thinnings may be used in salads. In warmer climates  plants may benefit from a few hours of afternoon shade during the hotter summer months.  Prefers rich moist, near neutral soils .  Consecutive, small plantings will give a continuous crop throughout the warmer months. 70 days.

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Fun Experiment to Grow Green Onions (Part II)

Having experiment to grow green onion is really fun. My goal is to be able to grow its flower since I never see it with my own eyes, then I want to know what's going on after the blooming period. You will see these pictures and videos below as the results of my experiment.

The most interesting fact is I did not use any additional fertilizer. I only used the regular soil I had before from my old pots and watered them with rice water (I wash the rice before cook it and I always use the rice water to water my plants). Do you know why? I will share my own interesting story in the end of this post. So, please stay tuned for the next post (part III).

Green onion flower

The flower contents seeds that can grow the new generations.

Harvesting seeds and seperating the tiny green onions growing from the seeds.

If you miss the part I of this post, you can visit this link: Fun Experiment to Grow Green Onions (Part I)

To be continued

Allium
Allium sativum[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily:	Allioideae
Genus:	Allium L.
Type species
Allium sativum L.

Source: Wikipedia

About the author: Fida Abbott has interest in landscaping, gardening, and cooking besides singing and writing. She is a graduate of University of Pembangunan Nasional, Surabaya, Indonesia, in Bachelor Degree of Agriculture, 1988-1993. Recently she has writing projects and is pursuing her tax school in intermediate level.

Fun Experiment to Grow Green Onions (Part I)

Green onions are often called scallions or spring onions are immature onions. They are used as vegetables, eaten either raw or cooked. They have milder taste than most onions. I used to cook them to make soups or any broths or just pour them (slices) on the top of the soup/broth.

I had an idea several months ago to do experiments: planting them inside and outside. I wanted to see the differences between growing inside and outside with different purposes. For inside: I planted them in the water (hydroponic system) and harvested the green leaves twice. For outside: I planted them in the containers/plastic pots using pot soil as their media. I wanted to see their flowers growing and would harvest the real onions (bulbs).

The first day after planting (Hydroponic).
Media: water. I changed the water at least once a week.
 Everyday the old and new leaves grew 1 cm.
This small plastic glass contains 3 green onions.

Growing after 2 weeks. Location to grow: Near window with full of sunshine.
Time to harvest.

This plastic container contains 6 green onions.
Every time I harvest, I have saved $1.18 as like buying them in one plastic back.
To harvest: I cut the green leaves and let the bulbs growing again one more time.
By harvesting twice, I have saved $2.36 as like buying them in two plastic bags.

In the second harvest I used all the parts of the green onions (leaves and bulbs) and only left two bulbs.
I did another experiment by planting them in the plastic pots using pot soil as their media. 

To be continued

Allium
Allium sativum[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily:	Allioideae
Genus:	Allium L.
Type species
Allium sativum L.

Source: Wikipedia