Growing Moringa Stenopetala in Zone 9b?
Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
9 years ago
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Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
9 years agoRelated Discussions
plant moringa olifeira from seed/cutting
Comments (60)Prior to this morning, I didn't even know there was any moringa threads on here. I started 8 seeds purchased on Ebay last September here in Riverside county between Temecula and Hemet. They all sprouted in ground. Two on one end of the hedge bed thrived and got about 3' tall prior to cold weather. The others stayed small, but alive. This spring the two on one end took off like rockets and are now 8' tall and full of flowers. I will say they are on drip systems, and get about 1 hours drip every other day. We plan to hedge ours for easy harvest of leaves and pods, so they will grow no higher than 8' tall. We discovered why the others didn't grow. There is a giant boulder about 6" below the dirt, so no place for their roots. They are still alive, but only 12" tall. I read that the Moringa Stenopetala has bigger leaves and tastes better, so we recently planted seeds of that variety in a different spot on our property. This morning one has sprouted. It's very cute and green and has it's own dripper, which we will turn off once it's established. That variety stores water in it's bulbous trunk and is very drought resistant, which is great in drought conditions here in Southern California. I will say it is very hot here in summer, and in the winter it can snow, but it never sticks. The trees do get set back in winter, but they spring up again when the weather warms....See MorePaperwhite - My drumstick trees are growing!
Comments (44)I have 9 of these trees thisisme. I started them from seed in January, and have already pruned them back once. I planted them in 2L plastic bottles because I like to be able to see the root development. (of course you have to be careful not to expose the bottles to direct sun because that would heat up the root area too much. I can't wait to plant them in the ground soon. I'm thinking of planting them close together to get some privacy from neighbors. Too bad they grow so whispy....See Moreedible hedge in zone 9
Comments (22)Ok Michael, I will chime in now. After much thought, my first choice would be a hedge of feijoa (pineapple guava). They are hardy, evergreen, low maintenance plants that can be grown in hedge form and still maintain compact growth. I have a couple and I plan on buying more this spring for privacy hedges. Keep in mind that there are two kinds of feijoas. There is an ornamental type that has small fruits that don't taste very good. Then there is the large fruited variety that has a better taste. Just Fruits and Exotics has the large fruiting kind. Those are very rare. The feijoa also has beautiful flowers. Hopefully you get enough sun to produce some flowers. My other thoughts would be to use herb bushes as already mentioned: rosemary and bay (the cooking variety). I have a friend who put in a mass planting of pineapples in front of his house in a filtered sun area, but you would have to be in zone 9b to do that. Blueberry bushes probably would not work well because the pH around houses is usually on the alkaline side because of lime leaching from the cement foundation. Because you need the plants to below window level, your choices are more limited. Best of luck. Let us know what you decided to plant. Christine...See MoreHeat/Sun
Comments (16)Peaseblossom, I just want to provide a little information that I thought might be interesting since you're talking about the climate there...and thanks for the reiteration! How long have you lived in Vietnam? Dai, Since Hong Kong is located in the tropic, shouldn't light intensity be the same throughout the year since the sun is always directly overhead in the tropic? Just curious since I never lived that far north in Asia. Thanks Eggo, Thank you so much for asking that question. You truly have a heart of gold! Yes, it was a horrible experience. One that I will remember for a long time. We had our fair share of tropical storms and hurricanes but usually stay home. Not this time though. People in the Galveston/Houston areas were freaking out over what had just happened in New Orlean caused by Hurricane Katrina. This was actually the first time I saw people in this region of Texas got serious and worried about this other hurricane, Rita. All I can say was it was horrible. Not in the sense of the storm, but the traffic!! Yeah, we decided to evacuate the island--first time ever since we moved here. We were fortunate, I take that back, very fortunate for leaving a tad bit earlier than the mass exodus of cars and trucks that followed us shortly afterward toward Houston. We stayed at a close family place up there and decided that we're going to weather out the storm if it decides to hit here head on. On our way to Houston we listened to the radio and the weather forecaster told us that Rita was to become a category 5 hurricane!! It eventually became the third strongest hurricane on record in the Atlantic and it was heading toward Galveston!! My family was ready for the inevitable. What if we no longer have a house? What if our business is gone, what are we to do? Family prayed all night and the next day and the day after. With every day gone by, the hurricane got weaker and weaker. When it almost landed, what was once a 175 mph freak of nature in the middle of the Gulf mellow out, miraculously, into a 125 mph wind of destruction. Yes it was still a killer hurricane but a much less destructive one nontheless. And I be darn, the thing all of a sudden decided to head slightly due east from the projected path!! We felt very relieved for us and our friends back home on the island even though East Texas and Louisiana will feel the brunt of the hurricane. I wished it didn't hit anywhere in the U.S. but a direct hit on Houston, the fourth largest city in the U.S., will most likely have caused catastrophic damage to the city much like New Orlean, possibly more even. Long story short, Rita decided to hit almost dead center at the Texas-Louisiana border and caused extensive damages from Port Arthur, Tx to almost the entire left half of Louisiana. Fallen trees, flooding, mass electrical failure, toppled houses, looting, you name it. Everything that could easily have happened here had Rita wanted to. Fortunately, Rita didn't stay too long to cause more damage once it made landfall. The whole event was chaotic for the millions of Texans as well as Louisianans who had to endure it. Houston, a city that once housed the largest shelter for Katrina refugees, the Astrodome, eventually looked destined to become another New Orlean. One can only imagine what was on the minds of Katrina refugees who was forced to leave their beloved city just weeks ago. Soon they were forced to go on buses heading toward other refugee camps in Arkansas, San Antonio, and Dallas to name a few. And locals, can't forget them. Took us about 6 hours to drive 50 miles and I thought that was insane. Later I heard some people had to spend a whole day just to leave Houston!! At the peak of traffic chaos, going from Hwy 160 east to Hwy 160 west withing the city was a 6 hour journey!! Cars were idling too long, many without gas, many pleading to the government for food and essentials. It was just horrible. The worst traffic jam you can possibly think of in Texas. Back home we felt very relieved that our house and business were intact. Rita was not so forgiving to our garden though. We had many toppled trees such as our large moringa as well as a couple of large indian jujubes. The two year old royal paulownia tree was bent, and still is. I'm trying to fix that somehow. And our papaya grove is left in ruined. Lots of torned leaves and broken papaya trees bent in half. Overall, half of the papaya trees are gone but those left were quickly re-erected as were all the other trees that fell. Fortunately, non hit our house and caused any major damage. Boy what a crazy year it has been. A record hurricane seasons, hurricanes of which the most massive ever recorded. And the freak snow, who can forget that. I'm just amazed at how all these so call tender mango, papaya, avocado, pomegranate, moringa, rose apple, indian jujube are able to withstand these conditions. I guess, like a migrant from the tropic, if I can do it so can they!!...See Morexman
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