has anybody tried "exotic veggies"?

[flaquita]

I am currently soaking some wing beans and have some long beans going in little pot,soon to be transplanted. Anybody ahve any experience with them? I live south of Houston, so I figured I might as well try some tropical or subtropical veggies.
I also am trying my hand at "snake gourds", we'll see.
Do you think it's too late to start eggplant from seed?
thanks
andrea

[Train]

I am currently soaking some wing beans and have some long beans going in little pot,soon to be transplanted. Anybody have any experience with them? I live south of Houston, so I figured I might as well try some tropical or subtropical veggies.
I also am trying my hand at "snake gourds", we'll see.
Do you think it's too late to start eggplant from seed?
thanks
andrea

Ya!
I opened a mango aril and planted the seed. The jury
is still out on that one, Heheh.
I also figured out how to plant the famous
Kalamata Olive. You really gotta be careful there.
They are very sensitive to soil and climate not
to mention current weather conditions.
Heck no it isn't too late for egg plant.
Start a flat tray of them now. Right this minute. Tonight
in little 2 inch pots and keep them out in the sun and well watered
every day and more than once if it looks like they need it.
I planted the Violette DI Fiorenze, but just
plant what you have.
Luck to you
Train

[pepperhead212]

Here's a tip for wing beans - the ones I grew (from Baker's) didn't produce until late in September - something about the length of day triggering them, or something.

[flaquita]

Thanks, Dave,
shouldn't be a problem here since we'll still have hot days and humid days and nights then...
thanks train for the encouragement, I will do that. I actually did put some in little pots about a week ago, but the little stinkers won't sprout,I even got one snake gourd sprouting, without soaking it first. The second batch of snake gourd and wing beans I soaked in Kelp spray solution, they all got really big and one of the wing beans looks like it wants to bust out of it's shell already...I'll keep my fingers crossed. I also found some 'Hyacinth beans" which I sowed directly into my "seed started bed", they are sprouting as well....
I am really excited about all these "exotics", I ate them all the time and loved them when I was living in Hawaii, where you could buy long beans etc at a swap meet for something like 50 cents or a dollar a pound. Ah those were the days.
andrea

[zeedman]

I have grown all of the beans listed (Winged, Yardlong, and Hyacinth), but only the yardlongs do well for me this far North, in Wisconsin. They should all do well in Texas.

The Winged Beans from E.C.H.O. are supposedly day-neutral (as is Hunan), but they still need a longer season than I have here. I still grow them from transplants, but only get to harvest pods for a few weeks before frost. The seeds are very hard; filing, sanding, or nicking the seed prior to soaking will aid in germination. It should be noted that the leaves eaten as a pot herb are very high in protein.

Hyacinth Beans are nearly all daylength-sensitive, and will not bloom until late August / early September. The young pods look like snow peas, which is the stage at which they should be eaten. Mature seeds are toxic. The purple-podded varieties are more succulent than most of the green ones. They are truly tropical, and will produce pods in extreme heat, when other beans quit.

[Dramaqueen]

I am currently experimenting wiht two caribbean varieties of Okra that are really growing very slowly and poorly. Then I am growing Taro Root which is flourishing, both leaves of Taro as well as roots are deliciuos and edible and this is a Caribbean variety. I am growing a Thailand variety of yellow sweet potato which I started from a potato and made slips, this is really growing wonderfully to my surprise. I have baby mexican cucumbers which are now sending out tons of little flowers. I am growing Chick pea which is bearing. I am growing one Habenero plant that is struggling because the seed was of poor grade and old, but it is still growing just really slow, seed came from the Caribbean as well. I planted bitter melons and never saw anything germinate, seeds may have been too old. I have a little Tamarand tree growing there from a seed I tossed in the ground:D

[springfever]

dramaqueen, do the mexican cucumbers stay small. I like cucumbers but if I don't pick them every day, they get bigger than I like to eat.

[zeedman]

Dramaqueen, it's possible that your Bitter Melon seed is still good. The seed coats are very tough, and germination can be erratic. Scarification can improve the percentage. If you file or nick the seed coat along the edge, then soak over-night, some of them might grow. Warm soil temps (around 80 degrees F. / 26 degrees C.) are also helpful.

I assume that the "baby Mexican cucumbers" are those also known as Mexican sour gherkin, Melothria scabra? The fruits look like tiny watermelons, and are very sour. They can put a little "bite" into a bland salad.

[flaquita]

wow dramaqueen, that is so cool, a tamarind tree, great. I ahv tried the little mexican gherkins as well, they are delicious, forgot about them this year...so many veggies so little time...

[yorkerjenny7]

I tried strawberry spinach this year, nothing's going on. mizuna is crazy and very easy to do. Lemon cucumbers, I have to ask cucumber beetles how they like it.

[flaquita]

I have lemon cukes, crazy leaves and stalks. reminds me of the plant from "Little Shop of Horrors", I'm waiting for it to command me to feed it.. So far only baby cukes, hopefully there will be more...

[TastyofHasty]

I have lemon cukes, one plant is growing on a pot on the deck and has gone right across and down the whole side. It's really pretty, full of pretty yellow blooms that are turning into lemon cukes, one by one.
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb300/buckette/LemonCukeHangingGardenLR.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb300/buckette/lemonCukesLR.jpg

[muppetcow]

I have lemon cukes, too. They're battling it out with the borage. I think they will win. No cukes as of yet, but oodles of blossoms.