Bitter melon "abashi"

[Toddz]

I am starting some bitter melon from seed indoors and I nicked the seed and soaked it overnight. On one of the seeds the outer coat cracked and came off. I was just wondering if the seed is still viable?

 

[Chuck]

I am starting some bitter melon from seed indoors and I nicked the seed and soaked it overnight. On one of the seeds the outer coat cracked and came off. I was just wondering if the seed is still viable?

That outer coating is a protective layer. Without it the seed will probably rot before it can fully germinate

 

[Toddz]

That outer coating is a protective layer. Without it the seed will probably rot before it can fully germinate

I have enjoyed reading some of your responses on here since I joined.

Thanks for the reply. This is one of my new plants that I try every year. My grandma used to grow it and when it was completely ripe (orange stage) she would slice it up into little pieces and put it in a baby food jar with old grandad whiskey. Then if you had a splinter or infection, she would apply it with a bandage to draw it out. I'm pretty sure the melon did nothing but keep it wet so the splinter would work its way out. Can't be sure about its effectiveness with an infection but it is a way to keep my grandma's memory alive.

I'm also grow butterfly pea flowers, cotton, peanuts, tobacco and barely in new plant section of the garden. We expanded our garden from 20'X100' to 20'X150' this year.

 

[Meadowlark]

...I'm also grow butterfly pea flowers, cotton, peanuts, tobacco and barely in new plant section of the garden. We expanded our garden from 20'X100' to 20'X150' this year.

That's an interesting array of plants. Never grown tobacco but have looked into it some...curious as to your results. Peanuts I've grown but they aren't worth the trouble to me...but they are a good soil builder. My new to me plants this year are Jicama, Murasaki sweet potatoes, and sunchokes as well as experimenting with 12 different varieties of potatoes. Experimentation brings joy to gardening.

 

[YumYum]

Tobacco is a very heavy feeder of nitrogen.

 

[Toddz]

That's an interesting array of plants. Never grown tobacco but have looked into it some...curious as to your results. Peanuts I've grown but they aren't worth the trouble to me...but they are a good soil builder. My new to me plants this year are Jicama, Murasaki sweet potatoes, and sunchokes as well as experimenting with 12 different varieties of potatoes. Experimentation brings joy to gardening.

We know some things that we try will not perform great but we just like to have a part of the garden that's for pure fun. I remember the first all blue potato that my grandma planted. She was convinced that it was nothing but a novelty potato. I have been growing magic molly potatos for about 5 years and they are a great producer.

We donate about 50% of everything we grow to our local "little free pantry" and the blue and red fleshed potatos are a big hit with the children.

Our mini head lettuce trial this year is to determine the best varieties for the elderly and handicap in raised bed and containers gardens in our county. We have several people who are doing the container tests while we just see how they grow from direct seeding and indoor starts.

We are also trialing about 12 dwarf varieties of tomatos. Next year we are going to do potatos but I would love to hear from your potato trial.

 

[Toddz]

Tobacco is a very heavy feeder of nitrogen.

Yes they are. We are growing them in our old garden area away from our tomatos. It's 500 yards away from our tomatos at my parents house.