Log in

View Full Version : Strange plant


bananimal
01-15-2013, 01:38 AM
Anybody growing this thing? Guess what it is. Oval and fernlike leaves on the same stalk. Small white flower clusters on top.

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=51891&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=51891&ppuser=820)

sunfish
01-19-2013, 09:46 AM
Strange

bananimal
01-19-2013, 11:24 AM
Hint------------ you eat it with shrimp cockatail!

PR-Giants
01-19-2013, 12:06 PM
Hint------------ you eat it with shrimp cockatail!

Is that a small cockatiel or a small cockatoo, mine's a Moluccan.

Abnshrek
01-19-2013, 12:10 PM
Hint------------ you eat it with shrimp cockatail!

Its a cocktail plant? :^)

PR-Giants
01-19-2013, 12:32 PM
recao

john_ny
01-19-2013, 01:36 PM
Horseradish. I've grown it, but forgot what it looked like, until you mentioned the shrimp cocktail. The first time I dug a piece up and washed it, I remarked to my wife that it didn't smell very pungent. I put the piece in a blender and, when I opened the cover, it brought tears to my eyes!

bananimal
01-19-2013, 01:48 PM
recao

You got the idea - it's for seasoning.

John's right --- it's horse radish. When you grow your own it will blow your socks off. With rare roast beef - WOOF!

The stores around here carry it on holidays only!? When you say why not all-the-time, they say no demand. When I lived in north east Charlotte, NC there were a lot of German decendants of original settelers. We could get fresh zingy H-radish all the time. So not wanting to wait for holidays for a good shrimp cocktail I saved one chunk with growing points. They started to sprout in the fridge and I stuck it in a pot. Will plant it inground in a month or so. It's invasive so gotta keep an eye on it. The stuff in jars is dead flat - no bite.

Speaking of recao, aka culantro the Bonnie people sell seedlings at HD and Lowes in spring. Lasts all year. Also Bravo mkt carries it all the time. Right next to the berros. Man I love a spicy berro salad - watercress - grew up on the stuff.

wolfyhound
01-19-2013, 02:48 PM
Wait... so I could buy horseradish roots in the grocery with the ugly rooty bits and plant it and grow a horseradish??

*trying to resist the urge to rush to the store*

I foresee making more grocery produce workers wonder about my sanity. Yesterday I was tugging the leaves on pineapples. One lady watched me and started to do it too and asked "If they come out, does that mean it's ripe?" I told her no, if they didn't pop out, it meant you might be able to plant the top and grow a plant.

She told me I was crazy and that pineapples don't grow on plants. I really wish I could have gotten her to tell me where she thinks pineapples come from but she walked off. But I have a pineapple and soon I think I shall have horseradish to try.

Any care tips?

john_ny
01-19-2013, 03:19 PM
Just dig a hole, and throw the root in. When harvesting; dig it up, cut off the piece you want, and throw the rest back in the hole. Really simple.

wolfyhound
01-19-2013, 03:21 PM
Thank you!

And thank you to the OP Bananimal for posting the cool picture!

JodoGarden
01-19-2013, 03:35 PM
I didn't recognize it. I grew horseradish up North as a crop to sell. It can take over everything once it gets established. The leaves are large and grow straight up almost. I knew another farmer who pureed the roots in a blender and opened the top to the blender and it LITERALLY knocked him out! He hit his head on the kitchen counter on the way to the floor... very potent stuff when it's fresh!

bananimal
01-19-2013, 07:03 PM
I didn't recognize it. I grew horseradish up North as a crop to sell. It can take over everything once it gets established. The leaves are large and grow straight up almost. I knew another farmer who pureed the roots in a blender and opened the top to the blender and it LITERALLY knocked him out! He hit his head on the kitchen counter on the way to the floor... very potent stuff when it's fresh!

You know what I'm talking about. Since moving to S Fla I found out that the freshest seafood is available year round. The shrimp are unbelievably good.

I use lemons from my own Eureka lemon tree and now I can dig up fresh H-radish.

If I could only grow my own ketchup!!! :08:

JodoGarden
01-19-2013, 07:05 PM
You know what I'm talking about. Since moving to S Fla I found out that the freshest seafood is available year round. The shrimp are unbelievably good.

I use lemons from my own Eureka lemon tree and now I can dig up fresh H-radish.

If I could only grow my own ketchup!!! :08:

Yeah... tomatoes are probably the only thing I can't seem to grow in FL... at least not a good one!

bananimal
01-19-2013, 07:16 PM
Yeah... tomatoes are probably the only thing I can't seem to grow in FL... at least not a good one!

I have tried for 8 years. Still haven't figured it out. This stupid sugar sand grows so many other things well. I built 2 raised boxes for this year. Will see what happens.

Container growing tomats and bell peppers works well but I still would like to grow some inground. Heirloom tomats grow good but I can't stand the flavor and texture.

JodoGarden
01-19-2013, 07:42 PM
I have tried for 8 years. Still haven't figured it out. This stupid sugar sand grows so many other things well. I built 2 raised boxes for this year. Will see what happens.

Container growing tomats and bell peppers works well but I still would like to grow some inground. Heirloom tomats grow good but I can't stand the flavor and texture.

I've tried in ground and containers... different varieties... they get to bloom stage and start getting diseases and worn out (in ground by nematodes). I know a farmer down here that put chicken manure and bedding on her garden and got a great crop this year. Maybe that is the key... she said the bedding from her chickens made the difference. I can grown all other solanaceous plants, just not tomatoes very well. They say b/c tomatoes are big mono crop here in FL there are many diseases and bugs to deal with year-round.

sunfish
01-19-2013, 09:09 PM
Hint------------ you eat it with shrimp cockatail!

Dos Equis :woohoonaner:

wolfyhound
01-20-2013, 12:38 PM
I have the same issues with tomatoes. I grew huge beautiful plants, they had plenty of blooms and small green tomatoes, but they always had issues before they turned into even green tomato stage(like for frying).

We used to grow them fine in one property, it had rich loomy dirt and the only issue we ever had was deer eating them.

bananimal
01-20-2013, 04:37 PM
The only S Fla growers that I know that make it look easy grow tomats only in green houses. In raised planting boxes with only 100% compost for the medium. Spray with Organocide once in while. Add fert. Get huge crops.

Wolfy ----- curious about your forum name --- do you have Irish wolfhounds? What a great monster dog they are.

wolfyhound
01-20-2013, 05:08 PM
I do not have wolfhounds, no. I ended up choosing the screenname long ago when I irst started getting online. My husband was "GreyWolf" and I joked that I must have been a wolfhound to pursue him.

I'm definitely the irish and not the russian. Shaggy, lanky and clumsy with a tendency to knock things over... not sleek and elegant and graceful!

Nicolas Naranja
01-20-2013, 08:40 PM
It's funny you mention it being hard to grow tomatoes in Florida. There are 40,000 acres of tomatoes in the state. They will grow well here, but it takes a lot of fertilizer and water.

bananimal
01-20-2013, 09:02 PM
I do not have wolfhounds, no. I ended up choosing the screenname long ago when I irst started getting online. My husband was "GreyWolf" and I joked that I must have been a wolfhound to pursue him.

I'm definitely the irish and not the russian. Shaggy, lanky and clumsy with a tendency to knock things over... not sleek and elegant and graceful!

Great response. When I had German sheps I thought about the IWH everytime I read one of Jack Higgins novels from the early days. Back cover showed him running on the beach with his big IWH. What a big beautiful dog. When the first GS died I got another one. Give me 5 acres and I'll get an IWH.

wolfyhound
01-20-2013, 09:25 PM
I know tomatoes grow well here, I just can't grow them myself! LOL. Of course, I once killed a plastic plant, so you know...

Bananimal, I've said that i might get a GSD once my current dogs pass on. I have yorkies(5) and a poodle mix and a Old English Sheepdog. So it'll be a while!

Kat2
01-07-2014, 06:59 PM
Dragging this up because I picked up 6 very fat horseradish roots for $2 on the bargain bin at my favorite grocery--this is the closest market I've found to my DC area haunts where I could drive 2 miles (took me up to 2 hours depending on timing and weather) and shop the world.

So I want to plant these puppies but they're huge--2" in diameter and at least 10" long. Last time I grew it I did stick farmer market roots in the ground but they were maybe 1/3 to 1/2 the size of these; 1 out of 3 did nothing but the other 2 went nuts.

I would love to end up with more than 6 plants--like at least 18--6 would be a bribe to the lady with the avocado I desperately want to air layer. Does anyone know now much root you need for initial starts? Is having the bud at the top necessary? If so, can you split them and leave a portion on each? (Yes, I know just how invasive horseradish can be once established but getting it growing doesn't just happen.

Right now I'm planning on tucking them outside tonight (cold) then in the fridge along with the softneck garlic (didn't plant in time) I'm vernalizing for a couple of weeks to help mimic a lower zone. Good idea or not for these? My starts would be in pots until leaves form. (BTW, unless the grocery manager I showed my prize to buys the last package I can add 2 much fatter roots to my stash.)

wolfyhound
01-07-2014, 07:10 PM
The horseradish I got were only 1/2" to maybe 1" in diameter, but I don't think any lived at all. We'll see if something pops up in the spring I guess.

Kat2
01-07-2014, 07:36 PM
The horseradish I got were only 1/2" to maybe 1" in diameter, but I don't think any lived at all. We'll see if something pops up in the spring I guess.But how long? These are intended to be processed/eaten not grown. Just like potatoes and lemongrass and others. I learned a lot about gardening in the 80s from my septuagenarian neighbor who quite successfully planted seeds and bits of anything delicious she purchased. Best lesson came from a lady who planted seeds from an airline snack of dried figs and got a common ficus with fruit that was one of the best, according to my tasters, they'd every had.

Hope yours take off! I just discovered each of my roots is cut. So I have 12 potential plants or 6 to grind up if I can't grow the bottom sections.

cincinnana
01-07-2014, 07:40 PM
I love horseradish plants ......great foliage.
Do soak them for a half hour... this "loosens" the sprout and mold inhibitors.
Do LIGHTLY scrub them of the chemicals that are applied to them to keep them from growing.
You can use light detergent.
I just plant the root from the store because they are so inexpensive ...OR
you may cut at the junctions and dip in a hormone and let heal....then plant.

I have planted the root as above, and once it gets established and roots develop then do all the dividing.....just my op it is a 1:) year process.
And when you decide to grind it ......do it indoors with your windows shut :ha::ha::ha:

Don't forget the ketchup or mustard:08:

Kat2
01-07-2014, 07:57 PM
So real quick, if you know, how small can I cut the roots? I have rooting hormone; I can carefully clean them up. Is cutting them somewhat like splitting seed potatoes then letting them scab over?

I prefer sour cream if I add anything. I was spoiled in the DC area--both purple and white very hot jarred horseradish were available any day. What I find here is really wimpy--it takes half of one of those little bottles to get anything close. (I also love wasabi though most of what's available isn't the real thing but at least there's some heat and flavor.)

Inside...yeah, right!

cincinnana
01-07-2014, 08:22 PM
It is a shame that the Wasabi that you and I know will never be the same...alot of the younger peeps will never experience the true burn of good wasabi....but.....
Treat like a tater, plant the eyes as normal just like you said.......your good. I plant...grow out ....then divide.
I forgot about sour cream.......Prime Rib or Chuck Roast......I was thinking hot dogs or Cincinnati brats......or even Bangers.
:ha::ha::ha:Do not EVER grind this in your house....this will bring tears to anything within 100 feet ,if you have pets ....they freak.

bananimal
01-07-2014, 08:39 PM
I have 2 pots growing H-radish. This came about cause the stuff in the bottles is disgusting. And the fresh roots wrapped in plastic taste like they are years old. Like 10% of the flavor and 1% of the heat.

Did some research and was told by several sources to cut off and toss the narrow end and only plant the budding end. This is the fat end. Just like the top of a carrot where the leaves sprout. I posted earlier with pics.

http://www.bananas.org/f8/strange-plant-17368.html

Kat2
01-07-2014, 08:54 PM
I have grown it before. For some reason I never found it to be invasive either in MD (where the EX "weeded" it and lots of my plants he didn't find pretty) and in OH. I've also been warned about mint; I have always easily controlled that. But at my parents' house it took over 1/4 acre and more--all from a little sprout of spearmint my older sister brought home years ago. Either I have a very pale green or slightly brown thumb or I terrorize certain plants into submission. ;)