The hardy Kangkong plant

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A nice new, strong stem of kangkong growing from a plant that I thought was dying.

I have a horrible track record when it comes to growing leafy vegetables. Somehow or other, the poor plants die of neglect, don’t have the right growing conditions or are attacked by pests or disease (not in any particular order). My kangkong, however, looked to be my first leafy veggie success. They had been growing in a planter and hanging in individual bottle-pots, growing quite prolifically. They looked very impressive, if I say so myself. All was going well and I was looking forward to a decent harvest.

And then the whiteflies arrived. I tried to control them by cleaning the eggs off the leaves by hand, but there were too many leaves, and too many pests. Eventually, I stalked off in frustration and ignored the plants, and they began to die from the pests feeding on the leaves and lack of watering.

I thought that would be the end, but with the rainy weather we’ve been having, the plants got some moisture, they didn’t have any more to offer to the pests, and left alone, they miraculously survived. No doubt the stems were mostly withered, but new leaves started budding along the existing greener stems, and new stems began growing from the main stem. So I considered my options…

  1. Yucky mealy bugs setting up home at the base of the kangkong stem.

    Firstly, these plants were probably not very healthy any more. Were they worth reviving or should I just start a new batch?

  2. The plants were also very root bound in the bottle-pots, even though I used as much of the height of the bottles that I could to give the roots more space to grow. Obviously they still need more space…

Being curious, I thought I’d work with what I had and see what happened. The plants seemed anxious to grow, and responded well to some CPR/TLC.

But then the pests returned. Not just whiteflies but also fluffy, plump mealy bugs that clustered on the stems. So, as with the tomato plants, I decided to remove the food for pests, and unhappily got rid of the most infected kangkong plants, which was about 85% of them. I am stubbornly determined to see how far I can get with growing this plant. At least I know now that they’re tough, can bide their time and keep on growing. Now, if I could only figure a way to deter pests…

© 2011 curiousgardener.com All rights reserved.


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Sweet potato hunting again

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Then & now... Left: the growth from the original sweet potato. Right: the same area 11 months later. Note: what you see is only half the current patch!

It’s been almost a year since I planted sweet potatoes, and the plants have usurped a lot of garden space! It’s such a jungle that, unlike my dogs, I daren’t wade through either of the two sweet potato patches because I don’t know what exactly is lurking under all those leaves. I’ve seen snails, hairy caterpillars and various insects, for starters. And just last week, I watched in morbid fascination as the leaves of the patch under the mango tree moved in a sinuous motion. My brain was creating images of a snake slithering through the undergrowth, when suddenly a little tailorbird shot out from under the leaves! It had been foraging for insects under there. I was relieved, to say the least! Nevertheless, it made me take another look at the amount of space that the plants were taking up, and I decided it was time to go a-hunting for sweet potatoes, and if there weren’t any, to claim the land back.

Bottom left: the original stem cutting that grew. Top right: the sweet potato that grew from that stem cutting. Missing between the two: a stem or root that I accidentally severed when digging.

So, one sunny afternoon over the long Chinese New Year weekend, I decided to work off some energy and clear out the sweet potato patch I’d started from cuttings. Starting from the outer edges, I yanked out the long vines. Most of them had taken root at almost every leaf node, sending out lots of surface roots. Note: that’s bad because additional roots mean energy is diverted from the original roots and potatoes won’t form. Or so I’ve been told.

The vines were so wild that one had sneaked around the back of the chain link fence, intertwined itself with the the plants growing there, eventually emerging at the top of the fence!

There were a lot of vines, and I worked my way from the outside in, because as I said, I was wary of what might be lurking under there. I think the worst things I encountered were centipedes and small beetles that scuttled off, startling me. No snakes, thank goodness! I also hadn’t realized how heavy the vines, accumulated, would weigh, and ended up pulling the vines out, hand over hand, one at a time. It was more of a workout than I’d expected and boy, am I feeling it now…

While clearing the vines, I also kept an eye out for sweet potatoes. I knew there was supposed to be a thickened stem leading down to them, but there were only a couple of possible roots that were slightly thickened and orange in shade. They mostly ran along the surface before becoming skinny, regular roots. It was quite irritating – I had marked the spots where each stem had been planted, and most of those original plantings had died out as the vines spread and rooted everywhere else.

I lost hope.

The baby sweet potato - result of about 10 months of growing...

And then I came to the last cutting I had planted, which was on a raised mound. That mound had been eroded a couple of times by heavy rain and I had rebuilt it before the whole place got overgrown and I lost sight of it and forgot about it. So, I started moving earth away, out of rote, when I suddenly realized there was something peeking out at me! No way, I thought …but indeed there it was – a sweet potato! A tiny one, though, and not worth the 11 months and large amount of space. However, I do wonder if the potato belonged to vine that had grown up the fence. That could explain why it actually developed at all – it didn’t have as many root nodes.

At the end of this story, I can say that I’ve grown sweet potatoes… well, a sweet potato… :|

Lessons learned:

  • Know that sweet potatoes take up lots of Time and Space.
  • Plant them in raised beds/mounds.
  • Don’t let them take root everywhere!
  • Take heed when an old kampong girl gives advice. My Big, Huge Bad. :(

Do I want to grow sweet potatoes again? Maybe, just to know that I can do it the right way. What turns me off is the amount of space the plants take up. I wonder if container planting will work…

© 2011 curiousgardener.com All rights reserved.


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Lighten up, rain!

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Oy, I can’t understand why the weather is the way it is now. The fine rains we had in early January have given way to heavier downpours and strong winds, about 4 or 5 days out of the week, followed by a day or three of sunshine. I don’t mind the cool weather, but the downpours have been horrendous for some of my plants!

My strongest (so far) dwarf sunflower seedling had leaves battered off – and this in a partially shaded location!

I can't blame the snails or caterpillars this time - the bits of leaf were still in the pot.

The cosmos and roselle seedlings were pummeled into the potting media, and in a couple of cases, had been beheaded. I have to start over…

Cosmos and roselle seedlings: the aftermath of being flattened by several heavy downpours :(

On the other hand, the sweet basil seeds I sowed have been sprouting happily.

Sweet basil sprouts popping up like weeds. I think they like the rainy weather!

Fungal and humidity related issues are also rearing their ugly heads. Temperatures have been cool, by our standards, what with the rain and strong breezes – but then we also have those sunny days or hours that make the humidity worse… I gave up my okra plants because of powdery mildew, and now the aphids and mealy bugs are making a nuisance of themselves everywhere. It looks like I’ll be spending the long Chinese New Year weekend doing massive pruning and clearing. I can’t help it – when I see something affecting the plants, I have to act immediately, or else it will worsen and spread. So, I’ve been having a pretty good workout so far…

And while I’m clearing, I also have to watch out for all the snails that come out after the rain…

Garden snail snacking on sweet potato leaves after the rain.

I hope the rainy season blows over soon. Why can’t we go back to our 1-hour rain showers every afternoon? Just give me a few weeks and I’ll be whining about how dry and hot it is again…

© 2011 curiousgardener.com All rights reserved.


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The firecracker plant

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Gorgeous red flowers that are suddenly in bloom, just in time for Chinese New Year.

What better time to show off our firecracker plant (russelia equisetiformis, aka coral plant/fountain bush) than at Chinese New Year?

The cascading red flowers call to mind the clustered strings of hanging red firecrackers that were traditionally set off to ward off evil spirits and bad luck, and to welcome the lunar new year.

Of course, exploding firecrackers are not that common in Singapore any more, because of the fire hazard they posed in the past. However, a tradition is a tradition, and you can still see them used as decorations – and of course, hear the occasional string of smaller firecrackers going off…

It’s just timely that our firecracker plant is in bloom for the festive season. Our plant, a gift from a family friend, sits in semi-shade and seems to like a well-drained soil. I’d like to transfer it to a larger pot so it can grow even bigger. And if I figure out how to harvest the seeds and propagate them, perhaps next year we’ll have a whole row of them to display!

For now, the year of the Rabbit begins, and I’d like to wish my Chinese readers a happy, prolific bountiful New Year. Gong Xi Fa Cai! 8)

© 2011 curiousgardener.com All rights reserved.


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