Green Speckles

Nasturtium Empress

Tropaeolum spp.

Empress of India

Nasturtium
Bloom - 15 June
Nasturtium
Bloom - 15 June
Nasturtium
Bloom - 15 June
Nasturtium
Bloom - 15 June
Nasturtium
2 flower buds - 14 June
Nasturtium
2 flower buds - 11 June
Nasturtium
Sowing in bell pepper container -7 June
Nasturtium
Sowing in chili container -7 June
Nasturtium
16 May
Nasturtium
16 May
Nasturtium
20 Apr
Nasturtium
6 Apr
Nasturtium
Back from holiday - 3 Apr
Nasturtium
Today's planting - 17 Mar
Nasturtium
Sowing - 17 Mar
Nasturtium
Preparing tray - 17 Mar
Nasturtium
Preparing soil - 17 Mar 2022
Nasturtium

Nasturtium is a flowering plants native to central and south America. The flowers and leaves are edible, used in salads and desserts decoration, and taste a little bit peppery. The empress of India is a cascading variety, good for hanging basket and window box.

Planted March 2022

McKenzie seeds

Journal 2022
  • March
    • 17: Planted from seeds (McKenzie) by Harry and Olivia.
    • 25: Watered thoroughly in preparation of 10 days holiday.
  • April
    • 3: Back from holiday, seedlings look very good and thriving.
    • 20: About 20 cm tall.
    • 21: Moved to railing planter, inside the jiffy pots. 2 Jiffy pots replaced. Plan to let stay only 3, since the spread is 20 cm and planter length is only 45 cm. The rest can be moved to other planter such as roses and daisy/sunflowers.
  • May
    • 14: Combined with lavenders.
    • 23: Transferring is not very smooth. Many gets damaged to the point it's dead. Only several not so healthy looking ones left. It is indeed warned that transferring is hard.
    • 24: Sow more directly in outdoor container:
      • Pumpkin container: 9 (2 in each sides between the pumpkins, and 1 more in the front
      • Lavender container: 10 (3 in sides, 2 in each mid front and back sides.
  • June
    • 7: Sow more directly in outdoor container:
      • Nasturtium/Lavender container: 9-10 in the right, middle, left.
      • Vegetables container: 7 (around tomatoes)
    • 9: Flower buds
Care
  • Don't transplant well.
  • Spills beautifully. Good for window box and hanging basket.
  • Full sun. At least 6 hours. Tolerate some shade (3-6 hours of sunlight), but might nit blooming profusely.
  • Well-drained poor soil, for bigger and more blooms.
  • Doesn't require a lot of watering. Can tolerate dryness. Like moderate moisture. Maybe water weekly. Even tough can survive moderate drought, blooms will diminish and foiliage will turn spindly.
  • Do not fertilize. Rich soil results in abundant greenery but few flowers.
  • Edible flowers and leaves. Ripe flowers are good for salad or summer dessert
  • Attract aphids, help keeping pests from other plants.
  • Deadheading not necessary.
  • Good to be planted among roses.
  • 20 °C, can survive light frost, but not cold freeze.
  • Average humidity. 30-50%. Struggling in extreme dryness and extreme humid.
  • Trailing variety: tends to be leggy and need pruning mid summer. And late summer to stimulate new growth. Trim longest stem back 6-12" for trailing variety, thin brown leaves and flower by pinching off at the base.
  • Bushy variety: trimming stem generally not needed, but pinching off spent flowers and dried leaves will keep plant looks nice.
  • Propagate cuttings (eg. from pruning) is easy.
References
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