Sunday, January 30, 2011

Seeds of Japanese indigo Väritattaren siemeniä

Tänä talvena vihdoin onnistuin saamaan siemeniä omista väritattarista. Täällä pohjoisessa niiden kukinta ei onnistu avomaalla, nuppuja alkaa tulla vasta kun päivä on lyhentynyt niin paljon, että samalla tulevat myös pakkaset eli lokakuussa. Etelämpänä yöt pimentyvät aikaisemmin ja kukkiakin voi tulla jo elokuussa ja ne ehtivät kypsyä ulkona. Olen ottanut versoja maljakkoon, koska joku neuvoi niin, mutta en ole saanut niistä siemeniä: kukat ja versot alkoivat lakastua ennenkuin siemeniä tuli. Ehkä nuppujen pitää olla jo tulossa kun varret leikataan. Nyt sitten pidin yhtä tainta purkissa koko kesän ja syyskuun lopussa otin sen sisälle. Kukkia alkoi tulla lokakuun lopulla ja marraskuussa, ja  joulun jälkeen niissä näkyi siemeniä. Leikkasin kuihtumaan alkavat varret lautaselle ja hieroin kukkia, jolloin siemenet irtosivat. Mikään pieni huonekasvi väritatar ei ole, purkkikin on kolme litraa ja versot ulottuvat metrin korkeudelle. Kukinnan jälkeen versot alkoivat kuihtua, ja nyt kasvi näyttää kuolleelta, sehän onkin yksivuotinen.
Siementen itävyyttä en vielä tiedä, se pitää kokeilla, mutta hienoa, että vihdoin onnistuin saamaan vähän omia siemeniä, ja tiedän jatkossakin, että se voi onnistua:)

Väritattaren siemeniä en ole valitettavasti edelleenkään nähnyt missään Suomen siemenkaupoissa, mutta Saksasta niitä myy Ruhlemanns vanhalla nimellä Polygonum tinctorium (näiden uusi tieteellinen nimi on Persicaria tinctoria).  Englannista niitä myy Wildcolours. Ranskasta väritattaren siemeniä löytyy Couleur Garance'lta.

IN ENGLISH 
I finally managed to get my own seeds from japanese indigo this winter. Here in the north with long daylight the flowering starts so late, that the frosts come at the same time, in October. In southern countries the dark nights come earlier and so also the japanese indigo may start to flower as early as August and seeds ripen  also early.
I had tried to get seeds by taking cut stems inside and put them in water, but I never got any seeds from them. They started wilting before the seeds came. Perhaps the flowerheads need to be visible before cutting the plants? Now I took one big plant in a pot inside in October and it started flowering in late October early November, and seeds ripened  after Christmas. I cut the flowerheads with seeds to a plate and let dry, picture below. Now the whole plant has wilted and died, it is clearly annual and dies after seeding.
I haven't tried the viability of the seeds yet, but it's great that I managed to get some of my own seeds now, and that now I know I can do this in the future:)

You can't buy seeds of japanese indigo anywhere from Finland, but Ruhlemanns in Germany sells the seeds (by the old name Polygonum tinctorium, the new latin name is Persicaria tinctoria) and also Wildcolours in the UK sells them. In France Couleur Garance sells them and in United States you can find these seeds from Companionplants seed catalogue.

10 comments:

  1. Dear Leena,

    congratulations - I hope the seeds will come up well!!!!

    Greatings from Germany
    Ute

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  2. Congratulations!
    I tried to get some seeds from the japanese indigo too and I didn’t succeed. The plants were growing in the south-east of France but at 900 meters altitude, winter always starts sooner here too. I tried, like you to grown a plant in a pot and bring it in the house but: no seeds !
    I will try again next year.
    In France you can buy seeds at: http://www.couleurgarance.com/
    In French the plant is called: Persicaire à indigo

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  3. Thank you Ute and Mary Lena:)
    I will add the name of the french supplier, it is good to know. They have also other interesting dyeplants.

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  4. I managed to get some seeds in oktober last year (from the garden) and later took some pots indoors. They did flower but there wasn't any pollination. Indoor plants have almost died off now. I also swapped some seeds. Mine are the round leaved variety blossoming white (Wildfibers Uk) and Ms Busyfingers from Ravelry had loads of seeds from the pointy leaved pink blossoming variety. I hope to have lots of plants this year and really learn to grow them well.

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  5. that's fantastic!
    thank you,DUH! now i know persicaria
    and polygonum are the same variety.

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  6. Thank you for this post!
    How can I send you an e-mail?

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  7. Thanks wolmut and neki desu:)
    These my seeds came now from the pointed leaves type plants, which seeds I initially bought from B&T World Seeds in France (but they don't carry japanese indigo now).
    Rosario, you can email me riihivilla(at)gmail.com.

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  8. I tried putting the flowering cuttings in water. They rooted, but never produced seed. If I get a chance to grow some next summer, I will try digging a plant up and bringing it in. How did you pollinate the plants? By the time my plants flower, there are no bees left outside because it is much too cold.

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  9. Hi Nina,
    that is exactly what happed to my cuttings as well, they rooted but never produced flowers before starting to wilt.
    I didn't pollinate the flowers, I think I read somewhere (yahoo woad group?) that japanese indigo is pollinated by wind, not insects, and I did get seeds inside (and the flowers started to come after I already had the plant inside), but I will have to try if they germinate, perhaps they are not viable. I hope they are:)

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  10. Dear Leena,
    I hope that your seeds germinate well. You can also buy then from the uk at Saith Ffynnon Wildlife Plants. http://www.7wells.co.uk/natural-dye-plants-8-c.asp.
    I am also about to sow my Japanese Indigo but I live in the South of France but near the mountains so I also have to be careful of early frosts.

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