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"What's Ampalaya?" you asked? Some call it bitter gourd, others call it bitter melon , we call it Ampalaya. This is a log on my first attempt of growing Ampalaya from seeds. A friend of mine gave me two Ampalaya seeds and since I didn't believe that it would germinate nor fruit, I just reluctantly potted it in loam soil some time in January in the small green house where I let everything germinate. It started growing without me knowing that it was actually Ampalaya. I thought it was just one of those watermelon till it started looking like this.
Watermelon leaves don't look like these so I picked one, rolled them in my fingers to let it excrete its scent and from there I could tell - it was ampalaya.
Both seeds germinated but I accidentally yanked the other one when I transplanted it on a bigger pot it must have lost an important root or something - it yellowed and died. Thinking I will be needing at least two to pollinate it, I thought of throwing the other one in the trash to utilize its pot for one of them pomegranates but that small voice in my head said give it a chance so i left it and gave it something to crawl on to because some of its vine parts were starting to choke my strawberry plants inside that greenhouse.
I thought it was growing too slowly and not a bud in sight so I thought of pulling it out again cause obviously when patient was being sold in the market I didn't avail of any. Some time in June a bud sprouted and somehow I started sweet talking it encouraging it to show off its flowers. I have been open about sweet talking my plants from the start and I am never ashamed of it. I believe that every living things have souls and that we can communicate with them.
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By the way, I keep it real when I sweet talk them. It sprouted more buds and one day, when I was about to water everything inside that greenhouse, a certain perfume like scent was lingering in there that I had to trace where it was coming from .. this.
I sweet talk it almost everyday to encourage it to fruit and since I don't know how to pollinate it, I left that part on the winged insects that visit that green house some time in July. I have never learned pollinating them nor whether they are self pollinating or not and as you know I was very busy with so many things during those days, the sweet talking sort of became seldom that when I visited it, this is what I saw, it's had a miscarriage :'(. (okay.. that part's a joke plants don't do that hehe)
Back when I was still living in my grandparents house, we were growing them every year and all I remember was they just flower there and before we knew it, it was time to harvest and we would have so much the whole street could share them harvest with us. All I remember was the harvesting part so I don't really know what I did wrong.. perhaps because I grew it in a pot? However, the friend who gave me the seeds, grew it directly on the ground, used poop fertilizer and grew it in her glass greenhouse but no luck of fruiting either.
I sweet talked it again and somehow she must have tried harder but to no avail again. It had another yellowing fruit but it kept climbing up and budding so I let it till that first attempt of improvising a winter coat for my strawberry greenhouse. With pain in my heart, I let it all go because the bottom leaves have already turned yellow. I guess, it's time to rest for her. The weather is a lot cooler surely it would just be agony for this tropical plant to go on trying.
So yes, this year, I failed to make my first Ampalaya plant fruit but would I ever try again? Hell no! I'll do it again .. over and over till I get the right way. Perhaps, I over watered it or her growing condition was just not ideal for her but surely, if I ever could get my hands on any Ampalaya seeds again, I'd experiment on growing them again to fruit specially now that I believe that it's possible and I was so close to achieving success of making it fruit, there's just no point in stopping now is there?.
This content's 100% mine. I took the pics with my Samsung A3 1016..
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Thank you for posting englishtchrivy.
Lovely reporting from The Greenhouse....such beautiful photographs...whispering 'loads goes on here'. ^_^
Yes....the scent of the leaves can be very informative....geraniums are a favourite.
Wishing you all the best....A bientot mon ami.
thank you
how's it going?
smooth I hope?
chill out there and good luck with you know what :D
we'll catch up when we can :D
Lovely to hear from you mon ami.....
Yes, thank you for inquiring.......please be assured all is going well.
Looking forward to having tea and chat. ^_^
Cheers. A bientot.
Plants have feelings and can communicate.
Here is the link of info that I think you will read @ englishtchrivy
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0023625
I agree !! ^ ^ .. I really think that cause my avocados look really happy everyday, specially the ones I always sweet talk :D
I have an orchid .. I don't like taking care of orchids just cause they're high maintenance hahaha .. I have never talked to it and it's the only plant that looks very unhappy in the house now .. so I'm trying to encourage it .. it's not been in my house for a long time, we got it as a present from my mother in law .. it had flowers and it was doing well the first weeks but now .. it looks dull and unhappy while the other plants I have inside my house look like powered up ^ ^ hahah
thank you for the link
I'll read in the morrow
for now.. I'll hit the bed .. dead tired from going out :D
I hope you had a great weekend .. goodnight!
I think they like quiet and relaxed music too, try it.
Good night @englishtchrivy
Giving up is not an option !!! Continue to your destination!
Is it hard to get these seeds?
it's not indeed!
it's not often that the toko seeds sell it
a few years ago, I often see it in one of the local supermarkets here but not anymore
am off to bed
sleep tight and Steem on !
p.s. write about what you love .. it worked for you the last time ;)
I bet you could get them to grow next time. I love that you sweet talk your plants :O)
you should try ^ ^
hahahah the neighbors are used to me now, before they must have thought I was talking to them hahahaha
I think I talk enough in my house lol!
Bitter melon can not be grown from unripe karela seeds. However, if the fruit has started turning yellow, place it in kitchen for a few days. Try (sow 4-5 seeds at a time) the seeds of this fruit to grow new bitter melon plants.
the seeds were from ripe and dried fruit :D
thanks for the tip though
A great experiment, we unfortunately do not have such a plant in view of geographical location, but you see have achieved certain results and I am glad of it. Thank you @englishtchrivy
It's a pity that it did not work out, but you were almost there. We do not have such a plant, but it looks like a cucumber, if these are plants of the same group, then cucumbers love a lot of watering and grow only when warm.
it's not a cucumber, the fruit of this one is bitter but I love it cause it's pretty rich in iron and I barely eat white meat which is the only meat I eat so I was hoping to have a stock of them fruits but it just repeated the same cycle over and over till I let it go
Heey it's probably the soil. They didn't have enough nutrition or root space to grow big enough for you. Try aeriated compost tea - super fun to make and very, very effective!
I think it is the pot, it is to small. As they love your voice and make flowers this part is going well, but then when they wanted to grow the fruit they have not enough power to make it. As one other poster has recommended the soil gives them not enough ingredients for building the fruit.
Maybe the seeds were old...or just they weren't good quality seeds
if that's the case I think it won't even germinate