My Log in Growing My Own Moringa Plant Indoors in A Cold Country, Half a Year Later
Have you ever heard or eaten a Moringa? If you are from the tropical countries then you probably have eaten moringa. I love it with smoked mackerel or bullet fish cooked in coconut milk, garlic and ginger.
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In the Philippines, they're pretty easy to grow, in fact they just like mushrooms, they'd sprout just anywhere there's a piece of ground - a bird dropped them. Back when I was young I used to eat a lot of Moringa and I love it. I didn't like the process of pulling each leaf off the stem - well I was a child - rips you off minutes of play time. My cousins and I would gather around to get the job done faster. My aunt and grandnana would cook it in Tinola or any chicken broth of bullet fish broth (brings back beautiful memories of my childhood.)
When someone is pregnant in the Philippines, they're advised to take Moringa soup everyday because old folks believe that in doing so - the baby would grow healthy and strong. Guess what? Old folks are so damn right - recent studies show that Moringa has this much benefits:
7 times the Vitamin C oranges contains
4 times the Vitamin A you can get from carrots
4 times the calcium in milk
3 times the potassium in a banana
2 times the protein a yogurt has
Because of that Moringa food supplements were invented. I prefer fresh so I didn't have second thoughts when a Pinay friend of mine asked me if I would like to grow my own Moringa plant this year. I blurted out ;"yes of course!" when asked if I'd like to have Moringa seeds which she brought back here from the Philippines. How could I say no specially that there would be three of us now. If anyone laughs at me again, its less discouraging knowing that there are two other people growing Moringa in the Netherlands. At that time, the one who offered me the seeds already have a young plant so for sure - it would grow.
I just followed the same way I've grown my citrus plants which is an article before this. Just follow the steps I gave in growing citrus indoors. I placed them on the window sill just above the heating there.
I planted them exactly in March 23, 2016 a day after I got them. Yes, just this year.
Around 1 am, in April 14 this year of 2016, while hub and I were watching a film, I saw a ball of sand pop up in the air and back on one of the pots where the Moringa seeds were. Hub saw it, too and made a joke that there's a ghost or did I actually plant a volcano on it. We went on a pee pause so I checked it out, I thought maybe there's a spider or an animal or an insect from the soil but I just saw a bent Moringa that has just broken through the sand.
This is the 2nd plant that came out a week later but just so you could see - this is what I saw that night.
We went to bed and that day, ( remember it's the same day cause it was already past 1 am when it broke through) I checked it out again in the afternoon and this is what it looked like. Notice the difference in the pot color.
This was it after 2 days.
A week and days later, that baby Moringa plant on the first picture broke through, too. Days later - the third one also did. They all successfully germinated!
I gave them all three the same treatment. Watered twice a week but they still didn't break through the same day. I even planted them in the same depth in the soil.
This is what they looked like three weeks and days later. No, I wasn't trying to cook them - I just took the picture there because the light is brighter there than anywhere else.
Just weeks later, they've stretched pretty much and were almost bending so I've decided to trim them down to 10 inches tall.
I left at least two sets of stems with leaves , on each of them and I was nervous they might not regrow. However, they did. Every time they'd get taller and start bowing which threatens them into breaking I've trimmed them. They'd just regrow as if leeches regenerating after a week. The leaves that I've cut, I just put in a chicken soup dish.
In summer, I've experimented on one of them, the second one - I let it out in the strawberry green house. Never do this if you live in cold countries. Unfortunately, the critters found it and chewed on it overnight. Yes, I cried about it - I get attached to my plants so what? :P
I let the stalk stay and didn't throw it away but it has no regrowth and today, October 27, 2016, I've checked on it during my break to see whether it is still alive and found it all yellow so I carefully pulled it and it came off the soil pretty easily, showing rot on soil. I bid it goodbye today. No, I didn't cry, not this time. :P
I've decided to share my log with you on my Moringa baby plant this time because it's their first month to ever experience cold. Heating's set on 19 degree Celcius everyday in the house. They're starting to grow taller again but have less leaves and some even withered and died. Tomorrow, I'd be replacing their soil with a mixture of crushed egg shells. Hoping they'd survive the winter.
Unfortunately, one of the two left lost plenty of leaves.
I've decided to share it today because tomorrow is the day my favorite person on earth rested in peace and the Moringa plant reminds me of him and yes, i still mourn to these days. In the Philippines, spanking is accepted. My grandfather is a very quiet person and I grew up with him, grandnana and my aunt because my parents had to work in the city. It's a longer story but this is all I want to share - so there :P.
When I was four, colorful huge lollipops were introduced in the Philippines and one day, I went home and ask my grandfather if he could give me Php 0.25 cents to buy that lollipop. At that time, it was very valuable - we could buy bread and many things with that much money. He handed me and I ran to the store. I didn't know that I as just paying for a piece of paper I had to pull out and wish for luck it says I won a lollipop on it.
See those lollipops were stapled on a whole cardboard the size of a 20 x20 sketch pad with raffle papers on it that either says "You won a lollipop or Better luck next time". Unfortunately, I pulled one that says better luck next time. I went back to my grandfather 2 more times and he gave me again and I got 2 more better luck next time. On the fourth time, I still tried and when he said no, I was a freaking spoiled brat being the only child back in the house, I lied on the floor and threw a tantrum. That time, my grandfather was pulling the leaves of the Moringa plant along side with my laughing aunt and grandnana. He suddenly put the stem of the Moringa that he was holding- down, took one that is all leafless on the table and hit me with it. That was the first time I saw him get mad at me, he left us all three and though I was a child, I realized one thing that day. My grandfather loved me so much because he could have used a piece of the coconut broom sticks that was standing on the wall near where he was sitting in the kitchen that day -which most people commonly used to hit their children during those days and I had a taste of it from nana when I was older and it leaves red marks on the skin. You'd really behave. Instead, my grandpa used the Moringa stem - I wanted to laugh at that time because it was so soft it just broke and got bruised up but I didn't want to embarrass my grandpa so I just stopped and helped my aunt and grandnana get the Moringa leaves all ready for dinner that day.
When my grandfather died, I took care of the Moringa plant in the garden because it has often reminded me of how much I was loved back then. No, I didn't grow up spoiled - months after my grandfather died - my life was turned upside down. Grandnana was a disciplinarian, I love her for that - she sure made a hell good job of bringing us up pretty obedient. I've only started being me - when I went to the university. My folks didn't meddle much because I already was working and making my own dough while studying in the city.
Well, this is about sharing you my log in growing a Moringa plant but I wanted to share why on earth I would want these two living Moringa plants survive their first winter here. Just that.
Written in memory of my loving grandfather.
I took most of these pictures with my Samsung Galaxy A3 2016 edition.
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I took most of these pictures with my Samsung Galaxy A3 2016 edition.
6 Science-Based Health Benefits of Moringa Oleifera
Moringa Oleifera (Malunggay) Capsules Pure and Very Affordable
The Moringa Queen
The Many Uses of the Mighty Moringa Tree
What kind of soil did you use to grow the moringa seeds? What does adding crushed egg shells do for the plant?
Plants are amazing creatures. They'll respond in many ways. They do live too ...
@vegascomic definitely :)
Thank you for that knowledge Ivy, did not know about that plant and it's nutritional properties.
And a moving story... I whish you strength tomorrow.
@oaldamster, thank you!
I'll be fine :)
Wow, that's a great idea to post pictures of growth progress!
Lovely post :)
@richman thank you!
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@gardening-trail thanks a lot for the support!
I want to grow one now! Great post.
@dodders007 thanks, the net has plenty of where you can buy the seeds
Fidel Castro made this plant famous not too long ago
Is very popular this plant in my country
What an amazing plant, the moringa.
@luzcypher - funny name and fit for the halloween
yes, it is indeed :)
I have never heard of this plant before.
@anca3drandom I get it, it's more exported in America and they have it, too in Africa. In Europe, I tried checking out youtube back then to check if it has ever been grown and haven't found any either.