morning glory experiment

[Ceijay]

That's some great information thank you! I would love to find some of the edible ones. This year one only got one frost so all the morning glory I have in my greenhouse are still alive and kicking. In fact I think i saw a bloom this morning.

Any ideas how I can get them to turn back to blue? A lot of mine have gone pink and I can't figure out how to get them to go back.

 

[Ceijay]

http://www.delange.org/YucaVine/YucaVine.htm

Check this one out. Merremia aurea.

Ipomoea batatas :Ah yes. Sweet Potato Pie. We made one yesterday from our own crop.AbFab!!
Great ground cover for the larger garden or under fruit trees,etc. Pretty MG like mauve flowers too.

Cool stuff man. That one looks way different from the ones I have but I can still see lots of similarities.

As for my poor sweet potatoes they didn't make it through that light frost but they were an ornamental variety so they tubers probably wouldn't be that great. I'd suspect they would be VERY fibrous and chewy. I did manage to save quite literally the tip end of a vine that I'm attempting to root but I'll probably just buy more this spring.

I do however, have a edible one ( sweet potato ) sitting in a window. It's been there for about three making eyes and stalks but I hasn't made a leaf yet. I suspect I'll have to give it some dirt and a pot for that. Anyway it's fun watching do....nothing I guess? It's interesting.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Sweet potato with growing eyes. Cut the eye off with maybe a 1 x 1 inch cube of the potato and plant it in potting soil. It should take off.

 

[jferrier]

That's some great information thank you! I would love to find some of the edible ones. This year one only got one frost so all the morning glory I have in my greenhouse are still alive and kicking. In fact I think i saw a bloom this morning.

Any ideas how I can get them to turn back to blue? A lot of mine have gone pink and I can't figure out how to get them to go back.

View attachment 89198

I like your idea for the wrap of morning glory around the ceramic tree. I know that hydrangeas will become more pink or blue depending on the acidity of the soil. I believe the higher acidity the more blue and the higher the alkalinity the more pink. Maybe have this backwards. Maybe its the same with morning glory though.

 

[Davevall]

I really like accent plants a lot so I started off experimenting with a few morning glory and this one bloomed for the first time today. Not really sure what I'm doing but morning glory can do some really weird stuff and grow really aggressively so maybe I can figure out something cool.

Planted in pine bark potted in a brick.
View attachment 83973 View attachment 83974

They are beautiful. I have the opposite sister plant the Moon Flower on my backyard trellis and you can watch it go from solid Green to a blanket of White as soon as the sun goes down. The large white flowers fall off in the morning and then it starts all over again the next night.

 

[Ceijay]

@jferrier red is for acidic and blue is for basic ( i think? ). I'm simply unsure of what type of soil additive would be basic enough without killing them. I have heard using rusted nails at the base of hydrangeas will help produce red, or I guess i should say pink and laundry detergent will help make blue. I just was hoping for something well...something that isn't laundry soap. This spring I am going to plant a whole new batch of seeds and hopefully being in better soil will do the trick.

@Davevall I want a moon flower so bad. I had a really great birdhouse gourd one year that had beautiful white flowers and bloomed at night...they smelled like butts though

 

[Davevall]

@jferrier red is for acidic and blue is for basic ( i think? ). I'm simply unsure of what type of soil additive would be basic enough without killing them. I have heard using rusted nails at the base of hydrangeas will help produce red, or I guess i should say pink and laundry detergent will help make blue. I just was hoping for something well...something that isn't laundry soap. This spring I am going to plant a whole new batch of seeds and hopefully being in better soil will do the trick.

@Davevall I want a moon flower so bad. I had a really great birdhouse gourd one year that had beautiful white flowers and bloomed at night...they smelled like butts though

If you send me your address I'll send you a cutting.

 

[Woodland Spirit]

A few, and I mean a few, grains of quicklime delluted in water will reduce acidity. Also, calcium carbonate in your soil mix is helpful.

I have the opposite problem. High alkaline salts.

I'm going to see if I can grow some pink ones

 

[cockroach]

Would crushed eggshell not help reduce acidity? And it's natural and slow release.

 

[jferrier]

@jferrier red is for acidic and blue is for basic ( i think? ). I'm simply unsure of what type of soil additive would be basic enough without killing them. I have heard using rusted nails at the base of hydrangeas will help produce red, or I guess i should say pink and laundry detergent will help make blue. I just was hoping for something well...something that isn't laundry soap. This spring I am going to plant a whole new batch of seeds and hopefully being in better soil will do the trick.

@Davevall I want a moon flower so bad. I had a really great birdhouse gourd one year that had beautiful white flowers and bloomed at night...they smelled like butts though

You want the soil more acidic for blue, so add more organic matter and use rainwater if your faucet ph is high. With all the rain and organic matter, moss, etc. the ph of soil where I live is low so acidic. Our hydrangeas are deep blue in Spring, but by summer when I may have to water a few weeks with the hose from the well, which is 8.3, they start to fade and new ones aren't so blue.

 

[Woodland Spirit]

He's got acidic soil and pink flowers
I have very alkaline soil and blue flowers

Egg shells are almost entirely calcium carbonate.

 

[Ceijay]

Yes, it may be that morning glory work the opposite from hydrangea. I'm unsure.

I do know that a sure fire way to get pink m.g. is to plant them in saphagnum moss. ( which is definitely acidic. ) The ones I have planted in straight saphagnum refuse to be anything other than bright pink.

Eggs shells seem like a perfect idea.

 

[Woodland Spirit]

I think it's funny.
You have pink morning glory and want blue.
I have blue and want pink.

The grass is always greener....

 

[jferrier]

Apparently it is reverse of hydrangeas. Maybe add some lime to your soil then.


How tall will your new ceramic tree be? I think the colors of the original make it really interesting with the flowers. So you are not going to glaze it?

 

[sorce]

Tablet pic from 2011//2012?



Sorce

 

[Ceijay]

The tree is all done. I made a post about it so I could rick roll some people.

http://www.bonsainut.com/threads/how-to-make-a-finished-bonsai-in-just-a-few-hours.21932/

Here is what it looked like before it was sent off to be fired and glazed.

It was just bisque fired and now it's waiting to be glazed. My fiance does the firing and glazing so it's always a surprise to me what I get back but I requested the glaze from this pot below for it unless there's something better.

 

[Ceijay]

All done. Now it needs it's leaves. I really like the way the glaze turned out although one side had a bit more gloss to it that I'd like.



Here is a close up of the glaze.


And here is what it might look like in a pot.

when it warms up just a bit more I'll put the morning glory in and see just how convincing I can make it.

 

[sorce]

That's pretty slick!

It turned out great!

Sorce

 

[Ceijay]

The eggs shells worked! are working...well its technically purple but you get it.



I think what really did the trick though is mixing in some salt* water aquarium sand ( *now with less salt ) into the soil. It's not really sand but actually tiny bits of sea shell, which contain some kind of calcium. If you have ever had to raise chickens you know that sometimes you have to feed them oyster shells to keep their eggs healthy.

Anyway I so happy this finally worked.

Also sad update: that tree fell off the table during a wind storm the same week I had it all set up and finished so....typical.

 

[sorce]

I got mad MG in the new yard....
Phsyched cuz I love em!

Cool !

Sorce