One of the reasons I like writing my daily posts here is because I often get some fascinating input from readers. For example, I got a cool comment a little bit back from sengie thao on my post Using Moringa As Fertilizer:
“Grow the pkm1 variety. That’s the one my mom is growing now. It bloomed last month(planted from seeds in Feb this year). They are said to bloom in 6 or so months, so you should be able to harvest some pods before the first frost comes. eBay has them for quite cheap, other site that sell them is more expensive for the same amount that the seller on eBay is offering”Â
Very interesting – this could be quite useful. I hit ebay, and yes indeed, there are a lot of seeds available.
Has anyone else experimented with this variety? Is it a hybrid? Is it EVIL GEN-MOD MORINGA? I dunno! Gotta do some research.
I’d love to get some pods to grow. Even down in South Florida my moringa trees are taking their sweet time producing. Blooms will appear but never pods. And that yard is loaded with bees, thanks to my friend Eddy across the street (yeah, the one with the great avocado tree).
Perhaps I need to buy some seeds and try it out, for the good of us all.
You can have greener thumbs by this weekend!
21 comments
No worries. PKM1 Moringa is not an evil Gen Mod. It is a hybrid, but one that passes on it's traits well through seed. ECHO has a good article on both PKM1 and PKM2. Here is the link: http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/echocommunity.site-ym.com/resource/collection/CAFC0D87-129B-4DDA-B363-9B9733AAB8F1/edn96_for_web.pdf#page=7If that doesn't work, I can send you the PDF via email – I am at bward@echonet.org
Brad: this is excellent – thank you.
My moringa are all from ECHO seed. You guys are doing great work. I need to schedule a visit before long and see your projects in person.
It would be great to meet you and show you around. Let's get it on the calendar!
Thanks. I'll e-mail you.
Me too? Field trip!!
This is awesome news. I really have gotten to love the several moringa trees propagated from the branch David gave me. I find that a handful of tender leaves in a protein shake gives me tons of energy. I don't have to constantly tend them and worry about pests, and propagating them is almost as easy as propagating cassava. Can't wait to try this variety.
Brad, is the PMK1 nutritional profile similar to the other breeds?
This is a good question. It seems I heard about a study being done by Cornell (I think) to get a solid answer. I will do some investigating.
Hi survival gardener/David the good,
It's me(Sengie Thao), thanks for quoting me:). Just stumble onto your blog again after a friend linked it to a forum, I belong to. http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=6721.0;topicseen
True to the hype, it did bloom at about 6 or so months from seeds, but it didn't set any fruits:( I don't know if it lacks pollinator or it's location? But, if you are still wanting to get some cuttings to try, i'm willing to send you a few cuttings to try and see if they will set for you. Contact me @ kimchitop@hotmail.com
cheers,
Seng/Sengie
Glad you stopped by again.
Interesting that they didn't fruit. Like I wrote above, my moringas have bloomed multiple times and never set pods.
I've had mixed success with cuttings. Have you had much luck getting them to root?
Yes, but it was a few small cuttings, about half a pencil thickness, that rooted in a couple of weeks, but I rush to moved it out in more sun light and it fried'n'died in my 115F summer heat over here in the west coast of CA. But now the branches are much thicker and should root easier. You should keep it in full shade, until their well rooted, may take longer than a few weeks to a month or two, don't get discourage. But now, since it's summer, they should root quite easy, by just sticking them in the ground. But make sure they are quite thick cuttings like 1"-2" cuttings, I mean you can even root smaller cuttings that are much smaller(pencil size) and they'll root fine. Also, one other tip for rooting success, if the air is dry, you should put a plastic bag over the cutting so it won't dry out or wrap it in parafilm, which would even be better. But, Since FL, is so humid, I don't think you need to worry about that. If you do decide, you would like to try the "PKM1", just let me know at the previous post's email.
I bought seeds on ebay from India and Thailand. I got one tree from each and their cross pollinated seeds have grown like gangbusters. Last July I harvested approximately 1500 seeds from the two trees and planted a couple of hedge rows. They are about 12 feet tall 9 months later and have little pods starting and almost more blossoms than leaves. I live in Zone 10a Southern California. Hotter than hell summers but the rest of the months are oh so nice. The Moringa love the heatonce they are established.
Very cool – thank you for the report.
Hello. I saw your post and i am wondering did you have issues with customs for the seeds…
do you have any seeds to spare from the variety from africa and thailand?
Please let me know…venusonce@yahoo.com
Oh, they also attract hummingbirds like crazy along with bumble bees.
The Indian tree has a slightly reddish tint on the little soft branches and the Thai tree is full on green throughout. The offspring are producing replications of both–some with red tint and some green.
An additional comment. I also planted Moringa stenopetala two years ago. I have three trees. They have produced a few flowers but as of yet no pods. They are prolific on the tree part however, growing much broader and larger with loads and loads of leaves 5 times larger than the oleifera leaves.
I love the oleiferas because of their prolific pods and dainty/beautiful appearance. I love the stenopetala for their butt loads of nutritious leaves outproducing the oleiferas 100x easy.
You might be giving the trees too much nitrogen, causing them to flower but not fruit.
Good thought, though I have some trees I've barely looked at and they still won't set pods. We may just be at the top of their range here.
We supply retail & bulk moringa seeds and moringa leaves.
Drop a mail with your detail buy needs at: info[at]spicaherbs[dot]com
Can i get moringa PKM1 seeds from you for planting purpose
I don’t have any – try ebay.
In a warm climate, does PKM1 and PKM2 need to be planted every year?? how many years can they produce leaves before replanting??
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