Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello. I am just wondering if anybody has had tried to grow saffron in an flood and drain system.
I understand some bulbs/rizomes do quite well, such as arrowroot, ginger and garlic. But apparently saffron doesn't like/need any water from december to march, and if it gets too wet the bulbs have a tendency to rot. I'm interested in any information, even if you've tried growing it in pots or the ground.

Might be pushing it in AP... I think in Qld it might be a bit warm for them anyway isn't it?

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I've grown it in pots but not in AP.

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When I go, I want it to be peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like his passengers.

http://www.backyardfarming.com.au/phpbbb/

Did you get any Duff....

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I'm interested to know how they went in pots, Duff.
The local odd plants man convinced me they will grow reasonably well in the area. The research is somewhat spotty on whether or not they need frost in order to flower. I suppose I could always pop them in the fridge for a bit. He has been spot on so far about the coffee plants and some other assorted plants I've picked up, so I'm willing to give it a shot.

coffee and safron, where do I sign up.

How do you go about getting plants like these.

I want wasabii as well if anyone knows.

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My system

120 THINGS IN 20 YEARS - My blog about my learning adventure

My skills include being able to move slowly forward in time, and if I really concentrate, I can sometimes tell what I'm thinking.

Didn't flower flower the fist time. But it flowered the next time. You only get a couple of bits off each flower. If I dig it up I might put one in a GB to see how it goes.

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When I go, I want it to be peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like his passengers.

http://www.backyardfarming.com.au/phpbbb/

Hmm... I'll admit I'm not the most patient person, so waiting two years for flowers is going to be difficult.
I suppose I could put them in a corner of the grow bed and try to forget about them.

As for the coffee plant, it was a one in a million find. A backyard nursery mob set up at the local markets with all sorts of fruit trees and i just had to buy it. Lucky since I haven't seen another one since. They also had a tree called an Achacha. I'm kicking myself for not buying it too.

Unfortunately, I have yet to come across any wasabii, but it cant hurt to keep an eye out.

Wasabi

http://www.cornucopiaseeds.com.au/produ ... C-75mm-Pot

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When I go, I want it to be peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like his passengers.

http://www.backyardfarming.com.au/phpbbb/

coffee is very weedy in queensland. All my local nurserys generally stocks coffee plants. not sure why you had trouble finding it. of course, even if you do grow some, the processing to get it to a drinkable
state is long and cumbersome. not sure i'd bother.

saffron you need a field full to get a handful of stamens, better off organising a trip to the middle east and bringing a couple of kilo back.

Wasabi has very specific growth requirements. only grown commercially in Tas I think. Horseraddish is a weed and will grow anywhere though.

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I've never actually looked for coffee because I hadn't even occurred to me that I might be able to grow it. Coffee is just that mystic substance that falls out of our little espresso machine, that makes mornings ok again.

Thanks for that link Dufflight. They say their out of stock at the moment, but I emailed myself about it, so I on track to buy some later.

I've always wanted to grow wasabi.

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My system

120 THINGS IN 20 YEARS - My blog about my learning adventure

My skills include being able to move slowly forward in time, and if I really concentrate, I can sometimes tell what I'm thinking.

I know someone who actually bothered to make home grown coffee.
MASSIVE effort, made an awesome rolling roaster for the microwave/convection oven that turned the tin full of holes as the turntable turned...
I tasted the coffee, it was.....ok
definately a job for the project minded...i guess thats everyone here

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Managed to get in touch with the local odd plants man Dave last weekend.
He said saffron will rot if it gets/remains damp over summer, which is saffrons dry season. Thankfully he also knows a bit about hydroponics too, one option he suggested was to have a small bed specifically for saffron, and allow it to dry out by disconnecting it from the system when the leaves die back. In theory, the flower buds will appear in Autumn and you can just plug the bed back into the system.

The only problems I can foresee is the fact we get about 80% humidity or more during summer, which may cause the bulbs or grow media to adsorb moisture directly from the air.

But I've figured what the hell, I've got a spare 1/2 blue barrel and if it works I'll throw some piccies up to show off. If it doesn't work, I can only hope you've all forgotten about it by then!

i would think that totally disconnecting the bed would just kill the plant. Even if the ground is dry, there is still water in it to keep the plant alive.
Maybe a flood and drain that has a short flood/drain time and a period of a few hours ?

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Or a cup of water once every few days. Depending on the media, there is a fair bit of water retained over days.

But I also think letting it get bode dry would kill it

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My system

120 THINGS IN 20 YEARS - My blog about my learning adventure

My skills include being able to move slowly forward in time, and if I really concentrate, I can sometimes tell what I'm thinking.