Seed Lists and mutual advice swap

[Opsa]

I'm sure that just a bit of scotch tape would work, too.

The Delaware Sacred N. rustica plants are shorter than other types, which is kind of nice, since they stay low and are less leggy (in my climate, at least). Here mine grew to only about a foot tall and had charming little green-yellow roundish bell flowers, which ripened into seed pods.

[Aggie]

I'd love to try some - mine are likely to be container-beasties, so a smallish plant would be great. The 1000-y.o. variety is supposed to produce huje leaves (24" x 18") on a 3-foot plant. If the seeds are tiny I should have plenty to send.

Have you tried using the rustica to produce natural insecticides? From what I understand, the nicotine content should be high enough to use a tea for controlling bugs (but toxic to people and animals also - be careful not to leave the tea about for anything to drink!).  My indoor plants occasionally get infested with whiteflies and aphids, and while neem oil seems to suffice in most cases, it'd be nice to have something a little more serious for zapping bugs on problem plants.

[Opsa]

I've heard that Nicotianas can be used as organic pesticides, but could not figure out how this is done. Basically, rustica has a very high nicotine content, which is a toxic substance. I don't know whether a tea from it would work or not.

There is some good agricultural info here.

I grow it as a sacred smudge ingredient. I think it is something you should handle with great care. It is not for casual smoking. Some Indigenous Americans believe it is such a holy plant that you should not say or even think negative things around it, and people that have no control over their thoughts and deeds should stay clear of it altogether. I think of it kind of as a spiritual microphone- you want to talk directly to The Great Everything, you can do so around it, just be careful what you say! It's listening. And it's always on.

The ones I grew may have been smaller because my garden soil was a bit rich last year for native plants, but the Delaware is considered a compact, or dwarf version of the larger types. They did not seem to appreciate our late summer storms, and wilted a bit. I did not have the heart to pick them, but waited until they died off for the year, and then collected the seed pods and a few sun dried leaves to keep for smudge.

[Aggie]

Nicotine's water soluble, so a simple soaking should work well.  It's not overly heat-stable, so I don't know if boiling water is optimal (probably not hot enough to destroy the molecule, but I don't think it needs it, either).

Rusticas are very much more potent than commercial tobacco, and probably orders of magnitude more potent than the ornamental 'park tobacco' I sometimes harvest a few leaves from (N. sylvestris).  I've heard that even handling the leaves excessively can cause one to adsorb nicotine through the skin, enough to cause an effect (natural nicotine patch?). 

I'll make sure to feed it some good energy, and watch what I'm thinking around it!

[Opsa]

I grow the Nicotiana sylvestris flowering type, too. I was told it didn't like to be moved, but I moved some at an early stage last year and they did beautifully. They bloomed almost until winter in gorgeous purples and whites.

[Aggie]

Oooh, got my seeds today!  The instructions say direct-to-garden sowing for the lemonella balm, and warm start in flats for the tobacco and tulsi (in late spring), so I might have to be patient.  I'll probably try a few seeds of each indoors for the heck of it, though.

There must be hundreds of 1000-year old tobacco seeds in this pack, so I'll definitely send some your way, Ops (want some, pieces?) - drop me an email with your mailing details.  You get spring well before I do.


_{I admit that I'm a little bemused by the $7 flat-rate shipping fee, considering that they sent it in an envelope with $1.22 postage - then again, it made me order three packs to spread out the cost, so I suppose it worked.}

[Opsa]

Yer darned tootin', I would! And I will send you seeds for the two types I have. Actually, I have three types, as I was mistaken about the flowering kind I have, which is N. alata. I can send some of all three, if you like.

My experience with the N. rustica is that it is very tiny and even though you can get it going early on a windowsull, it will not grow as quickly and leggy as others do. It takes its time. I let mine get to a decent size before hardening them off and setting them in the garden.

[Aggie]

I'm going to be container-gardening it, unless I can park some in a backyard after frost danger is past (July ), so I might try a few now and a few later.  Just the rustica is fine, I have limited room.

The catnip seems to be doing OK for now, although I have to give it a 180 every day due to the low angle of the sun, because it keeps curving.

Want some tulsi while I'm at it?  Lots of seeds there, too. It's another sacred plant; several sites indicate that she actually requires daily worship for proper growth.

[Opsa]

Sure, I'd love some! I worship all my plants.

[Aggie]

OK, will try to get a mailing-out done in the next week or two.  Will probably find some way of making the seeds not-obvious, because I'm sneaky like that. 

[Opsa]

Goody! I'll have to plan a sacred planting area.

[Aggie]

Check this video out for the full care details (do watch through to the end if you have 6 minutes):
[youtube=425,350]eUoGQQgTysY[/youtube]

[Opsa]

He is adorable! I had to figure out that he was saying "Herbal plant" and not "horrible plant".

I think that the Tulsi would appreciate the Indigenous American meditation, as it seems similar, what with the facing east and respecting everything as potentially holy. It would understand the feeling, as plants do, in spite of the language. Language is for humans. It's really more of what we mean than what we say.

[Aggie]

It certainly wouldn't hurt for it to adapt to the local vibe, and that would probably work.  Christie might take a run at more of a traditional care regime - I want her to be the caretaker as my schedule will not allow daily interaction when I'm out and about.  The Nicotiana will likely be a little more robust; N. sylvestris seems to grow vigorously around here.


I also did a double take on the 'horrible plant'. 

[Lindorm]

Speaking of nicotine-as-pesticide, it is a common gardener's trick here in Sweden. You can either buy some "dedicated" tobacco, such as a packet of pipe tobacco, or just go the cheap route and use old cigarette butts, add it to water in a jar, let it steep for a few days and ta-da! I have used it both to water the soil and to spray the leaves of plants that have been affected by various infestations. It is quite effective, but you shouldn't eat anything from the plant for about a week afterwards, due to the high nicotine content. The solution keeps indefintely, but should be kept away from pets and small children.