Strawberry Guava Tree

I planted some Strawberry Guava seeds last year, hung up the pot and basically forgot about it. The seeds started to sprout late last year 2019.

I have so many seedlings and transplanted a few. I intend to transplant the rest in the back of my house to create a natural barrier between the property next to mine.

(5/1) I transplanted these two seedlings around the beginning on May and they are growing well.

(6/6) I went to a famer's market that had many vendors selling trees, flowers and other various plants and found this Strawberry Guava tree. They are fruiting now. My plants are too young, but suspect I will get fruit next year.

Japanese Pumpkin (Kabocha Squash)

(3 March) After nearly three weeks, the Pumkin (Kabocha) plants started to sprout. When I was thinning the Tomato plants I stuck some of the larger plants in the dirt since the Kabocha had not yet sprouted, but surprisingly all the Tomato plants survived. Next I have to figure out how to route these vines. Kabocha are crawlers and they will not do well on the hot tile of my balcony, so I need to think of what to do. I may take them down stairs to grow in the yard. Stay tuned. 

(12 March) In just 9 days the Pumpkin plants have grown so much and amazingly the four Tomato plant suckers I planted seemed to have made it and growing as well.  

Green Peppers (Piman)

(10 March) My two Pepper (Piman) plants are producing a lot of Peppers. I leave some on the plant until they turn red since they are sweeter, but I find that as soon as I pick the Peppers the plant starts flowering again. 

(12 March) Picked a few more Peppers. I saw five more of the plants and have tons of blossoms. It seems every time I harvest Peppers the plant immediately starts to bloom.

Tomato Plant

This Tomato plant popped up in one of my Kumquat planters. I suspect it was from bird droppings, but looks super healthy.

Kumquat Tree (Kinkan)

My Kumquat tree (Kinkan) is not doing so well since I transplanted it. I'm sure it is experiencing root shock, but surprised to see blossoms. I'm thankful it survived. This tree flowers five or 6 times a year, so believe it will have a full recovery soon and start to produce more fruit.

Papaya Tree

My six month old Papaya tree is over 6 feet (2 meters) tall and full of flowers. In fact, one flower has matured into a fruit (see white arrow).

Iris Flower

I transplanted my Iris plant a few months ago to a larger planter and most certainly caused some root shock, because I only have one flower this year. But overall the plant is doing fine, so I expect many flowers next year.

Potato (Jagaimo)

I have many Potato plants growing around the house and one recently turned yellow so I pulled it and got this cute heart shaped potato. 

Peach Tree Blossom

My Peach Tree did not look so good, but I found many blossoms on it today. Yeah!

(4 March)

Okawakame (a kind of Madeira vine)

I moved the Okawakame (a kind of Madeira vine) plant to the center of my side balcony and suspended some ropes for it to clime. The seeds near the base of the plant are starting to grow, so I expect rapid growth shortly.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I thought the seeds were roots (bottom right), but as I witnessed the growth of the vine, I learned that the strangely shaped seeds grow from the vine at the base of each leaf (center in a white oval). The seeds touching the ground are starting to root and grow new vines (top right).

Beets

The Beets are finely starting to grow, but they look frail. I'm not sure they will every develop Beets.

Red Daikon Radish

The Red Daikon Radish are doing well. Technically they can be harvested at anytime, but I'm pulling them as I need them. I have about six left to harvest.

Celery

These two Celery plants are doing well. I lost one, while another is ready to harvest. I also have another in water in my kitchen ready to plant. 

Tomato

 I have Tomato plants growing everywhere. I planted some, while others are growing naturally from bird droppings. These are just two pictures, but I have plants growing at the base of some of my trees and in other pots. I had to thin them out because there were just too many. I hope they are as large and sweet as last season. Only time will tell.

Plants Bolting (Cilantro, Coriander, Pakuchi, Basil, Garlic Chives, Nira)

Time to collect more seeds for the next planting season. 

Cilantro (Coriander, Pakuchi) flowers are exceptionally pungent and can be stronger than a handful of leaves. 

Basil flowers are great for salads. The plants produce a lot of flowers and seeds, so there are plenty for both eating and saving for next season. 

I do not plant the seeds from Garlic Chives (Nira) since they do not always grow true to the mother plant, so I either eat them or just cut them off.

Green Peppers (Piman)

I planted this Green Pepper (Piman) plant last March making it officially one year old, and it continues to produce a lot of Peppers. All I do is add some fertilizer once in a while and some trace elements. Recently, I have let the Peppers turn red for the sweetness. I just picked two red Peppers the other day and there is one towards the top right just starting to turn red.

This is my newest Pepper plant that started to produce. I removed the first few Peppers when they were small to encourage a stronger root system and now letting them fully grow. This small plant now has two pretty large Peppers and many blossoms. I have two more Pepper plants, but they are still young. Honestly, I think four plants are too much for one family. I expect that I will be giving a lot of Peppers away once they all start producing.

Papaya Tree

This Papaya tree is now six months old and has five Papaya fruit buds with one flowering. 

Mikan Orange Tree

I bought this Mikan Tree in June 2019 and harvested the fruit in December. Today I noticed new leaf growth and buds. I could count about 10 buds, but hope it develops more. I transplanted the tree to a larger pot and was worried it might have root shock, but the transplant did not seem to bother it at all. 

(4 March) I counted about 20 blossoms. I got about 15 Oranges last season and hope to get the same or a few more this season. Not bad for a small fruit tree in a planter.

(10 March) My Mikan tree has so much new leaf growth and more blossoms than a week ago. I got about 15 Mikan last season, but have counted over 30 blossoms so far. It is going to be super heavy, so I will need to prepare a trellis.

Chili Peppers (Togarashi)

I planted this Chili Pepper (Togarashi) plant in November 2019 using seed from my mother-in-law. Today I noticed it starting to flower.

Now I was not sure this plant was going to survive. The leaves started to wither at one point and I cut them all off. Soon after new leaves grew and the plant started to grow. I have had this experience with nearly all my Pepper plants.

Guava Tree Fruit

I found a few Guava flower buds. I hope they pollinate.

Passion Fruit Pollination

My Passion Fruit vines are growing so well and flowering, but the fruit are not developing. It is cool in Okinawa and there are a few bees, but I suspect they are more attracted to the roses. The bees visiting my second floor balcony are doing a fine job, because I now have Bitter Melon (Goya) flowering and growing. Anyway, I decided to start pollinating them myself. 

Each flower has five Anther, three Stigma and an Ovary (fruit). To pollinate a Passion Fruit pull off an Anther and rub it on the bottom of each Stigma. You can see the pollen easily, so if it is not enough, just pull off another Anther to ensure all the Stigma are well pollinated. Passion Fruit flowers open for a day or two and you will be able to tell if the pollination process was successful in a few days. If the flower is still on the vines three or four days later, you were most likely successful; otherwise it will fall off when you touch it.

Beans (Bush Beans and Flat Beans)

I planted a mix of Bush Beans (String Beans, Ingen) and Flat Beans (Helda beans, Romano beans, Gavar Thali, Bikkuri Jumbo beans) yesterday. As soon as they start to sprout I will plant Lettuce or something else to take advantage of the lower part of the planter.

Flat Bean

Bush Bean

Potato (Jagaimo)

(1 February) I planted Potatoes (Yellow Potatoes) about two weeks ago (18 January) and they are starting to sprout.

(4 February)

(16 February) - This is the growth from the time I planted the Potato spuds to 16 February, which is roughly a month. Now I would like to note the Potatoes had pretty developed roots about 2 cm long when I planted them. I'm excited to see how many Potatoes I get this batch.

(12 March) Still growing. I see the flower buds, but not flowers yet.

Beets

I planted Beets about two weeks ago and they are starting to sprout.

Potato (Jagaimo)

I planted Potatoes about three weeks ago and they are starting to sprout. I dug up some Potatoes a few days ago from a different planter and was disappointed with the yield. I hope this container does better. 

I used two 100 gram Potatoes and cut them up around the eyes that started to sprout. A good harvest should yield between 1 Kg (2.2 lbs) to 1.4 Kg (3 lbs). It takes Potatoes 2 to four months to mature, depending on the weather, and I'll know when to harvest when the stock dies away. I sometimes leave the Potatoes in the ground until I need them for as much as a month after the stock dies away. They stay fresher that way. 

Tomato

These Tomato shouts are from Tomatoes I planted that the birds picked at. I transplanted them about a week ago and they are doing fine. They are determinate plants, which means they will not grow like a vine and will have a finite height, but I added trellis to support them as they grow since it is quite windy where I live. I have had plants break due to the wind and wish to prevent it, if possible. 

However,  if a Tomato plant does break, its not a total loss. You can simply remove the leaves and branches, except for a few leaves at the top and plant the stock as deep as possible. The tiny hairs on a Tomato plant are actually roots. Sometimes you can get an even healthier plant from a broken plant or clipping.

I have Tomato plants popping up everywhere due to bird droppings. I am curious how many Tomatoes the birds actually got (haha!).

Pakuchi (Cilantro, Coriander)

My Pakuchi (Cilantro, Coriander) is staring to bolt, so I planted another planter using seed from last year. I will let the first planter go to seed and collect what I can. Plus, Pakuchi flowers are pretty and good to eat. 

Valentine Sweet Orange

I'm trying to grow a Valentine Sweet Orange. I believe it is a domestic Okinawan Orange variety, but not sure. It was juicy, sweet and had the flavor of an Orange, but not the sour citrus taste. Very nice for children. 

Asparagus

I purchased one Asparagus Crown (root ball) last weekend for about $5. 

Asparagus is a perennial, which means it dies back in the winder and sprouts again in the spring year after year. It is a slow growing plant with a life span of roughly 20 years. You should not pick the Asparagus the first year and only half the second year, so I need to be extremely patient and wait a few years for any real results. 

(5 February) Growing quickly.

(16 February)

Bush Beans (String Beans, Ingen)

I planted Bush beans (String Beans, Ingen) and Green Lettuce two weeks ago and both are starting to sprout. To the left you can see Lettuce and to the right and in the middle, Bush Beans.