Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have an incredibly healthy plant in a fairly large pot and would like to know how best to and when to collect seeds - or can I grow it from cuttings - I am in Australia and we are coming into summer in a couple of months - I love this stuff and it is almost unattainable as seeds - any information would be wonderful

TIA
Sheryl

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Interesting .. I have never never heard of. Rock Samphire...

What sought of plant is it..?
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Usually Tecticornia sp. or Halosarcia sp. usually grow in saline wetlands or estuarine areas


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Hi

You might be interested to read this thread... viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7870

I first had samphire a few years ago from the markets in Adelaide... as you say, very nice. I later grew what I thought was the same thing in my aquaponic system but it didn't taste so good and had quite a different form. My understanding is that I was growing rock samphire (? crithmum maritimum.) I assumed that the plant I found in Adelaide Markets was marsh samphire. Now I'm confused about the names...

Marsh and Rock are different varieties -Rock will grow in soil as I am finding and it is flourishing - any thoughts on how to propagate -or do I need to wait for flowers.

Yes... very different... in taste (my rock samphire tasted like turps) and in appearance.

It seems that various plants are referred to using the same names. My seed packet was labelled "Rock Samphire (crithmum maritimum) but Bender says at least two other plants get called that.

Mine grew well in aquaponics and in soil. I tried to propagate some by cuttings in aquaponics and in potting mix - but had no luck. But I'm not sure that your plants are the same as mine were.

Will watch this thread with interest because I'd love to grow marsh samphire (though salt may be a problem) or a better tasting form of "rock samphire" (like yours seems to be) but can't currently find any seedlings or seeds despite my best efforts.

Sorry I can't give you better advice on propagation... maybe someone else. I know that Titus was growing some in the UK... but perhaps it's a different plant.

A friend bought this for me as a present and I just went to get the little name thing from the pot - it is Rock Samphire from Diggers Club - I know she bought it from a gardening shop south of Adelaide - it says -

"Crithmum Maritamum - as it suggests , this plant thrives in coastal gardens, forming a tight ground cover in rocky cracks and sandysoils. Fleshy green/blue leaves are prepared as a pickle or a condiment"

It tastes like fennel but with a subtler taste and from what I see it costs heaps as a special condiment in the UK - I love the taste and use it with fish as it is also slightly salty.

From looking at the plant I'd have thought it would grow easily from cuttings, but from what I've read it is best grown from seed.

Thanks Sheryl. You definitely have the same plant I experimented with... I got my seeds from same place. You have greener thumbs than me or it doesn't taste so good in aquaponics.

I'm pretty sure that the plant I tasted and much preferred in the markets was the one at http://tasteaustralia.biz/bushfood/samphire/ - looked just like it... whereas my rock samphire had little branches/leaves that looked like a tiny reindeer's horns.

from http://tasteaustralia.biz/bushfood/samphire/
Samphire is considered best for use in summer (in season October to March) when the fleshy leaves are bright green and aromatic. In Winter the leaves turn a reddish/ pink but there is still some green to be found at the base of the plants. Blanching winter samphire before cooking gives a lovely, salty taste of the sea.


I am familiar with the Tecticornia sp. or Halosarcia sp. in WA (but inland not coastal varieties).

Basically if the Rock samphire behaves like Tecticornia / Halosarcia then basically the seeds form one of two nodules below the tip - ' the flowers'. As the plant goes red/brown and then dies/dries off the seeds then come loose and blows away in the wind.

For NRM seed collection we basically used shears to cut off the tops of the plant into bucket/bag. You can let them dry out but as seed setting is normally december/january we usually don't bother collecting seed, but instead simply simply throw out the cuttings onto the ground and seeds drop as it dries off.

Having said that there are many species of samphire..... even a salt area in inland WA can have 5-10 different sub-species in the same area. But the description from the web site above describes how the inland varieties basically cycle so suspect maybe it is the same.

[edit - added below]

some info here... http://www.seedaholic.com/crithmum-mari ... phire.html
http://www.australiangardener.com.au/vi ... ductid=628
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crithmum

It is quite different from Tecticornia sp. or Halosarcia sp with definite flowers that can be dried as for normal flowers.

When do the flowers normally set? my plant has grown 10 fold since December and is still brilliant green - will get some pictures and share tomorrow as I have taken half of the plant and done 2 things - planted a lot of cuttings in soil with seasol and another lot in water hoping they set roots - one of my friends suggested using cotton wool or rooting stuff - lol not sure what it is called - any suggestions would be really appreciated and if I an get this done would love to share some plants in he states in Australia that can share with

>> When do the flowers normally set?

This had the most information - http://www.seedaholic.com/crithmum-mari ... phire.html
does that look like what you have ?

for the species I am familiar with, it is set by moisture/drying and temperature.
stays green while situation is good and then starts to go red/brown, then basically dries out as water availability recedes with summer.

but your one seems to have much more defined flowers so presumably there is a bud phase.

That is exactly what it looks like without the flowers but has really grouped leaves that look like they are going to flower very soon - was surprised when I went to research the plant as there was almost no info about it in Australia - I have pickled a very small amount and it has such a different taste and texture - ate it raw and thought YUK but then realised it needed really tender cooking - now just want to get it going as a herb that is used and understood in Australia - was used to combat scurvy in the ancient days by sailors so must have incredible healing powers.

Does it clump at the roots - multi-stem ? If so try separating it by carefully cutting off a bit of plant with a bit of root.
Most of the web refs. say it is pretty hardy and grows fast.

If it is woody try layering - peg a bit down at ground level and cover it with dirt. See if it sprouts roots.

The Australian Gardener site had seeds but only basic info.
But they did say it was rare and cultivation encouraged.
Maybe try flicking them an email.

http://www.australiangardener.com.au/vi ... ductid=628

this site says > germination - challenging
http://www.allrareherbs.com.au/products ... -seed.html

Diggers Club have it as well https://www.diggers.com.au/shop/edibles ... hire/wros/
so maybe try one of their forums.