at present, they are just blooming, brighter every day, until the flowers are fully open.
then another change when they dry
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Very nice looking!
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Mine failed for 2 reasons:
- Unusually cold and rainy summer
- Poor starting protocol and bad garden placement
Will definitely restart my quinoa efforts next year!
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Thatâs too bad! I hope you have better luck next year.
Quinoa (and related plants) seem odd in that they are very tough/weedy and can survive in difficult conditions, but also seem to be rather finicky about germination conditions. Some years quinoa grows nicely for me, other years it fails to germinate or the little plants just shrivel up; the range of outcomes is far larger than for most other things I grow or try to grow.
I suppose this might actually be an adaption to difficult climates; they wonât germinate if conditions are not right? I think @ShaneS has discussed this peculiarity in chenopods either on the forum or on his blog.
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Thank you for all the photos, Im new to growing quinoa and really needed to see what the plants and seed heads looked like. Im thinking some seed I planted germinated but looked like weeds to me so I pulled them up.
as seedlings, they very much look like chenopodium / weed⊠this is why I usually start at least some of my sowing in pots, so I am sure of what is coming out âŠ
I have now started harvesting I go to the plot every day and pick whatever is ripe, and put them to finish drying , hanging under shelter. Quinoa seeds sprout if it rains after maturity.
This year I am particularly vigilant because I would like to maximize the harvest so as to be in a position to offer this GTS mix to other european growers.
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The seed heads you shared photos of look so beautiful and full of seed. Are they difficult to thrash and winnow? Will you cook some to try in a recipe and taste?
Yes, quinoa seedlings look almost exactly like Chenopodium album/lambsquarters seedlings when they are young; as they get larger, there is more of a difference. And quinoa probably does have a bit of âweedyâ potential to it; Iâve heard of it coming back as volunteer plants in several different climates (California, PWN, Alaska).
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Oh darn, my heart is hurtingâŠIm sure I pulled a bunch of them thinking it was the lambsquarters. At least they did grow in the sandy soil, Iâll try again in the spring. Its so versatile to cook with and tasty. Its seed is larger than amaranth and could be my goto staple crop.
the key to effective threshing and winnowing is DRYNESS. if the heads are fully dry, you just have to bang them inside a large bin
but if the heads hare not fully dry, it becomes difficult.
not sure I will have enough to try eating them this year. My priority this year was to multiply the very small sample of GTS mix that I received.
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Understandable. Getting enough for the seed increase inventory is so very important. Im glad yours made it to seeding.
@MalcolmS I had the great pleasure yesterday to give Joseph a fraction of my 2024 harvest with the mission to take it back to you !
I am glad I had this oportunity to return something to the GTS mix for future distribution.
I also volunteer to dispatch fractions of my harvest to other european growers, and perhaps play as seed steward for quinoa for europe.
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Sounds great! Iâm glad it has been so successful for you.
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Okay, this survived the summer and looks like its going to flowerâŠquinoa or lambsquarters?
And my apologies, I just completed watering so the leaves are wet.
Iâm not sure . . . what do other people think? If I had to guess, it isnât quinoa; in my experience, quinoa has a somewhat different color, though maybe thatâs just because it is wet. Also, it would be very short for quinoa; is it in a pot?
Yes, its in a stock tank. Iâll wait and see what it looks like when it flowers.
I am also troubled by the wet aspect of the leaves. and they are more twisted.
a bit early for a real identificationâŠ
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