Tetragonia expansa
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| Exposure: | ☼ | ?"?" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property. |
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| Water: | ◍ | ?"?" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property. |
Read about Tetragonia expansa in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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Tetragonia expansa, Thunb. New Zealand Spinach. New Zealand Ice-plant. Fig. 3788. A hardy or half-hardy annual 4-8 in. high, often spreading 4-6 ft.: lvs. triangular, larger ones 4-5 in. long by 2-3 in. broad: fls. small, yellowish green. New Zeal. B.M. 2362. New Zealand spinach is chiefly useful for furnishing greens during the summer when the common spinach cannot be grown. It tastes something like spinach but is somewhat tougher, as a rule. It is grown to some extent in California both for man and sheep. It readily self-sows. For an early outdoor crop, fresh seed should be sown in rich soil in a warm room in January or early February. The seed may germinate in a week or ten days but frequently requires a month to start. After growing about two weeks the seedlings should be transplanted to thumb-pots and about a month later to 4-inch pots. Growing vigorously in this condition they will be good-sized plants to move into the garden toward the end of April, where they should be set 3 to 4 feet apart each way, and the plants, when grown, will entirely cover the ground. They should be handled with great care in transplanting, otherwise growth will be so checked that it will require several weeks to recuperate. Again, plants should never be allowed to become pot-bound, as this will immediately bring them into flower and fruit and stunt their further growth, as well as greatly shorten their period of productiveness. Well-grown plants should be ready for use by June 1 and, if vigorous growth continues, nearly a peck of greens can be gathered from each plant once a week until heavy autumn frosts. In gathering, only 4 or 5 inches of the tip ends of the larger plants should be taken. In the South, it is usually dwarf, not generally exceeding 6 to 8 inches. There is another and somewhat easier method of growing the crop, although a given area will be less productive. Inasmuch as the plant is a hardy annual, many seeds which ripen late in autumn will fall to the ground and germinate early in spring, though not early enough for the plants to be injured by spring frosts. These will be large enough for use toward the end of June. Annual crops are thus grown on the same ground several successive seasons with no care except removing old plants and keeping the ground free from weeds. For the forcing-house crop, seed should be sown during July in seed-beds where the plants remain until the latter part of September, when they should be taken directly to the benches and will be ready for use early in November. It is best to set the plants about 18 inches apart in benches at least 6 inches deep. No further attention is necessary except to give plenty of water, and under good conditions a peck of greens will be produced once a week on 4 square feet from November to May inclusive. A crop may also be grown beneath the benches near the walks, as well as in the grapery borders. Space that cannot be used for other purposes may thus be utilized to very good advantage, although the plants will not produce so abundantly. This crop may also be grown in houses with portable roofs by starting the plants in summer in houses with the roofs removed, the roofs being replaced on the approach of cold weather. The plants will continue producing the entire winter and following spring, when they should be uncovered and will reproduce themselves in the same way as the summer crop. CH
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References
- Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
External links
- w:Tetragonia expansa. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
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