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HomeHerb SeedsAnd the Category Is?Borage Seeds |
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|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review: ( 2 customer reviews )
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2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 An Early Review Feb 27, 2012
By IrishFire
My seeds were not crushed as the other reviewer's were, and my germination rate was 100% for the four seeds I've planted so far.
Unfortunately, the first batch flopped over, hung on pathetically for less than a week after flopping, and died. I saw no signs of fungal wilt, temperature was a steady 60-70 degrees, and it received water twice a week. My only guess as to why it may have died comes from the instructions: make a single hole with your finger, drop 3 seeds in, and thin down to one seedling when they become so tall. All three sprouted, and were doing well until I plucked two as instructed. The third wilted within two days and never recovered. Was its taproot disturbed when I yanked the other two? Did it consider them family and die of a broken heart? I have no idea.
When I replanted it, I planted ONE seed. It came up predictably and did well, growing well past the height of the other three even though all conditions except for crowding and thinning were the same.
I still have it, and it's performing even more admirably now that I've added a steady drip from a punctured 1.5L bottle to the twice weekly watering (in moisture-controlled indoor potting soil).
A note on flavor - I ate the two seedlings (why let them go to waste?) and they do indeed taste like cucumber, if cucumber were the kind of rebel who wound up on the streets, joined a gang, and threatened your person all while maintaining that original cucumber charm it grew up with before it gave into aggressive tendencies. If cucumber could punch you in the face, it would taste like this. If you could condense cucumber flavor down to a mouth-puckering potency, it would taste like this. I like it less than I had hoped I would, and I *like* cucumber. Perhaps the flavor will mellow out as the plant grows. Here's hoping!
A note on bug control: Borage is supposed to be the panacea companion plant, improving all neighbors with its powers of Good Bug Attraction and Bad Bug Repulsion. This isn't working in my garden: the fungal gnats have no issue climbing around in the dirt beside it, and the spider mites are perfectly happy on neighboring pepper plants. Drat.
I do not, of course, expect it to find good bugs to attract inside during winter. That's asking a bit much, I think. I have seen the occasional spider in the garden, but this was pre-borage.
That's all! I'll keep growing the thing and update this if anything else interesting happens as the plant matures. I'm a little disappointed, but glad I tried it. The flowers will be interesting when it blooms!
The promised update: Late March: The borage thrives with water and survives with less, but it's looking good! six inches high with broad prickly leaves and no blooms yet.
May update: The borage is a foot high with pretty blooms that taste like sugared cucumber. (none of the violent cucumber flavor described earlier!) I can bring myself to eat the smallest of leaves, but even the very young ones are prickly. I've heard that this might be from using rich soil, but I have no way to confirm that. It's hard to verify the claim that bad bugs are driven away by borage, but I do see pollinators stopping by, and I have a few spiders and a host of ants.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 crushed seeds May 31, 2011
By tamy
My order arrived a lot sooner then I expected but the seeds came crushed and unusable. The seed jacket had some sort of oil on it. The envelope was marked do not crush so I really don't know whose fault it was the company or the mail carrier. I am very disappointed.
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