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Ulam Raja Wild Edible Cosmos Caudatus Seeds
Packet of 25+ super freshly harvested, very rare seeds!
Alrighty folks, here it finally is, back by popular demand!
It took me a hell of a lot of work to track this one down a many of years ago now.
I even got scammed a couple times along the way, cost me a fortune.
Eventually I got it as barter with a customer of ours. Bloody legend he is, and it’s my favourite way to acquire new plants!
Anyway, long story short it was totally worth it!
Fantastic little plant that is really quite hardy.
It has survived all the dry times and even the crazy flooding a few years back.
A diet of Ulam Raja is shown to dramatically decrease rates of lung, thyroid, stomach cancer in rats, and is strongly suspected of the same in humans, hence the studies that are ongoing.
Regular consumption decreases diabetes, heart disease oral cavities and mouth ulcers.
It has been traditionally been used as a preventative measure against osteoporosis in menopausal women, along with decreasing other symptom’s, and science is just beginning to back up these claims with several studies in Malaysia and Singapore confirming this.
It’s great stuff and what makes it even better, is it tastes really good!!
Not overly bitter, as a lot of Medicinal herbs tend to be, just mild, crisp and leafy?
Crisp juicy and mild, texture of a parsley yet juicier, crisper.
Tastes like a mix of parsley, cos lettuce, celery, carrot and flowers I guess?
So hard to describe, but it’s really, really good, so good fresh in fact, I reckon it’s a waste to cook with it.
We mostly eat it fresh straight off the plants.
It’s something that we would eat, even if we didn’t know the extra health benefits associated with it.
Orange Cosmos is OK fresh, and loses its bitterness tasting a lot better when cooked, but this Ulam Raja Cosmos is really good fresh, cooked it’s just like any other Asian green, on par if not better.
Anyway, onto the important bit, so please take note of the following!!!
I have grown many many generations of it now, and a few other sellers are starting to harvest and sell it too, and although the strike is good, it can be a bit erratic. This everyone agrees on.
They grow easy, but are erratic.
Some plants take a couple months to come up, some take a week.
I have no idea why and I was quite surprised as most Cosmos germinates so quickly?
Could be PH, could be temperature, soil density, humidity, specific symbiotic bacteria and fungi needed to break down germination inhibitors, among a million other possibilities’.
I had seen no other people selling this plant in OZ, until quite recently (via my original seed) and data about growing it here in Australia was impossible to find!
So, I just wack the seeds in a pot, water and wait as I do with everything else we grow.
I plant the seeds ~1cm deep and horizontally, and I use my standard soil mix, nothing fancy.
Things might be better or with a more even germination time using other methods.
You may even get better growth rates, using different soils and temperature control, but whatever, what I do here works great for me!
They do grow, and I get heaps of plants, generally 40-90%, but like I say, germination times when grown like this can be very long compared to standard vegetables and herbs.
Average of about six weeks, but I have had it take anything from four days to seven months!!!
Older seeds (>12months. That’s “old seeds” for us.) have the same variability as younger ones?
I have not done any testing using GA3 or with Australian Native Germination Accelerator Smoke Treatment because I am a patient/lazy sort of dude, but if you do, I would love to hear about your results.
*EDIT* I have tested both and they both increase germination speed very reliably, but a lower % of plants germinate over all.
Instead of ~90% coming up over a week to a few months, you only get ~30%-70%% come up in 1-3weeks, then nothing after that.
I recommend patience with this guy, actually pretty much all species, but up to you, everyone has different goals and motivations.
It is all very confusing, but with a plant this cool I am very happy to be a little bit patient with her.
No rush, all’s good in the end.
Please don’t hassle me, if it’s not up in a week or two!
****You have been clearly warned about the slower and much more erratic germination times, and they are good fresh seeds.
Exactly the same seeds as the ones I grow, and if I couldn’t grow them, then I would have no spares to sell to you guys. Makes sense hey….
Grown by us organically, no nasties, no chems, no problems!!!
