How to GROW Borage & why I am NEVER growing it again.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ต.ค. 2024
- Sharing the details on growing borage in Arizona from January-December 2023. I’m sure I’ll still find more of the buggers growing…
If you want to grow borage from seed, Seedsnow is where I bought mine and I think there was a 110% germination rate (no, that’s not a typo--I’m a math major). Lol
○ SeedsNow.com: www.seedsnow.c... --we are trying out some fun fruits and veggies we definitely would not have tried without their affordable daily deal sample packs!
How we protected the borage (really it was for protecting the corn from birds):
○ 2 Mesh Ladder Block from Home Depot - homedepot.sjv....
○ Bird Netting - amzn.to/3PmOlIV
○ rocks to hold the netting in place
PRODUCTS MAKING OUR EXPERIMENT SUCCESSFUL:
○ Irrigation System / we use Garden Grids - Use code Margaret10 for $10 off orders of +$100: shareasale.com...
○ growoya.com/th... enter in THEDESERTGARDENEXPERIMENT at checkout for 10% off.
○ Garden Spy Camera: V3 Wyze Cam - amzn.to/3dvctHV with this economical SD card amzn.to/2PvxxG9 and it has an outdoor rating with the special outdoor rated cord: amzn.to/3KFcrNF
○ Fish Emulsion Fertilizer - amzn.to/3BIvrI1
DISCLAIMER / HONESTY POLICY: The links in this description may be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. You are not obligated to do so, but it does fund these videos in hopes of helping you successfully grow borage (if you dare) and there is no additional charge to you.
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I have a huge volunteer Borage that surprised me this year. I will happily let this herb grow, and spread. Every day there is just a thriving mass of happy honeybees on this plant. Cleary one of the best pollinator attractors I've had in my yard/garden to date.
It gets very little water where it's at, and it's in full Idaho sun - hot hot hot.
Surprises can be fun. I had the same thing happen--finally cut back the broccoli and peas growing up the roselle hibiscus trellis only to discover a full blown borage about to bloom! Thanks for sharing the additional info!
Its amazing for the soils health, and as a companion for everything, almost as good as comfrey, use the leaves to feed the garden, soaking in water for a week or 4 days in direct sunlight then water the plants
I'll have to learn more about growing Comfrey here in the desert. Thanks for sharing on using borage for fertilizer!
Borage grows like a weed in Central Scotland. The bees love it so I let it grow under my apple tree but it selfseeds and grows wherever I don't remove it.
How interesting! It sure does seem like it is tenacious and grows well in so many environments.
I planted some Borage in Louisiana. I also planted hundreds of pollinator flower seeds blend for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. None grew anywhere. I`m gonna try planting them all again somewhere by themselves in clean soil next February and see if being in the cold ground for awhile triggers them to grow. At least the poor bumblebees had my cucumber and pole green beans flowers. I saw a hummingbird on my Italian Basil flowers but they`re very small. But it was too warm for the pole beans to produce by the time they bloomed. It makes no sense because I`ve grown pole beans for decades and 2 years in a row they`ve stopped producing unless it`s below 85 degrees for a high. I planted southern varieties.
I bought a single hummingbird feeder because I kept seeing stragglers desperately looking at everything red in my yard hoping it was a feeder. The morning after I put up the feeder there was a cloud of them fighting over it. But I know better than to put up more. I can`t afford that. A 4lb bag of white sugar costs me 10 bucks online. Happy Belly lied and sold me cheap raw brownish tinted sugar as white sugar, of course, which is toxic to them. So the 4lb bag of real white sugar ended up costing me 15 bucks plus the 7 dollar feeder but I helped the birds so that was worth it I guess. I only use sugar for making alcohol and a little in winter when I eat warm oatmeal or creamy wheat so I guess I should brew up some wine or white lightnin with the brown stuff.
Just a thought if you still have some leftover seeds...when I have seeds that didn't germinate in place outside, I have a small setup indoors where I can try them under a grow light. Just to see if they are just bad seeds or if something outdoors like to eat them as seedlings. Best of luck!
I am a hobbyist beekeeper and I planted borage for the first time in my raised beds. They are still blooming and helped my bees wth nectar over the summer. I will be letting it spread through my bee yard. The mint is more of a headache than borage.
Oh for sure! Mint is almost the worst at taking over a bed in what seems like a heartbeat! Borage has nothing on that...or Burmuda grass.
You probably just saved me a huge headache. I think I will plant my seeds in a container away from the garden. I thought I wanted borage in the strawberry bed but I guess not.
They certainly are tenacious and will self seed. I had to laugh when I just reset the bed clearing out broccoli and calendula...and uncovered a borage just over a foot tall and about to bloom. 🤣 They still are pretty. Enjoy yours!
Yes, I planted mine in an area where it won't interfere, also.
I garden in Chandler, AZ and borage frequently comes up from packets of wildflower seeds. I can find no good culinary use for it but the aphids love it 😂
Thanks for sharing! Now I'll be on the lookout--I know what those seeds look like. Kinda like picking out the cashews from the mixed nuts can, except for the opposite reason--we don't want them. lol
I have yet to eat the flowers. It's so prickly I don't even try to handle it. It is lovely to see the pollinators but it also has attracted aphids. It suddenly turned extremely hot here in the north of France and the borage plants seemed to suffer the most. They don't look pretty anymore. I think that I'm just going to dig them up and try something else that we will actually eat.
Totally agree. There are so many lovely plants in the world and never enough space in the garden (except with the onset of heat). I'm not giving space to one that bites back. 😉
Oh my guess i better go dig mine up just transplanted it in my garden bed yesterday
There are plenty of people who like it. At this point I think a solid half of the comments have jumped to its defense with another half in agreement. With the right mindset and/or uses (and shoes and gloves) borage may be something you enjoy. I don't know that I would have the heart to kill something already in place.
@@OveranalyticalGardening I just planted it so it had not set root I put it in a pot instead of the garden bed
My borage attracted a lot of ants and horn worms. I guess they are the sacrificial plants in my garden. Mine are potted though and I want to try out the white borage also. ❤
🙂👍 that works! I'd love to hear if the white is less spikey.
I am one who loves borage. It volunteers each year and looks great when other things are still puny. The flowers taste like cucumber and you can eat the sprouts all summer (there will be many) before they turn into fuzzy leaves. The bees are mad for borage and it shades the bottoms of some of the veggie plants. Sorry it didn't work for you.
For sure, there are many benefits. I'm glad you enjoy it. No worries on my end--I'm always looking for more space for everything else I want to grow so eliminating something we don't love is a good thing.
You got free volunteers. Good for the compost. I want more and I do wear gloves as I am allergic to grass pollens. So, I wear gloves merely due to pollens in the wind. Otherwise, my skin will feel burning and itchy. That means, boarage is staying. Rather have borage than rye grass that lands everywhere since I have had anaphylaxis from being ateiynd rye grass when it pollinattes.
All good reasons there! Thanks for sharing.
WHATEVER😏, I grew mine in a small natural garden for the BEES🐝🐝🐝 , NOT to eat ; I don’t recall any pest on it , and it all did just fine here in the “Land of OZ🌻” 😊 !!!
Glad to hear you enjoyed it.
I love borage. Guess I don’t mind the spines. If you dehydrate the leaves and add them to a pot roast or soup etc. they meld the flavors together in a unique way. Also bees love them. Sure sorry they didn’t live up to your expectations 🌺
No worries--we all have what we enjoy and what we would rather replace with something we will enjoy more. There is never enough garden space! Next time one springs up (because they still do) I'll try it in a pot roast!
We grow it because the bees love it.
Very true!
Try dig out the bed, lay cardboard, sticks, leaves and fill back over, plant on top, then cover with 6 inch of mulch. I bet that will work to retain water.
I planted my first borage this year because of the hype on other channels and mine looked nothing like any of yours🤷🏽♀️. I did get blooms but then the just started to look pitiful. It started to curl and look a little crazy🤦🏽♀️. Wish that I lived near you…would have asked for them all
I'm sorry to hear that! lol, and yes, I would have been happy to give them to you! Better luck next year! 🤞
I watch the occasional video of “Wild Floridian” here on youtube. She focusses a lot on native plants. Which is probably easier in Florida then in Arizona. But are there any plants that are useful and/or edible that are native to your region that you want to try?
Thanks for sharing. I'll have to check her out! We are going to try Hopi Turquoise Corn in about a month or so. My neighbor has a fantastic cactus that produces spineless fruit in October that is much better taste wise than a prickly pear tuna and doesn't fight back. Otherwise, I think a lot is like the borage--too many thorns, lol.
Planted this plant in the garden as a natural pesticide and also planted in a small bed near the house for a butterfly garden, WHAT A MISTAKE! The plants are invasive and spread like crazy. They can grow to 5 feet tall and have those prickly spines that will cut you up if you try to walk through it. Getting rid of it is next to impossible! The roots go so deep. Has anyone had any success in getting rid of it? if so how?
I gotta know...where does it get 5 feet tall and a ridiculous root system? It sounds like I got off easy in the desert. It maxed out at about 2 feet and then croaked in the heat (after shedding tons of seeds to self sow in the fall and mine were easy enough to pick out). I hear you though. No bare feet allowed near where that's planted!
Frost sensitive
Thanks for contributing this! Since mine didn't make it through the summer and ibhad no desire to replant in the fall this is good missing information.
For it's medicinal benefits I will plant it in a container and control the spreading
Love this idea!
I wish I had watched this video earlier in the year. I planted a bunch of borage thinking it must be great since so many TH-camrs rave about it. Nope. I don’t think it’s pretty and the tiny splintery hairs are extremely unpleasant! 👎
Right?!? I'm sorry you had the same experience, but I'm glad to know I'm not the only one. 😭❤️
I will NEVER NEVER NEVER grow this miserable plant again “sorry to those who like it”. I have never had one single plant attract so many pests EVER! I had to pull all the full grown borage from all of my beds. Never again.
I planted it on the other end of my yard. Doing ok.
Sounds like it was bad but if you put it in different beds you definitely gave it your best try and that was a solid test. I would love to hear if you have the same/similar pests next year without the borage. Hopefully not but I wonder if borage was the sacrificial plant in the garden?