purple millet

[kenny]

hi all
was wondering if there were any seeds of this plant to grow your own

ken:roll:

http://hortparadise.unl.edu/Newsrelease/News/Millet.htm

[laurab]

I'm sure I have seen these plants in the past at my local garden centre - I will check next time I'm there.

[chris]

Hi Kenny,

http://www.jungleseeds.co.uk

can't remember what section they're in, but they definately sell them, the seeds come in packs of 10 if i remember rightly. they also have a similar plant called fountain grass.. has pannicum in the name so must be good!

Chris;)

[kenny]

hi chris
thanks mate i will have a look through it and see if there is anything worth getting as a growing program

ken

[chris]

Hi Kenny,

from my own experiences with the stuff, it does appear to get a larger flower head however as i grew it in the aviary the seeds were never allowed to develop so i can't comment on their productivity.

but going on the flower size the millet sprays should be about twice that of anything i've managed to date.. so around 12 inches give or take.

http://www.jungleseeds.co.uk/SeedOrders/enter.html

go into "annuals M-Z" in the menu on the left of the screen, scroll down the page about halfway and there's the 2 types of millet and the fountain grass all in a row. unfortunately the site doesn't give a link any more direct than that otherwise i'd give one straight to it.

expensive stuff though, £3.27 for a pack of 10 seeds. same everywhere though, B&Q tend to sell the plants this time of year for around the same price, usually 3 in a pot. i got my plants from B&Q, and to be honest given the price of the seeds you might aswell just buy the plants rahter than risk some not growing and half getting eaten by the slugs!

Chris;)

[kenny]

hi chris
thanks for all the good info mate..i will be going to b&q on the morrow and i will have a look at them

cheers mate
ken

[laurab]

I remember now!, I put some of these in the aviary last year - disapeared in no time at all!!! :razz:

[kenny]

hi laura
i did manage to get some but they are only small plants i will grow them on a bit first before they go into the aviary.


ken

[chris]

Hi Kenny,

get a high nitrogen fertiliser feed and feed the plants on this to get them to throw as many leaves as possible.. this then makes the overall height of the plant taller and the resulting flower spike/spray as large as possible so maximum seeds.

also a good idea to swap over to a high pottassium feed as you see the flower starting to develop - or alternatively as the plant reaches around 4 foot in height

i wouldnt put all of them in the aviary either as the birds will never allow the seeds to develop they'll just shred the flower first and gain comparatively little.

grow a few outside the aviary, as the seeds swell and just start to ripen then pick them and feed to the birds. usually only the half getting the sun will start to ripen at first so the vast majority are very much in the green, and otherwise fully developed

Chris;-)

[kenny]

hi chris
thanks for the info i dont think i will bother putting them in the avairy i will just grow them if i can and feed them to the birds

ken