The Malabar spinach (Basella alba rubra, 100 days) is doing well for itself! It’s absolutely massive to the point where keeping it in my space space is difficult at times because it keeps trying to climb the other plants or on the light fixture.
I also learned that they’re super easy to graft together! Though this might not actually be useful because it seems not only that they’re self pollinating, but also that the flowers don’t open at all and just go straight to being berries? Unless I’m mistaken and those are still maturing flower buds. But if I’m right it means I can’t actually cross pollinate/selectively breed them and I can only change them through chance gamete mutations or genetic modification.
For those who asked, they basically taste like a milder less gritty spinach! They’re more mucilaginous like okra fruit are so they’re more for cooked meals and not raw salads unless you don’t mind the slime. The stems and inflorescences taste like bean sprouts!
They’re also super easy to propagate by cutting! I’m probably going to end up selling them in the cafe I sell my other stuff at, and maybe through Etsy if I can get over my fear of shipping plants.
