We have an allotted space for some quinoa…I ordered some seeds from the lovely Derek from Elfskin Edibles [https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/elfskinsedibles]…Quinoa in the UK?
Lets see how this goes!
We have the Chesiya Mama variety and have just sown the seeds [planted in early May in the UK].
We had instruction to cover with a fine layer of vermiculite [but we don’t have any] so we have sown in straight compost. During lockdown we ran out of newspaper so we reverted to empty toilet roll tubes to start our seedlings off – who knew toilet roll tubes could be so useful!
Apparently these little guys are slow to grow at first but then race away. We have them [hopefully] scheduled to sow into their allotted spots at the end of May / beginning of June.
We have covered the little ‘pots’ with cling film to keep the soil moist and are going to be watering them with tepid water to keep the soil a little warm.
We will let you know how they go and would love to know if any one of you have grown quinoa? How did it go?
UPDATE – 14th May 2020
So, and update on the seeds for you.
7 days have passed, we have SEEDLINGS and we are very happy! Ok, so at the moment we only have 6 seedlings [out of 15] so hoping they continue getting bigger and stronger. We have been spraying them with warm water to keep the soil warm and also kept them covered.
We are now going to separate the 6 larger seedlings and keep them out of the cover and keep the 7 that still haven’t sprouted yet covered up and hope we get a few more.
Keeping them in their toilet roll ‘pots’ and will plant them out in the ground once they are big enough. Of course, we will keep you updated!
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D.O.A.N.G
DIARY OF A NEW GARDENER 