In article ,
Henriette Kress wrote:

Billy wrote:

I'm four for four on mine. After a bout of damping off earlier in the
season, I heat sterilized the soil, bleached the germination tray, and
scarified the seeds. (They are rascally little things. I ended up
holding them with needle noses and slicing at them with a small sharp
knife. This is after a half dozen went airborne, while trying to cut
into their hulls.) Then their germination tray with lid on, went on a
hot pad on low, under grow lights. Germination took about 2 weeks.

I've tried growing licorice the same way I've tried any other seeds:
potting soil, washed-out pots, put seeds under a layer of dirt as thick
as the seeds are, wait, water occasionally.
This technique, with licorice, results in no licorice plants at all.
Other plants are easier...

My current licorice plant (bought as a plant) has survived three or
four Finnish winters. I'm hoping it'll take over the lawn; that's what
it's done at the botanical garden 200 kms southwest of me. No luck so
far, though.

Caution: It should be used in moderation and should not be prescribed
for pregnant women or people with high blood pressure, kidney disease or
taking digoxin-based medication. Prolonged usage raises the blood
pressure and causes water retention. A gross overdose of the root can
cause oedema, high blood pressure and congestive heart failure.

All of that is VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY rare, if you speak about
licorice, the root.

If you're talking about licorice, the candy: that hasn't even seen
licorice root extract; it's mostly salt, sugar, flour and fennel seed
oil (or aniseed oil).
Problem is, you won't see the difference in most medline abstracts:
to medicos, licorice candy = licorice.

Except for Finnish licorice, of course. That's the Real Stuff. Yum.

Also, of course, it's extremely easy to get high blood pressure on
licorice candy: eat a pound of candy a day, or two, and watch your
blood pressure go through the roof ... it'll come back down again if
you use your common sense and STOP eating the bloody candy already.

And licorice is a VERY nice medicinal herb. I use it to strenghten
the kidneys, strengthen the adrenals, soothe the gut, soothe the lungs,
and to give a nice taste to various tea blends. I go through kilograms
of the dried root every year, and have yet to see adverse effects.

In addition it's good for anybody who's been through a burnout, or
who's trying to get off cortisones.

Henriette

Vielen Dank fur die Informationen. Ich kenne nicht, echte Lakritze und
ich selten bekommen zu schreiben auf Deutsch. Danke fur alles.
--

Billy
Bush Behind Bars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0aEo...eature=related