Hi Tyra:

Thank you for your prompt reply and valuable information.

My balcony is 10' high, 3' wide and 6' long. I plan to have the vines
grow on each 3' side along the rail (5') with cords for support up the
remaining 5' and keep the long side free for my other plants. I get full
sun from sunrise to about noon. Due to the cold winter and Spring, I only
got the seeds in the ground at the end of May. We are now in July and they
are only 12-18" tall. Do these vine grow quickly once the get started? How
big should a pot be and when/how do I harvest the seeds for next years use.

Cheers,
Geraldine

"Tyra Trevellyn" wrote in message
...
From: "G. B. Gaal"
Date: Sun, Jun 29, 2003 8:39 PM
Message-id:

Hello:

I am trying for the first time to grow hyacinth vine on my New York
City
apartment balcony. I have planted one per 5.5" dia/6" high clay pot and
three in a 10" dia/6" high plastic container. They are sprouting nicely,
12"-18" tall, but now I'm wondering if the pots are too small. Can
anybody
advise me, should I repot them before they get bigger?

Thank you,
Geraldine


Geraldine:
These get to be humongous plants, no kidding. I'm not sure if the root
space
they need will overtake the size of the pots you've got them in (most
likely
they will), but the vines themselves may overtake your balcony setup.
How
much space have you allowed for them to climb and spread? I had maybe
about
four plants in the ground in one area (more in others) last summer,
climbing
bean tepees and then more bean tepees, and there were stil lots of heavy
flowering, fruiting vines I had to accommodate on even more cords so the
vines
could grab onto poles and lord-knows-what. And yes, repot them (they
transplant easily, in my experience) into larger pots, and think about
growing
two, not four. Seriously. (They are wonderful plants, but are monsters
when
they get going.)

Best,
Tyra
nNJ usa z7

From: "G. B. Gaal"
Date: Sun, Jun 29, 2003 11:55 PM
Message-id:


"Tyra Trevellyn" wrote in message
...
From: "G. B. Gaal"
Date: Sun, Jun 29, 2003 8:39 PM
Message-id:

Hello:

I am trying for the first time to grow hyacinth vine on my New York
City
apartment balcony. I have planted one per 5.5" dia/6" high clay pot
and
three in a 10" dia/6" high plastic container. They are sprouting nicely,
12"-18" tall, but now I'm wondering if the pots are too small. Can
anybody
advise me, should I repot them before they get bigger?

Thank you,
Geraldine


Geraldine:
These get to be humongous plants, no kidding. I'm not sure if the root
space
they need will overtake the size of the pots you've got them in (most
likely
they will), but the vines themselves may overtake your balcony setup.
How
much space have you allowed for them to climb and spread? I had maybe
about
four plants in the ground in one area (more in others) last summer,
climbing
bean tepees and then more bean tepees, and there were stil lots of heavy
flowering, fruiting vines I had to accommodate on even more cords so the
vines
could grab onto poles and lord-knows-what. And yes, repot them (they
transplant easily, in my experience) into larger pots, and think about
growing
two, not four. Seriously. (They are wonderful plants, but are monsters
when
they get going.)

Best,
Tyra
nNJ usa z7


Hi Tyra:

Thank you for your prompt reply and valuable information.

My balcony is 10' high, 3' wide and 6' long. I plan to have the vines
grow on each 3' side along the rail (5') with cords for support up the
remaining 5' and keep the long side free for my other plants. I get full
sun from sunrise to about noon. Due to the cold winter and Spring, I only
got the seeds in the ground at the end of May. We are now in July and they
are only 12-18" tall. Do these vine grow quickly once the get started?
How
big should a pot be and when/how do I harvest the seeds for next years use.

Cheers,
Geraldine


You're doing fine with the size of the plants. They start slow (they need
consistently warm temps and enough sunshine.....and that just started in our
area). Mine aren't much more than that. But they do take off and there's no
stopping them. If you're prepared to cut them back from time to time to keep
them within bounds as they grow, you should be ok. It would be good to use the
largest pots you can manage, but make sure they're light in weight. The plants
aren't water guzzlers but on a balcony they face drying out more rapidly, so
keep well watered but not wet.

I'm concerned that you may not have enough direct sun, but since there's
nothing you can do about that, treat the plants well and enjoy whatever you
get.... they're worth growing for their beautiful foliage alone. If they're
happy they'll bloom with beautiful lilac flowers. Assuming decent pollination
(self or insect), when the flowers drop off you should see tiny pods which
elongate into big shiny purple pods. Late in summer the pods will begin to
shrivel and within will be your seeds for next year. (When they're ready
they'll look just like the ones you planted and will store nicely.) The plants
can be very productive and bloom well into fall, producing a huge harvest of
seeds for everyone you know.

Best,
Tyra
nNJ usa z7

Tyra:

Thank you for all the advice. Have a wonderful, safe 4th of July,

Geraldine
"Tyra Trevellyn" wrote in message
...
From: "G. B. Gaal"
Date: Sun, Jun 29, 2003 11:55 PM
Message-id:


"Tyra Trevellyn" wrote in message
...
From: "G. B. Gaal"
Date: Sun, Jun 29, 2003 8:39 PM
Message-id:

Hello:

I am trying for the first time to grow hyacinth vine on my New
York
City
apartment balcony. I have planted one per 5.5" dia/6" high clay pot
and
three in a 10" dia/6" high plastic container. They are sprouting
nicely,
12"-18" tall, but now I'm wondering if the pots are too small. Can
anybody
advise me, should I repot them before they get bigger?

Thank you,
Geraldine


Geraldine:
These get to be humongous plants, no kidding. I'm not sure if the root
space
they need will overtake the size of the pots you've got them in (most
likely
they will), but the vines themselves may overtake your balcony setup.
How
much space have you allowed for them to climb and spread? I had maybe
about
four plants in the ground in one area (more in others) last summer,
climbing
bean tepees and then more bean tepees, and there were stil lots of
heavy
flowering, fruiting vines I had to accommodate on even more cords so
the
vines
could grab onto poles and lord-knows-what. And yes, repot them (they
transplant easily, in my experience) into larger pots, and think about
growing
two, not four. Seriously. (They are wonderful plants, but are
monsters
when
they get going.)

Best,
Tyra
nNJ usa z7


Hi Tyra:

Thank you for your prompt reply and valuable information.

My balcony is 10' high, 3' wide and 6' long. I plan to have the
vines
grow on each 3' side along the rail (5') with cords for support up the
remaining 5' and keep the long side free for my other plants. I get full
sun from sunrise to about noon. Due to the cold winter and Spring, I
only
got the seeds in the ground at the end of May. We are now in July and
they
are only 12-18" tall. Do these vine grow quickly once the get started?
How
big should a pot be and when/how do I harvest the seeds for next years
use.

Cheers,
Geraldine


You're doing fine with the size of the plants. They start slow (they need
consistently warm temps and enough sunshine.....and that just started in
our
area). Mine aren't much more than that. But they do take off and there's
no
stopping them. If you're prepared to cut them back from time to time to
keep
them within bounds as they grow, you should be ok. It would be good to
use the
largest pots you can manage, but make sure they're light in weight. The
plants
aren't water guzzlers but on a balcony they face drying out more rapidly,
so
keep well watered but not wet.

I'm concerned that you may not have enough direct sun, but since there's
nothing you can do about that, treat the plants well and enjoy whatever
you
get.... they're worth growing for their beautiful foliage alone. If
they're
happy they'll bloom with beautiful lilac flowers. Assuming decent
pollination
(self or insect), when the flowers drop off you should see tiny pods which
elongate into big shiny purple pods. Late in summer the pods will begin
to
shrivel and within will be your seeds for next year. (When they're ready
they'll look just like the ones you planted and will store nicely.) The
plants
can be very productive and bloom well into fall, producing a huge harvest
of
seeds for everyone you know.

Best,
Tyra
nNJ usa z7