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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Seeds available.

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  • From: "Donna &/or Kieran" <holycow@cookeville.com>
  • To: "Dr. Chiranjit Parmar" <parmarch_mnd@dataone.in>, "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Seeds available.
  • Date: Fri, 6 Jul 2007 09:13:09 -0500

Dr. Parmer, 
    Here in the Cookeville TN area I buy my curry leaf plants from the local nursery, they carry them for their Indian customers.  I know you wrote an article years ago about wild Amla that could take a light frost, and I'm assuming that Bael is no hardier.  Will these plants stay small enough that a person could grow and fruit them in a greenhouse?  I'm just wondering, I don't have a greenhouse, but if some plants could be grown in pots and brought in for the winter, more Indians in the southern US might grow their own.  (Keeping in mind of course that in citrus growing states that it's probably illegal to import the seeds.)
    One day this spring I was at the nursery when an Indian woman brought in a sick plant.  It looked a lot like a citrus relative, and seemed to be suffering from scale like potted citrus does.  Also citrus don't like to be in dry air in the winter indoors, I used to cover mine with a plastic bag to create some humidity around it.  The woman said she'd brought seeds back from India before but they never sprouted.  She showed some dried seeds, and they looked a bit like citrus seeds.  I told her that if they were citrus relatives, the seeds must never be allowed to dry out.  The plant has triple leaves when it is doing well, and is a sacred plant.  She said that the perfect triple leaves were picked and placed "on the God", but that the imperfect leaves were not to be used.  With the plant in such poor condition, it had only a few live leaves, few of them triple.  The nursery owner assured her he would try to nurse it back to health and take some cuttings. 
    Now, can you tell me what that plant was?  Was it Bael, a citrus relative?  My husband says she called it Tulsi, holy basil, but it was not basil.  She only knew Indian names for it.  I would like to know more.  Thank you.       Donna



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