Companion Nasturtiums Not Flowering

[PerfecTommy07]

Hi All,
First time flower gardener.
I'm growing lots of nasturtium this year as companions to my inner city (veggie) container garden. I hope they make good friends to my tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and cukes. The seeds started and grew (early April) without much trouble. I have them in several containers all around the patio in full to moderate sun. I used the potting mix from last year’s tomato bed with some sand as substrate. Other than some occasional yellowing foliage the plants seem to be happy and healthy.

However there are no signs of blooms on any of the plants. These plants are all 8-10 weeks old now. From what I have read online, nasturtium should begin to flower within 35-52 days of germination. Needless to say they are not on schedule. It’s been a relatively cool, spring and summer here in Chicago. Could that have some impact on flowing?
Also, my marigolds (tall variety) that were germinated in the same time frame are just now beginning to flower.

Please advise.
Thanks,
PT7

[Lindsaylew82]

Nasturtium like poor soil. If your soil is rich in nitrogen, you'll get lots of green and little to no blooms. The same is true for marigolds.
If I remember correctly, nasturtiums are cool weather crops. Mine do ok in the heat as long as they are planted under big squash plants or are planted on the back side of my cuke trellis where they are shaded for the hottest part of the day. Are they related to watercress? I thought I read that... Ours tastes just like mild horseradish or really hot radishes.

[Lindsaylew82]

The same is true for marigolds.

Not that they like poor soil, but if the soil is high in nitrogen, you'll get more green and less bloom.

[PerfecTommy07]

Not sure what the nitrogen content of the soil is. I did use the soil (potting mix) that had been used the last two years for my tomatoes. I figured (maybe incorrectly) that the toms would have sucked most of the nutrients from it over the last two seasons. I also added a good deal of sand to that, but who knows.

I'm just going to keep my figers crossed that they take off soon.

Thanks,
PT7

[Lindsaylew82]

I'm sure they will. I planted mine in little yogurt cups because slugs were eating EVERYTHING NEW!!! They took more than 2 weeks to sprout. Some are still just now sprouting 3 weeks later. Now that they are up and thriving, (and the slugs are more manageable) I'll transplant them.

Here are mine!

[PerfecTommy07]

Yay! They are blooming. First flower!

[Lindsaylew82]

WOOHOO!!!!

[Rairdog]

Mine just bloomed today! The ones in the ground have leaves twice the size as in pots.

[Lindsaylew82]

I pinched of one of my leaves and popped it in my mouth thinking, "I LOVE peppery!!!" Whoa!!! Way wrong! They are VERY HOT! Like a really hot radish, or like wasabi or horseradish!

Bleck.

[PerfecTommy07]

Never tried them. I may give em a go later. In a salad perhaps. Do the leaves and flowers carry the same flavor?

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever eaten a flower...that I know of...hmmmm

[Lindsaylew82]

I've not tasted the flowers.

But they have the same description.

[rainbowgardener]

Never tried them. I may give em a go later. In a salad perhaps. Do the leaves and flowers carry the same flavor?

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever eaten a flower...that I know of...hmmmm

Many flowers are edible including lavender, lilac, marigold, squash blossoms and a number of others. I have recently made redbud flower jelly and lilac ice cream and I have previously made a lot of other flower jellies, including chrysanthemum flower.

[PerfecTommy07]

Never tried them. I may give em a go later. In a salad perhaps. Do the leaves and flowers carry the same flavor?

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever eaten a flower...that I know of...hmmmm

Many flowers are edible including lavender, lilac, marigold, squash blossoms and a number of others. I have recently made redbud flower jelly and lilac ice cream and I have previously made a lot of other flower jellies, including chrysanthemum flower.

Interesting.

I've got no idea what lilac tastes like, but I might like to try lilac ice cream. It sounds like it tastes good. I've heard of squash blossoms being edible. I might try that as well. I have four huge black beauty Zukes growing now with plenty of blossoms. I could always use the google, but how might these be prepared and do you use both male/female blossoms?

Thanks,
PT7

[rainbowgardener]

you can look it up. There's probably recipes here and in google. Frequently squash blossoms are batter dipped and fried. They taste more vegetable-y than flowery.

If you eat your female flowers, then of course they will not become squashes. You can eat the male ones without reducing your squash yield any. But if you have plenty of squash fruit already set, then it doesn't matter and you can eat either kind.

[Lindsaylew82]

I've used both male and female. I stuff them with goat cheese mixed with mascarpone and some herbs. Then dip them in seasoned buttermilk and then seasoned rice flour. Then I fry them.

[applestar]

I just had some yesterday, stuffed fresh with hot rice and meat sauce and diced green onions mixture. The flowers cool things down a bit. The bristly fuzz at the base of the blossoms may be off-putting for some. I sometimes also add ricotta, cottage, or cream cheese to the mixture.

When you fry them, do you deep fry or pan fry? I almost never deep fry... So I'm out of luck if the recipe calls for deep frying them.

[Lindsaylew82]

Girl... I don't even deep fry my chicken! ( don't tell my family... )

I just feel like deep frying is such a waste! I'm weird about reusing oil that has been cooked before. The only time I DO deep fry is if I'm making wings, but we make them for a HUGE crowd, so I don't feel so wasteful. Especially with meat.
I actually RARELY fry anything, unless I'm cooking for a crowd. My deep southern family would mutiny if I served a nice roasted chicken, steamed squash, and grilled okra, instead of fried chicken, fried squash, fried okra.... You know...
When I do fry, I shallow fry everything. ~1" of oil. I like using extra light olive oil. When you fry them this way, the stem gets crispy, and the fuzzy is not noticeable unless undercooked.

Sometimes I stuff them with a ricotta and mozzarella mixture. The same I use for stuffed shells. I fry them the same way and serve them with marinara that I make and preserve. 2 years ago, I made tomato jam with a HUGE crop of yellow pear tomatoes... It was really good with fried squash blossoms!

[applestar]

Thanks for all the info. (...and I won't tell )
So I picked these today

...sorry this is becoming completely OT...