Laportea bulbifera – bulbous nettle pack of 10 bulbils
£4.99
PACK OF 10 BULBILS
A hardy herbaceous perennial, bulbous nettle is eaten as a wild vegetable in Japan. Forms a good ground cover and likes damp shady conditions. Bulbils can be sown during autumn, winter and spring. Each bulbil will grow into a plant.
25 in stock
Description
Laportea bulbifera – bulbous nettle is a member of the Urticaceae family and is gathered in the spring and eaten as a wild vegetable in Japan. The leaves are very nutritious and can be used like spinach. It is a hardy herbaceous perennial and as a woodland species grows best in most soil in full or part shade and will slowly make a groundcover by dropping small bulbils on the ground where they will sprout to form new plants. The bulbils develop following on from small white flowers at the leaf axils. As the plants die back in winter, the whitish bulbils are the part that remain and these will naturally drop and root themselves or you can collect some and pot them up and watch them sprout again in spring. Height 50-150 cm. Moist but well-drained, humus rich soil in part to full shade. Very useful in a forest garden setting or a damp shady part of your garden. The large leaves pack quite a sting, so harvest with gloves and long sleeves but the sting is removed during the cooking process and you can safely eat the leaves. This pack of bulbils can be stored in the fridge in a bag with a bit of damp compost and sow in spring, or potted up now, where they will remain dormant until spring. The bulbils are hardy, but don’t let the pots get completely frozen over winter if they are outdoors ( undercover is fine) as bulbils can go mushy if subjected to multiple icy periods.