Horseradish

I bought a rather dried up horseradish root from a supermarket last week. It had a few withered leaves at one end. I've put it in a glass of water, hoping it will revive, but no sign of anything new sprouting yet. Is horseradish very robust? Do you think I should leave it in water, or pot it up?

 

Its pretty tough, pot it up though, it'll rot if its left standing in water for too long

 

It's a monster when in full spate Ariadae! I love to see it when it's allowed to grow to its full potential. Do you intend to eat the horseradish? It can give a chilli a run for its money I reckon,
Jenny

 

Mmmmmm yes, eat with roast beef. Just finely grated, mixed with a bit of double cream, and takes the inside of your mouth off! Nothing like the bought stuff in a jar.

 

best in the open ground rather than a pot , if you can a "long tom terracotta pot " lets its roots get deep (tall but narrow pot), John innes no 3 is best , multi-purpose compost will run out of steam very quickly and dry out as well as its quite a thirsty plant I found , I bought mine from tesco £2.00 and in the garden center for a smaller root £4.75

Spruce

 

I've got a huge clump of it. It took me about 5 years to realise what it was. It does it's own thing and has survived some humdingers of winters here and reckon it's been here for at least 40 years.It is in full sun tho. Agree it is extemely powerful and nothing like the bought stuff.

 

I've seen this growing wild and often thought about digging a bit up.

Someone told me of an area in East Anglia where "Colemans" used to grow it commercially, after they moved on the new owners are fighting a battle to eradicate it and losing.
So I think it needs planting somewhere where it can just grow wild.

 

mine on the other side of the fence next to the river , slugs love the leaves

 

Yup; pretty indestructible. It won't like being in water indefinitely though!

I do that outside, it can be overpowering indoors, and I wear some eye protection. Dunno if the one I have is particularly strong - compared to a root in the supermarket - it came from a Horticultural source, so might be more a grower's variety, than a supermarket one

Mine is in a pot and I strongly recommend doing that - and being careful it doesn't root through the bottom of the pot (I move my pot a bit each week, but putting it on a concrete slab might be a better precaution). Nightmare to get rid of once it goes "wild".

 

As Marley other half arrives home late "dinner is in the bin"

Spruce