where to get nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) tree ?

[Guest electro]

anyone know of any nurserys that stock Myristica fragrans ?

any tips greatly appreciated.

cheers

[caludia]

i've got a few aussie myristica insipida's growing, but not M. fragrans. Would be a good one to stock tho.

[smogs]

are these tropical only?

i reckon a good addition to a garden would be a cinnamon tree!

MMMM!!

[teonanacatl]

yeah i got insipida plants everywhere at the back of my place, there didnt seem to be any interest in them so i havent tried to grow any, now im just collecting the nuts :D .

[Guest electro]

teonanacatl:

are the nuts viable ? i might have to get some of these from you in the near future..

also metalgoodenia .. are you metalguru ?

[teonanacatl]

not sure ive never tried to grow them, there were some small plants up the back that had self seeded. there is one left its about 60cm tall.

[Fractalhead]

I had a really high success rate germinating M. insipida seeds when I lived in FNQ. I don't remember the insipida seeds being anywhere near as pungent as fresh nutmegs tho (geez they are strong!)

[Torsten]

the seeds don't contain any myristcin, but the aril is pungent.

[jasemateau]

an dude i met years ago now was studying natural medicine.

apparently cinnamon dilates the blood vessels.

nutmeg and cinnamon compliment so many variations of food.

try this

500gms sugar

1000mls water

2 cinnamon quills

1 vanilla bean (seed)

3 anis stars

boil this up turn off the heat and throw in some fresh sliced pineapple, put some foil over it.

after it has cooled slowly.

thats the fucking best man!!!!!!!!

best way to have pineapple.

nutmeg always goes well in stuff like bread and butter pudds, anything creamy, or a baked curd.

thought some of you green thumbs could use this knowledge incase you may have to explain why you have so much nutmeg.

cheers

[smogs]

nutmeg is used in alot of foods that arnt even desserts

im wondering if its a flavour enhancer (like msg)

because often if u just a pinch of nutmeg in something you will get comments like "wow this tates great! whats in it!?"

[caludia]

to trot back to electro's Q - does any one know where to get fresh M. fragrans seed, either within Aust or from overseas?

or anyone growing seedlings in Oz?

[ 31. March 2005, 09:03: Message edited by: MetalGumbo-RaginCajun ]

[Fractalhead]

Maybe teonanacatl can help us out. I know where there is a M. fragrans in Cairns. The only problem is that their is only one tree. I have found nuts on it but not sure whether they will be viable without a male tree around. I think I tried to germinate one or two of these nuts without success. They might have been a bit old though. Teo, PM me if you are willing to keep an eye on the tree and share.

Actually, why not try taking some cuttings or even grafting onto insipida rootstock (easy to get). Come to think of it, vegetative propagation from this tree would def be the go since if you grow from seed it can take years before you know whether your plant is male or female (good). If we graft from this tree we'll be sniffing pungent nutmegs much much sooner. Teo, are you up for it? Fuck I wish I was still in FNQ... its a botanical wonderland.

[ 31. March 2005, 09:16: Message edited by: Fractalhead ]

[teonanacatl]

quote:

---

Maybe teonanacatl can help us out. I know where there is a M. fragrans in Cairns.

---

yeah ofcourse he can. ive got 4 trees up the back of my place :D the fruits will be ripe in a few weeks. ive tried cuttings they went nowhere, i just put them in some soil though didnt really try anything else. :D

[teonanacatl]

oops didn read fractals post properly ive got insipida in the back yard not fragrans but yeah im willing to retrieve some for you :D

[hebrew]

 

quote:

---

Fuck I wish I was still in FNQ... its a botanical wonderland.

---

too true

when i lived there i wasnt into botanicals as much , kicking myself now

[teonanacatl]

lol everyone move back here, think of the warm sunshine, beautiful one day perfect the next

[Fractalhead]

Ahhh that's the exact phrase I used to use when trying to make city dwellers question their *own* metropolitan existence!

[-bijanto-]

 

quote:

---

I think I tried to germinate one or two of these nuts without success. They might have been a bit old though.

---

That's right. It's a common practice for nutmeg farmers in Java to start sowing nutmeg seeds within 24 hours after being extracted from the fruits. Seed viability decreases rapidly. If you store it in dry place, more than often it will not be viable anymore after 3 days, despite of its hard shell.

A sign of a really ripe fruit, is when a part of the fruit surface begins to crack and through it you can see the seed covered with red aril. If a cracked fruit is allowed to hang on the tree for further 2-3 days, the cracking process will continue until it splits in half and finally the seed will drop naturally. The time when the fruit gets cracked is the best time to pick a seed for propagation, i.e. you will get the highest viability.

Of course, some other vegetative propagations can be done as fractalhead said.

[ 19. April 2005, 04:29: Message edited by: -bijanto- ]

[teonanacatl]

havent been able to find the tree Fractal speaks of, if im right then it was just pruned back to a stump, no leaves yet to tell what it is.