Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Purple Leaf Mustard

Brassica juncea var integrifolia 'Osaka Purple', a Japanese Mustard

This is one of the more ornamental vegetable plants producing big quilted purple leaves which are hot tasting and best used when quite small. The mustard seed produced later in the season tends to explode from the stem on a hot day and can be difficult to collect . The freely scattered seed ensures a future crop the next year and seedlings usually appear from July onwards. The only problems encountered in growing it come from insect pests such as aphids and white fly which congregate on the under side of the leaves.

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