Open, Sesame!

[GoDawgs]

It's time for an update on another garden toy, sesame. Why the heck am I growing it? Well... just because, I guess. I don't use a lot of sesame seeds but when it caught my eye in a seed catalog it just seemed to be a fun thing to try.

Here are the four of them, ranging in heights according to how hard the deer munched them early on. The tallest one didn't get "pruned" so that's where the rest of them should be.



Over the past several days it seems like the biggest one has pushed up a big elongated leader all of a sudden. Lots of seed pods at every leaf axil.



Yesterday I noticed that at the base of each seed pod there's a little round yellow structure. They're hard to see and I couldn't get a closer photo because the wind was blowing the stem around pretty good. I managed to get this one during a very brief calm.



I'm going to have to look this up. I wonder if it's a nectary like the field peas have at the base of their pods. Inquiring minds want to know!

From what I've read, sesame plants start dropping their leaves from the bottom up as the seed pods ripen and that's a sign to start collecting the seed pods before they split open and spew seeds everywhere.

Meanwhile, we got 1.2" of rain early last evening. Just straight down pouring. I won't have to water anything today. Yay!

[worth1]

Until now I had no idea what the plant even looked like.

[PlainJane]

So interesting!

[GoDawgs]

Yep, that's exactly what those structures are. Extra-floral nectaries. Here's a perfect photo I found. Unfortunately the website comes up 404 File Not Found but I've included it anyway to give credit where credit is due. The photo was taken by Steven (can't read the last name). Click on the photo for a larger version.

image.png

Here's a photo I took back in 2017 of the nectary at the base of a pair of field pea flowers. It's the structure with the four holes aligned vertically. All kinds of pollinators visit them.



I also found a good article on nectaries from U of Florida that explains what they are and who they benefit.

https://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/hort/20 ... is-flower/

[PlainJane]

As Spock would say, ‘Fascinating’.

[Spike]

As Spock would say, ‘Fascinating’.

Very! I hope you keep posting pictures! Very interesting.

[DriftlessRoots]

Why the heck am I growing it? Well... just because, I guess.

That’s my excuse for growing a lot of things, and I agree with the comments above. This is very interesting.

[Tormato]

Yep, that's exactly what those structures are. Extra-floral nectaries. Here's a perfect photo I found. Unfortunately the website comes up 404 File Not Found but I've included it anyway to give credit where credit is due. The photo was taken by Steven (can't read the last name). Click on the photo for a larger version.

image.png

Here's a photo I took back in 2017 of the nectary at the base of a pair of field pea flowers. It's the structure with the four holes aligned vertically. All kinds of pollinators visit them.



I also found a good article on nectaries from U of Florida that explains what they are and who they benefit.

https://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/hort/20 ... is-flower/

I constantly have bees/wasps sitting at that point on my cowpeas. That's where I'm usually the most cautious in the garden.

[AZGardener]

They look great @GoDawgs. I grew it for the first time last year. I found that once it gets hot they really take off. I put out some transplants too early this year and they didn't do much, nothing like last year. I'm going to try them with my monsoon planting and see if they do better than Spring planting.
Really enjoyed your photos, thanks for sharing.

[GoDawgs]

They look great @GoDawgs. I grew it for the first time last year. I found that once it gets hot they really take off. I put out some transplants too early this year and they didn't do much, nothing like last year. I'm going to try them with my monsoon planting and see if they do better than Spring planting.
Really enjoyed your photos, thanks for sharing.

Field peas, especially these Big Red Rippers really do seem to like the heat. I usually plant them behind the corn once stalks are removed. This year I have some growing up a trellis and this week will be planting some where I removed the corn stalks. They'll make a dandy ground cover once they get rockin'. Direct seeding will give you the best results and they sure pop up fast.

Glad you liked the photos. I find stuff like this fascinating while other folks seem to find it boring.

Tormato, I've found that wasps seem to be pretty non-aggressive when in the field pea patch. If one is on a pair of pods I need to pick I'll gently bump the pods and the wasp will just drift over to another nearby spot. But like you, I'm still wary!

[peebee]

I've always wanted to grow sesame out of curiosity just like you @GoDawgs but I don't have extra room inside my cages. I could never grow them in the open garden where the critters would have a party. We put roasted sesame seeds on practically everything every day. Do let us know when it's harvest time & show us what you do.