I finally have some time to update on my indigo from this summer! Even though life's event put me a little behind on my indigo, I am still on target for the goal I set for my indigo this year--a comparison of the plants. I have three varieties going. All though all are polygonum tinctorium, they are each a little different. For my project this summer, I used the seeds I had left from Companion Plants and two varieties I was able to purchase from the
Indi Growing Blue project. I compared the two varieties of seeds in this post
http://elephantbooty.blogspot.com/2011/04/looking-close-at-indigo-seeds.html Now to compare the growing plants:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTO7VLHdyT3431Z7ZCJSBj9wYrKoAcxBVP-FeX1KFwSfXhTn-vbSWqYZ6s0_hbTxIgNEpwlR8YmG1u57XT67n6Cacdjknnw_p0Vb8a26Z2RWSDscUtL-hcFjFNiXucCqWAghc4-A/s320/DSCF0723.JPG) |
The kojyoko variety will have white bloom and green stem. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhByah70grprAaqnCWtNADNCV4WOLvBvqpOsVPsjmF16fq4bwgwfHyXSMD-55rqYCWCqXG4wB0e-eKxAxOlFXrh0pAJT_l80rOxr3Y0m9hyaHmtaK3CZwOucnhTZ7B4AdclDEP82w/s320/DSCF0721.JPG) |
The senbon variety will have pink blooms and stems with a reddish cast. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjte9U2jBiBeGTs5BKKtV1j8XFQFo9a9yEJI-srFuwiULdaNekREvtsxB8DX5wbtmrONpQMlzVHWOlW6brQbiCE3aNdn4AqPb3Am3QZJR0eHGDCcBAlKOOx9QW4hXCJksQr4SyeKA/s320/DSCF0729.JPG) |
From Companion Plants, labeled Polygonum Tictorium, but not sure of the actual variety. | | | | | | | | | | |
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From the pictures above, you can see that the top two look very similar as far as the leaves go. I need to get a picture of the stems for my next post. The bottom picture shows how the leaves are darker and have a tendency to curl on the other variety. It is interesting for me to note that Companion Plants no longer carries Polygonum Tinctorium and has instead Indigofera Tinctoria. I am wondering if what they had before was not labeled correctly or had not been indentified correctly.
In order to make sure I get some seeds from these plants, I am going to let one group from each row remain uncut. I will be able to harvest the leaves soon and I am devising a method for comparing the yields of each variety.