Jobs Tears

[JohnS]

Do any of you gardening gurus know anything about Jobs Tear? I just planted some a couple of weeks ago and don't have any idea of how long they take to come up. I think they are a type of goard about the size of a pea when full grown.

[ponygurl]

Do any of you gardening gurus know anything about Jobs Tear? I just planted some a couple of weeks ago and don't have any idea of how long they take to come up. I think they are a type of goard about the size of a pea when full grown.



Where do you live john? In cool climates they should be started indoors and transplanted outside. Most guords need warm soil to germinate. If the soil is warm enough, they germinate quickly.. within 10 days..
Job's tears are usually used for beads to make necklaces and shit.

[JohnS]

Where do you live john? In cool climates they should be started indoors and transplanted outside. Most guords need warm soil to germinate. If the soil is warm enough, they germinate quickly.. within 10 days..
Job's tears are usually used for beads to make necklaces and shit.


I'm in Georgia where the soil never gets too cold. I have heard that goards needed to be planted early so I planted a few in the middle of Feb. and will plant a few more later.

They do germinate quickly. I was going to plant them last year but they germinated in the bag and were no good. I got some more last fall from an aunt in Kentucky but kept them in a different kind of bag this year.

[ponygurl]

I'm in Georgia where the soil never gets too cold. I have heard that goards needed to be planted early so I planted a few in the middle of Feb. and will plant a few more later.

They do germinate quickly. I was going to plant them last year but they germinated in the bag and were no good. I got some more last fall from an aunt in Kentucky but kept them in a different kind of bag this year.

When I germinate my guords I soak a cloth in water and place the seeds inbetween the layers of cloth. This swells and pops the seeds open quickly.. they even sprout before they make it to the soil sometimes.. This takes usually 3-4 days. I do this because our growing season in Ontario is so damn short I want to cut off those extra days and ensure as good of germination results as possible.
After the sprout.. even in georgia now, I'd think , but I dunno on your soil conditions.. they should be planted indoors in peat pots or flats. Do NOT let guords dry out.. this really sets back their growth and they die quickly when dried.
What are you going to do with them..I'm curious?

[JohnS]

When I germinate my guords I soak a cloth in water and place the seeds inbetween the layers of cloth. This swells and pops the seeds open quickly.. they even sprout before they make it to the soil sometimes.. This takes usually 3-4 days. I do this because our growing season in Ontario is so damn short I want to cut off those extra days and ensure as good of germination results as possible.
After the sprout.. even in georgia now, I'd think , but I dunno on your soil conditions.. they should be planted indoors in peat pots or flats. Do NOT let guords dry out.. this really sets back their growth and they die quickly when dried.
What are you going to do with them..I'm curious?


Thanks Pony, that's some great info about goards. Here in GA we have a great growing season but the soil isn't the greatest. Where I'm at the soil is sandy and looses moisture fast. That combined with the summer heat makes it hard to grow some things without a lot of watering and mulching.

We're going to use them for rosary beads. (Catholic thing y'know) Several years ago when my daughter was doing wolunteer work with the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Theresa's nuns) she learned that all of them had Rosaries made with Jobs Tears. She wanted to find some so she could make her own rosary and my wife remembered that one of her aunts in KY grew them. We got some from the aunt and my daughter made her rosary. Then my son (now 21) learned from her and he started making them for friends. Rather than keep going back to get more from the aunt we decided to try to grow our own.

[ponygurl]

Thanks Pony, that's some great info about goards. Here in GA we have a great growing season but the soil isn't the greatest. Where I'm at the soil is sandy and looses moisture fast. That combined with the summer heat makes it hard to grow some things without a lot of watering and mulching.

We're going to use them for rosary beads. (Catholic thing y'know) Several years ago when my daughter was doing wolunteer work with the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Theresa's nuns) she learned that all of them had Rosaries made with Jobs Tears. She wanted to find some so she could make her own rosary and my wife remembered that one of her aunts in KY grew them. We got some from the aunt and my daughter made her rosary. Then my son (now 21) learned from her and he started making them for friends. Rather than keep going back to get more from the aunt we decided to try to grow our own.

That's cool.
Just make sure you don't break the sprouts off after they are sprouted during planting. I'd water them daily once they hit the outdoors.

[JohnS]

Do NOT let guords dry out.. this really sets back their growth and they die quickly when dried.



How dry is too dry? Last year I had some in a zip-lock plastic bag and they sprouted with the moisture in he bag.
This year I used a paper bag and didn't have the same problem.

[ponygurl]

How dry is too dry? Last year I had some in a zip-lock plastic bag and they sprouted with the moisture in he bag.
This year I used a paper bag and didn't have the same problem.

They sprouted because they were sealed.. paper is good.
If they sprout..plant them immediately.
Don't let the soil dry after they are planted.

[Sparky26]

What do they look like?

[JohnS]

What do they look like?


What are Job's Tears?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

December 3, 2001

In southern India, Job's tears (Coix lachryma-jobi) [co icks' lack' ri ma joe' bi] have been cultivated for at least 4000 years. The seeds are commonly found in archaeological sites. The grass is often growing in rice fields nearby. Archaeologists call the seeds, rice beads. Perhaps this grass merely found a home with the rice and people let it stay because of its beautiful seeds.

But pragmatist archaeologists claim early humans would not have wasted time growing anything that was not edible. Throughout Southeast Asia, the seed is used as a cereal, pounded into flour, added to soups, and fermented into beer and wine. Although extensively used by Asians, the grass is considered a weed in commercial rice fields

The teardrop shaped seeds have a hard shiny coat with a hole at the tip where the flower emerges. When the seed drops from the plant, another hole opens at the base which makes them perfect for stringing. In archaeological sites dating to approximately 2000 years ago, large numbers of the seeds have been found arranged in a manner that suggests they were strung as necklaces.

In Japan, the seeds are called juzu dama which means prayer beads referring to the use by Buddhists for their meditations. By the 1400s, this grass was cultivated in southern European monasteries. One hundred-fifty seeds were strung to keep track of daily recitations of the Psalms. This use of beads later evolved into the rosary. It is in the monasteries that the seeds were first called Lachrim


http://ibiblio.org/herbmed/pictures/p04/images/coix-lachryma-jobi-1.jpg

[JohnS]

Jobs Tears natural color.

http://www.seeds-of-faith.com/Products/Parts/sdna_small.jpg

[ponygurl]

early humans would not have wasted time growing anything that was not edible.




My mother , either.
She was very busy, and she didn't have the extra time flowers required. She always said " we cannot eat the flowers".
So.. eventually, as my kowledge grew, I would ask her to order the flower seeds and I would plants them in flats and transplant them outdoors, and of course the flowers beds became my job to look after. But that was ok.
The only request they ever gave me flower wise was.. could I plant a bed of red zinnias by the house patio .. my dad would sit beside the window there to read, and he loved red zinnias. :)

[ponygurl]

I remember when my friends were spending money on booze and clothes, I was spending mine on booze and gladiolus bulbs. ;D

[kathleen]

But pragmatist archaeologists claim early humans would not have wasted time growing anything that was not edible.

But they couldn't necessarily stop non-edible plants from growing either. The advancement of agricultural techniques happened slowly, just like almost every other advancement of ours.

The use of pesticides to get rid of undesireable plants didn't occur until modern era. ;D

[kathleen]

I remember when my friends were spending money on booze and clothes, I was spending mine on booze and gladiolus bulbs. ;D


;D

I was given much leeway on the gardening as well. My mother allowed me to practice unusual or uncommon techniques to satisfy my curiosity. Sometimes she didn't like them and didn't allow me to do them after the first try, at least until I left home and started doing my own gardens. ;)

[ponygurl]

But they couldn't necessarily stop non-edible plants from growing either. The advancement of agricultural techniques happened slowly, just like almost every other advancement of ours.

The use of pesticides to get rid of undesireable plants didn't occur until modern era. ;D

You are such a scientist Kath.. :P
They maybe couldn't stop the undesirables from growing.. but without cultivation the strains wouldn't have been as prolific as they could have been.

[kathleen]

... but without cultivation the strains wouldn't have been as prolific as they could have been.


Not necessarily.

If it were the right environmental conditions for the growth of the plant, it would have been quite prolific without any help from us.

And if we decided we wanted to clear the land for something else, we would have had a continuing problem with keeping the plant out of the clearing, especially since it is a grass species.

You know how easy and fast grass grows. ;D

[Sparky26]

I am in the process of moving and can't really plant anything this spring. I wonder if you can buy the gourds or beads whatever somewhere else. I think these would make a good necklace....