I've selected this week's plant of the week because everyone seems to be talking about it today. It must have appeared on a morning television talk show because Google is having a field day with it. I have to tell you, though, I didn't select it because of any great experience I had with it. In fact, just the opposite.
After reading about the miracle berry plant in Logee's catalog a couple of years ago, I placed an order for the plant, which promises berries that, when chewed, affect your taste buds in such a way that anything you eat afterwards tastes sweet, even a lemon. I was curious. My kids were excited.
The plant arrived bare root, with instructions to plant in equal parts peat moss and perlite. I followed the potting instructions carefully and set the plant beside a sunny window. And waited.
Two years later, and still no berries. In fact, the plant never bloomed. Never even grew, as far as the naked eye can measure. This frustrated me to no end until about a month ago when I began to notice the leaves were getting crunchy, not at all due to improper watering. A snapped-off piece of stem revealed no green within and so I determined it was dead. Ditched it.
Alas, I never got to sample the wonders of altered taste perception. Something tells me Martha Stewart, who raved about the plant and its berries on her TV show, didn't grow the thing herself. I suspect the plant's PR people brought a specimen sporting berries to her set. That's not the way it arrives at your door.
Has anyone out there had luck with this plant? Anyone actually try the berries?
Comments (2)
I've never heard of the plant, but it sure does sound intriguing!
I bought one. It was not bare-root, but came in a peat mixture with directions about keeping it damp, and acidic. I used some Miracid to water it, and am keeping it in a good sunny spot without too much direct sun. I did put it outside on a few sunny days for number of hours.
I did repot it from a plastic pot to a ceramic pot of the same size, with an attached drain pan. The instructions said not to repot it into a larger pot unless it actually becomes pot-bound.
Today a few leaves started sporting spots, going brown, and a lowest one dropped off.
I hope to save it and reverse this...any ideas?