Borage
Borage is grown for its pretty blue flowers that are renowned for attracting bees to the garden.
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Borage (Borago officinalis) is grown for its pretty flowers. The flowers are edible and are used in salads and cake dressings, while bees love to forage on them! The leaves can be used as salad greens. The roots have the ability to draw trace elements deep from the soil making its leaves ideal for mulching purposes. It is an annual and readily reseeds once you have planted it in the garden.
How to grow borage in a garden
- Purchase Yates Borage seeds from your local nursery or Mitre10.
- Choose a sunny spot. Mix Yates Thrive Natural Blood & Bone with Seaweed with the soil. Sow directly.
- For sowing in large areas keep spacing between plants about 30 cm and between rows about 20 cm.
- The seeds generally sprout within 5 to 10 days.
- Continue watering until they are established.
- Feeding with Yates Thrive Natural Fish Seaweed+ Plant Food Concentrate will encourage good foliage and flower production.
- Harvest after 12 weeks when flowers open.
How to grow borage in a pot
- Choose 300 mm deep pots of any shape. Fill with quality potting mix, such as Yates Premium Potting Mix.
- Sow the seeds and cover them with a light layer of the potting mix.
- Position the pots in full sun.
- Water in well.
- Ensure the potting mix is moist till the plants are established.
- Feed every 3 weeks with Yates Thrive Natural Fish Seaweed+ Plant Food Concentrate.
- Harvest after 12 weeks when flowers open.
Harvesting
- Continuous harvest at regular intervals encourages new growth.
- Tender leaves can also be harvested for salads.
Growing tips
- Borage do tolerate some shade, so if you do not have a sunny spot you can still grow them.
- Initial growth may be damaged by snails and slugs. Protect them with Yates Blitzem Slug & Snail Baits.
- Bees and other beneficial insects love to forage on borage flowers, so avoid using systemic chemicals.
- Borage being annual tolerates some frost, but will eventually sprout in spring.
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Recommended products
Yates Blitzem Snail & Slug Pellets
Kills snails and slugs by dehydration.
Yates Thrive Natural Blood & Bone with Seaweed
A certified organic garden input boosted with NZ Seaweed to gently nourish plants, enrich the soil and encourage a strong healthy root system.
Yates Premium Potting Mix
A premium potting mix, ideal for all potted plants and shrubs, including ornamentals, fruit trees, vegies and herbs.
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