Does Seed Selection Matter?
Why should you care where you get your Moringa seeds? Aren’t they all the same? Today we’re going to explore the different types of Moringa, what seeds we use and why, where we get our seeds from, and the dangers of cross pollination. It’s important to know your farmer and the care they take to make sure you get a high quality product, especially for seeds, as that is the future of your garden.
Different Types of Moringa Seeds
There are 13 known types of Moringa, but only a few are used for cultivation. Of those few types Moringa Oleifera is one most known and used. In the Moringa Oleifera family there are over 100 different types of seed varieties. The most common of those is the PKM1, but other seeds that you might hear about are the PKM2 and MOMAX3.
Seeds We Use
In short we use the PKM1 seeds. PKM1 seeds were developed at Periya Kulam Horticultural College and Research Institute in Tamil Nadu, India.
Why We Use This Variety
PKM1 seeds are the most widely used seed and for a good reason. It has high yields of leaves when compared to other varieties and it highly disease and pest resistant. This variety, in a tropical zone can fruit twice a year! It’s also what most of the studies that have been done on Moringa used in their testing and research. Additionally it has a better taste than other varieties which is great when you are growing the plants for food or food supplement.
Where We Get Our Seeds
We have developed a relationship with a USDA Certified Organic Moringa farm in Nicaragua. This is our main supplier of seeds. We have done our due diligence and met with this farmer and seen their farming practices. We trust this supply of seeds and use it on our farms to grow our Moringa trees so we know they are high quality.
Dangers of Cross Pollination
If you get seeds from different sources without knowing which variety they could cross pollinate. If the trees cross pollinate they typically revert to the lower yielding tree variety. For example if you have a PKM1 Moringa Farm and you decided to try growing some MOMAX3 trees so you could produce a large amount of oil from the seeds, you would be sorely disappointed. The cross pollination would cause the trees to be more PMK1 producing trees. The MOMAX3 seeds are extremely expensive and you would have wasted all that money, and not gotten what you were looking for.
Be Diligent
Make sure you pick the variety of seeds that work best for what your goal is. We recommend the PKM1 for a well rounded, high germinating seed that has a high immunity. Source those seeds through us, so you know you are getting high quality. Beware not to plant 2 different types of seeds within a 5 mile radius to reduce risk of cross pollination.
Peace, Love, and Prosperous Growing.
You Might Also Enjoy other Grow Moringa Pages like…
1) Moringa Recipes
2) Moringa Planting Instructions
3) Frequently Asked Moringa Questions
