Coix Species, Adlay Millet, Bead Seeds, Job's Tears

I originally wanted to grow this grass for seed production. However the plants grew to huge proportions- 8 to 9 feet tall! They never blo...Read Moreomed or produced seed! Instead they were an obnoxious weed taking over my planting of three tropical Salvias and two Gingers! I gave it more than it deserved and it never did anything but suck the sun, water and nutrients from more desirable plants!

I would amend the cultural requirements for this plant... It will thrive with an abundance of water... in fact it will make a great bog plant! I tried cuttings in water and they grew incredibly well with roots in a water-saturated condition!!!

If I were not interested in getting seed production... this is a lush and attractive grass... wide, corn-like leaves. It forms a central, rather tight clump. But that was not what I wanted from this plant!

Like I already said this would make a great bog plant if someone would need a plush, wide leaved green plant as an accent within their water garden! Of course it could be easily controlled by the size of the container.

I suspect that there may be different cultivars. Obviously the one I got (grew from seed) was not the one best suited to seed production!!! I gave it more than one season's chance to "prove" itself... to no avail!

Admittedly a beautiful grass... just not what I was looking for!!!

I have grown Job's Tears' for over twelve years-- fifteen years (?) as an annual In my zone 7A garden in Petersburg, Virginia. I have be...Read Moreen warned that it is invasive, but it reseeds itself in only two little plots. It grows from three to four feet tall, with a little corn like tassel. The seeds start off green, mature to black, and then to silver. Some become white. They are supposed to have a natural channel in them which facilitates beading. I've read that it originated in India, and that it grows on the edges of rice paddies in Southeast Asia. People from the Philippines and from Puerto Rico have recognized it. It is not as ornamental as some grasses, but it looks pretty in a patch.

A few Job's Tears beads "stuck to my fingers" when I visited Paris' Jardin des Plantes last month. I've sown four of them in two pots fil...Read Moreled with my usual seedling mixture. Two of these seeds were lightly scarified with a nail file to aid germination. A full week has passed since then. Does anybody know how long this plant takes to emerge at around 20 Celsius? Nobody grows Coix lacryma-jobi here in Central Israel, and I really want our Community Garden to be the first!

By the way, if you happen to be in Paris, the Jardin des Plantes and the nearby Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle are a must! Seriously!

I was given 2 seeds while on vacation in Antigua in 2007. I kept the seeds for 2 and a half years on my dresser, and decided to try and ...Read Morepropagate them in 2009. The first seed sprouted and then died shortly after. The second seed took a month to sprout, but now it is an extremely healthy 2 feet tall with several off-shoots at the base.
I had no idea what the plant was for the longest time so I tried a google search for "grass with hard gray seeds" or something like that, and I actually got results back and was able to find out the name of my mystery grass. Apparently it is very rare in California, and nobody knows what it is here. I am glad to have this plant.