What a 'caper'

[Mrs Ava]

I have been given some seeds from my sister, from a chap in Israel.  Caper seeds.  Anyone grown capers?  What do I do with them?  Will they need to grow in my greenhouse?  Are they related to nasturtians (sp??)

[Tenuse]

Capers are the unopened flower buds of the plant Capparis spinosa.

Nicked from another website:

Caper seeds are miniscule and are slow to nurture into transplantable seedlings. Fresh caper seeds germinate readily - but only in low percentages. Dried seeds become dormant and are notably difficult to germinate and therefore require extra measures to grow. Dried seeds should be initially emersed in warm water (40°C or 105°F ) and then let soak for 1 day. Seeds should be wrapped in a moist cloth, placed in a sealed glass jar and kept in the refrigerator for 2 - 3 months. After refrigeration, soak the seeds again in warm water overnight. Plant the seeds about 1 cm deep in a loose well drained soil media. Young caper plants can be grown in a greenhouse (preferable minimum temperature of 10°C or 50°F).

In Italy, plants are spaced 2 to 2.5 meters apart (depending on the roughness of the topography; about 2,000 plants per hectare). A full yield is expected in 3 to 4 years. Plants are pruned back in winter to remove dead wood and watersprouts. Pruning is crucial to high production. Heavy branch pruning is necessary, as flower buds arise on one year old branches. Three year old plants will yield 1 to 3 kilograms of caper flower buds per plant.
     "Grown from seed, in California caperbushes reportedly begin to flower in the fourth year, however Italian sources report some flowering from first year transplants.
     "Caper plantings will last 20 to 30 years.

[Doris_Pinks]

Googled growing capers EJ, and this is all I could come up with! http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Specials%20and%20Holidays/Capers%20Origin%20Uses%20Recipes.htm  
Which makes me wonder if it might be another plant for your conservatory!!  DP

(ohhh  you beat me to it Ten!!)

[cleo]

Thanks for raising this one EJ and thank you as well Tenuse for the information. I have never been able to get capers to germinate but will try again now if I have any seed left.

Stephan

[Mrs Ava]

Cor, what a caper indeed!   A lot of palava to get them to germinate, but will give anything a go once.  Thanks you lot!  

[tim]

I've lost my 'down' button, so must do this in 2 parts - if I can keep a level head!
What I'm trying to say is that 1) I LOVE capers - 2) there are so many different sorts - 3) I did read it up some time ago, but are they all from the same bush at different stages?

These are Maitre Provi - the only really good small ones.


The ones below are Delicias 'Caperberries' - even nicer - on stems - but if they get any bigger, as in some delicatessens - they get very seedy.  = Tim

[aquilegia]

If capers are like olives - green ones are unripe, black ones are ripe, but both from the same tree (like green toms and red toms).

mmm capers. Lovely place in malta were they grow on the town walls. ahhh.

[cleo]

Well mine are now in the fridge-could this be the start of the great `Caper-bility ` challenge?

Stephan