FREE: Pokeweed (aka poke sallet) seeds

I love Polk. can u include planting instructions? do u think it would grow in a large terra cotta planter. I don't want it spreading across my whole yard, as Polk tends to take over a yard. thanks

I can include sprouting instructions. You have to soak the seeds in either battery acid or pure chlorine bleach for five minutes, rinse well and put in the soil. The way it spreads over your yard is if it's left to go to seed/berry stage and the birds eat the berries and where ever they poop out the seed, it will grow. It does not spread from the root system. You can plant it anywhere in your yard and it won't spread unless, like I said you let the berries get ripe and the birds spread it around. You might get one plant in a large terra cotta pot but you want get too many unless you want to just plant the seeds and pick off the greens as they get big enough. Unfortunately, if you harvest the first year sprouted seeds they will not come back the next year. Most people let the plants mature a couple of years and simply keep the shoots pinched off in the spring. The packet I have is a lot of seeds and I mean a lot. You either have to scratch the hard seed coating or soak it like instructions above to get them to germinate. If you have a parakeet or indoor bird, you could feed it some berries and then when it comes out the other end, scrape it up and plant it. Guaranteed to sprout that way! Mother Nature makes it easy. We just have to try to do it the natural way or figure out a way that mimics Mother Nature's way.

Also, get on Google and type these words in the search box (pokeweed cancer research) and hit search. Interesting findings on poke plant.
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/45/5/2031.full.pdf
You will read everywhere that pokeweed is poisonous and that there have been deaths associated with eating pokeweed, however I could find not one documented article that points to a specific case of pokeweed poisoning that can be confirmed. I won't say that it's not poisonous but I will say that I have eaten it numerous times without the "required" two boilings and have not ever gotten ill. I also know a gentleman who consumes up to 30 berries each day without cooking them and he has had no ill effects. Couldn't find one documented case of pokeweed poisoning.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-387042.html

Thank you for the info. Melanie