Does anyone know of non-toxic plants? I want a fast growing vine with edible fruit (for humans) to grow on my chain link duck pen. It's partly for providing extra shade for the ducks but also because I plan on growing fruit vines anyway, so this'll save space. There will be a trellis as a separator to keep them from eating very many leaves.
I think blackberry plants are non-toxic so I'll probably do a section with blackberries but I want some variety.
I've considered...muscadine grapes, kiwi fruit, kiwano melon, cantaloupe/melon, passion fruit (but i think the leaves/flowers are toxic?), but I have no idea what plants are safe. There is so little info online about whether these leaves/flowers are toxic.
While the fruit vines are growing in I could do veggies that vine like bean plants, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, etc but again, I'm not sure which plants are safe.
Oh, I forgot to say, I'm in zone 9a of Florida and the plants would be in full sun with good drainage. The soil is mostly sand, like most Florida soil, so I would use compost.
I agree with your choice of muscadines, but I'm not sure if kiwi will do well there (in your climate, anyway). Cantaloupe and melon might be cumbersome with the fruit (what if one starts to grow between the trellis and the fence?), and they are prone to fungal infections in the Florida climate. I, too, have wondered about passion fruit vines. Some references say they are toxic, while others say they are safe. I think the problem is that there are so many species of passion flowers, while only a few produce edible fruit, and "passion flower" and "passion fruit" species get confused.I have a book called
Florida's Best Fruiting Plants that you might want to get for yourself (I'm planning on moving to south Florida in a few years), and it does not list any danger about the plant (other than it being possibly invasive). There are other species with the "leaves may cause irritation" or "leaves are toxic" notes, so I'm thinking that the edible-fruit species are ok.
While they don't provide edible fruit, you should also consider nasturtium (leaves and flowers are edible) or a climbing rose (non-toxic, ducks may find fallen petals a real treat, and they are a decorative cover). Look for
Climbing Chinas or Teas (not Hybrid Teas),
Tea-Noisettes,
Lady Banks, or some of the climbing
Hybrid Musk roses to fit your purpose in your climate. The links I provided give general information to the classes of roses I mentioned, but there are many other sources for roses that fall into those classes. Oh, and check the HelpMeFind website for looking up specific named roses -- here is the page for one that you might really like,
"Secret Garden Musk Climber")
For your climate, and considering the root knot nematode issue, it might be best to make a raised bed around the duck pen where you want to plant, or keeping the plants in large containers. If you go the raised-bed route, go about two feet in height, and lay down sheets of cardboard directly on the ground inside the raised bed to kill the grass underneath. Then add lots of organic matter (even unfinished compost left to finish in here). The nematodes prefer loose sandy soil, and they have a harder time in very rich organic soil. You can also plant a row of marigolds to edge the front of the planting -- they drive off root knot nematodes in the soil where they are planted.
