sugar cane, curry leaf, bay leaf

[jdlondon]

Just curious, because I saw cuts of them, looking quite fresh, at an asian grocers and I was wondering if anyone had tried growing them?

I was thinking of bamboo as a solution to a gap in the conifers separating us from the neighbours and the rail track, but after reading how invasive they are, re-considered. Then sugar cane!

Curry leaf, for the cooking. Bay trees do well here, and I was thinking of offering cuttings once I get around to making them and having them live! - if anyone was interested. Anyway, if it had similar needs to bay, I was hoping curry leaf would thrive too.

[Lady BlackThumb]

Sugarcane is tropical, so I'm not certain how well it will do here. It does make quite a chunky mound though, (think the large bamboo that has been left to grow wild), so if you're looking for the "slimline green fence with low space footprint" I don't think this would work. Also from recollection it's not as dense as a bamboo bush, and the lower leaves do get quite brown and straggly at maturity.

That said if you can get it to work, you'll have a very tasty green fence! Using a cleaver, chop the short sections, (removing the divider parts), split off the outer skin and like a log split it into 4-6 long sections. Great for letting the kids (and adults) chew on them. ��

[Runtpuppy]

I am fairly certain you can grow a curry leaf tree here in a greenhouse, if it is heated. However, I don't think it has the same requirements as a bay tree. My bay tree sits outside in winter and seems to be doing okay. Don't think a curry leaf tree would be happy with that.

For context, my mum has a curry leaf plant in Delhi. It goes dormant in winter and becomes active in spring. Again, for context, it's spring there now and the max temperature is 40 degrees C. In summer, the temps will be trying to touch 50 degrees.

While the tree may be able to deal with the cold (I don't know as I haven't found a curry leaf tree here to try and grow), the coldest it goes in Delhi is -1 if it's a particularly cold winter.

If I do manage to get my hands on a tree, and manage to get some cuttings out of it, I might experiment with the cold tolerance. However, my understanding is that it is a warmth-loving plant which will not be happy in the cold in the long term.

As for the sugarcane, I have fond memories of chewing on those as a kid. They used to sell the 6'-8' canes, and you were supposed to use your teeth to peel the tough outer skin to get to the fibrous insides. L_BT is right in that it's like a bamboo cane. Again, while you may be able to grow it here, I am not sure it will survive the winter. So I guess you can aim for an annual fence :P

If you do manage to grow it, the juice is amazingly refreshing, and super-tasty with a bit of ginger, mint, and lemon juice!

[mothhawk]

Sugar cane has a long growing period, 10 - 18 months, so unless you plan to grow it in a heated greenhouse you'll not get much sugar from it.

[veggiechicken]

How to grow Curry leaf in a PT ..............https://www.firsttunnels.co.uk/page/...ps-CurryLeaves

[jdlondon]

Wishful thinking for it all! - seeing as changing temps seem to be allowing more and more hot weather plants to grow.

Re the sugar cane, not looking for a neat border, want it to basically fill up the space left by uprooted trees and old conifers with bottom leaves missing. And tastiness seemed a wonderful side benefit if it worked.

I'll give it all a go, for pure curiosity's sake. Live and learn!