Lemongrass

[berksmike]

I've always been a great fan of Thai food and decided to dabble with lemongrass..

Have been amazed how easy it has been to grow from shop bought stems... I got two stems from Tesco for 69 p and placed them in a tall glass with some water. I covered it in clingfilm and put them on a warm windowledge.

It grew 4 inches out of the glass, piercing the clingfilm, within 3 days and is now flourishing...

Well worth trying!

Mike

[Alison]

Never thought of that way of doing it. I too like Thai food so have panted some seeds and they've grown OK but am not sure how to look after it or how long it will take to get anything productive - any advice from anybody who has grown it before?

[berksmike]

From what I've read they need a hot humid enviroment (as you would expect) so ts going in my heated greenhouse in a nice pot.

All you do is harvest as required... generally newer growth, it's a half-hardy perrenial so prob bit risky outside.. You can keep it dormant over winter to maintain strong growth each season..

It's also supposed to be an insect repellant so might help keep pests off the toms!

Hope thats some use..

Mike

[Alison]

Thanks, will see how it goes, was thinking of having it in the conservatory but as it only consists of some very thin stems at the moment so it may be a while before I'm doing any thai curries!

[Earthbabe]

Hi Alison, judging by the size of my seedlings which are now two to three weeks old it takes a while to get to a size where it is pickable.

[muckdiva]

Have been amazed how easy it has been to grow from shop bought stems... I got two stems from Tesco for 69 p and placed them in a tall glass with some water. I covered it in clingfilm and put them on a warm windowledge.
Mike

I did the same as you BM, (actually bought a Tesco Thai curry set for 69p, and planted the little pink shallots as well ) There was advice about rooting lemongrass stalks in a glass of water on another grapevine thread, which I followed and sure enough, roots appeared after about a fortnight, and stalk is now in a pot of compost and seems to still be doing well.

I wanted to grow lemongrass again as I'd had a plant from a garden centre a few years back which grew fantastically well in the herb garden. It really made a very thick clump by the autumn. Unfortunately I didn't realise it wasn't cold hardy and it was killed off by a frost, so I will probably either keep this one in a pot or bring inside for the winter.

Those stems grown from seed may well get to a good size quickly.

[emmalowtherwright]

Hello

I'd love to grow lemongrass using the glass and clingfilm method. I've looked for the other thread mentioned by Muckdiva but can't find it.

How far up the stems should the water be?
No nutrients in the glass?
How tightly should I pull the clingfilm?

Sorry if these are really stupid questions but I really am a nervous newbie grow your owner when it come to soil.

As an aside - Thai food is one of the few ways I know to get hubby to eat anything healthy so I would be ecstatic if I managed to grow lemongrass - I've got about 8 stems (market-bought) in the kitchen at the mo'.

Ta
Em x

[SueA]

Hi Emma, if you click on the 'Search' button at the top of the page & put in 'Lemongrass' you'll get a couple of links, I think the one by'Rauni' has some info. You might not need the clingfilm at all, I think if you put the stems in a glass of water & give it some bottom heat , say on a shelf over a radiator or even on a warm sunny windowsill, it should root.

[emmalowtherwright]

Thanks very much SueA

I found the post from Rauni. Thanks Rauni wherever you are!
And I now know how to find relevant posts, sorry I'm new to all this forum stuff.

I'll give it the lemongrass a go tonight.

Ta
Em x