lemongrass

[sweet-pea]

I read somewhere that it is possible to grow lemongrass from the sticks you can buy in the supermarket.  I thought I'd give it a go, but wondered if anyone else has ever tried this with any success?

[sweet-pea]

[amphibian]

Never tried it, but if you have a thick uncut stem you can get it to root in water, then plant it.

[sweet-pea]

Yes that's the method I'm trying.  I'm sure the sticks are looking greener already, but no sign of any roots as yet.

[pakaba]

hi
i hope you have better luck than i have had with the seed i bought.  I  had a couple of seeds germinate but they all died off.

if you want to try some from seed pm me your address and i'll happily send you some..... if yours grow then  you can tell me how to do it. :)

pakaba

[sweet-pea]

Thanks Pakaba, I'll see how I get on with these first and let you know if it works.

[Mrs Ava]

Yup, done lots of times and you end up with a lovely plantation of it.  I believe Cleo is another who does it.  Just stick it in compost and leave it in a warm sunny place.  Suprising how quickly it thickens up.  If you plan to over winter it, it needs a frost free place.

[Doris_Pinks]

EJ, do you start it off in water first? Cos every time I have tried they have gone mouldy in the water! :-\

[sweet-pea]

Ah! I have 2 in water at the moment, maybe I'll pull one out and put it in compost and try both ways.

[cleo]

Thanks for the intro EJ ;D I have heard it can be done from stuff bought but never tried it.  It does though germinate from seed easily,the hard part is getting it through the winter.

The secret for me is to bring it inside-and in my case my study(light over winter does not seem to be a problem), then let the top inch or so around the crown remain bone dry-water sparingly from the bottom.

come spring divide and pot on-after a couple of years you get some thicks stems to use and some thinner ones to grow on.

[bill22]

I sowed some seeds end of january in the conservatory

Seedlings about 4" high but very spindly ( guess they would be as there grass  ;D )

Sounds like I won't get a crop to use this year then!

[Mrs Ava]

I have never had a problem starting them off in compost DP.

[Tora]

I think growing from seeds is better. They readily germinate and grow fast. It takes a while for a plant to grow really big, so sowing seeds is definitely quicker.

[weedin project]

We grew some from seed last year - had 7 plants in between the aubergines in a bed in the greenhouse - they really took off and we had something resembling a short pampas grass that we had to fight our way past!
Dug them up in December and dried them off over the Melon frame (bamboo canes lashed together) in the same greenhouse then trimmed the blades of grass down to about 12 inches and tied each plant off as a tidy bundle with the roots still intact.  It smells lovely and works really well as an ingredient.  Don't know how long it will keep for, we've got it in the conservatory at the moment.