by Jana Louise Smit

Created on: August 02, 2010

If eastern cooking is your thing, then you have probably read in recipe books about lemongrass. An all-round useful herb, its aroma is exotic and delicate in any dish. In your container garden, you must have a pot or two to ensure that you have lemongrass available fresh and all year round.

What You’ll Need.

You will need gloves. Lemongrass irritates the skin on some people. Planting medium, pot, fertilizer, lemongrass seeds or transplants.

The Pot.

The container should be at least 5 gallons, have good drainage holes in the bottom and have a recommended diameter of 10-12 inches. Lemongrass will grow well and decoratively in hanging basket.

The Potting Medium.

Don’t ever use normal garden soil with lemongrass. It’s also not necessary to line the bottom of the container with pebbles. Mix equal parts of peat moss, perlite and course sand to ensure that your potting mix will be well drained once given water. Go for a neutral pH and fill the pot to at least 2 inches from the rim.

Planting Your Lemongrass.

Lemon grass can be farmed from seeds or transplants. While seeds are sold a lot less than seedlings, some people do prefer to start their crop with seeds. Here’s how to do just that. Soak the seeds 6-8 hours beforehand. Prepare a seed tray with a sterile potting mix, sow the seeds and cover them with a thin layer of soil. Use a bottle mister to keep them moist and cover the tray with a plastic sheet to provide the humidity the seeds need. They will germinate in 21-40 days. Wait until they are strong enough before you transplant them to their own pots. If you buy an older plant, then you can propagate the plant by root division. When you divide the stalks, each should have roots measuring at least an inch and those are the ones you will plant. Take care not to injure the roots.

Caring For Lemongrass.

Lemongrass will get sick with too much or little water, so keep it moist but don’t water the soil into sogginess. It will need about 8-10 hours of sunlight a day or the plant might go dormant. Place mulch around young plants, use water mellowed at room temperature and fertilize about once every two weeks. Outside is fine, if the weather is good but move lemongrass indoors during cold nights or even colder days.

Harvesting.

The whole part of lemongrass is useful, so if you decide to use it entirely, remove an entire bulb. Otherwise cut the leaves but don’t cut once inch above the stem because the growth will not recover from such a low shear. It will take about 75-100 days for the blades to reach 12 inches and that is the required length for ideal harvesting. Make tea or add it to dishes for an oriental aroma.

Storage.

Seed heads will eventually form on a mature plant. Let the heads dry, then collect the seeds and seal them away immediately in an airtight jar made from glass.

Pests and Diseases.

Lemongrass is one of the hardier plants you will find in container gardening. However, it is very frost and cold sensitive.

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