Lemongrass

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Lemongrass (Latin Cymbopogon) - a genus of herbaceous plants of the Bluegrass family, or Cereals. Other names are shuttlebeard, lemongrass, lemongrass, citronella, tsimpogon, or lemon grass. The genus includes about 55 species that naturally grow in regions with a warm climate. Lemongrass is native to North Africa. Today the plant is widely cultivated in Georgia, Italy, Africa, India, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, as well as in South America.

Characteristics of culture

Lemongrass is a tall perennial spicy-aromatic plant up to 1, 5-2 m high. The leaves are light green, long, narrow-linear, tough, pointed at the ends, when working with them, you can easily cut yourself. The leaves are collected in a kind of volumetric bunches. The flowers are inconspicuous, collected in paniculate inflorescences. All aerial plant parts have a pleasant lemon scent.

Growing conditions

Lemongrass prefers loose, light, drained, slightly acidic soils. Sandy loam, nutritious, moist soils with a substantial layer of humus are optimal. You can grow a crop on swampy soils, but it does not accept saline soils. The location in the garden is sunny, protected from cold winds. Despite the fact that lemograss is distinguished by its rapid growth, it is not able to fill large areas. It is not forbidden to grow lemongrass in pots and other containers on the windowsill.

The subtleties of growing

It is recommended to grow a culture in a seedling way. Seeds are sown in special containers with nutritious moist soil. The seeding depth is 0.5 cm. Before the emergence of seedlings, the crops are covered with plastic wrap or glass, regularly watered and aired. The optimum room temperature is 20-22C. Lemongrass seedlings are planted in open ground in the twenties of May, but only after the threat of frost has passed.

After planting, the plants are watered, and the soil around is mulched. The mulch will provide the lemograss roots with constant moisture and relieve the gardener from constant weed control. In areas with cold winters, lemongrass is grown as an annual, but if you want to have a perennial bush, you can plant the culture in a container and bring it into a warm room for the winter. Lemongrass containers should have holes in the bottom.

Care

Watering is timely using soft rainwater or settled tap water. Weeding and loosening as needed. Top dressing is annual. Complex mineral and organic fertilizers are applied in spring and autumn. The culture is very rarely affected by pests, since it has a pronounced aroma.

Usage

Lemongrass is one of the straight aromatic herbs that has a pleasant citrus aroma with light almond notes. The stems of the plants are used as a spice for stews and soups. Lemongrass blends perfectly with paprika and coriander.

Lemongass is also used as an ornamental culture. The plant will be an excellent contrasting background for low-growing annual and perennial flowers. Lemongrass will harmoniously blend into compositions with cannes and castor oil plants.

Lemongrass has not spared pharmacology and industry. For medical purposes, the plant is used for the manufacture of preparations intended for cleansing the liver from toxins and toxins, treating the pancreas, gastrointestinal tract and kidneys. The essential oil derived from lemongrass has antiseptic properties. The culture is also widely used in the perfumery and aromatherapy industries.