Lemongrass: How To Propagate A Curiosity?

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

Lemongrass is harvested in autumn. And in order to stock up on seed, you need to immediately collect seeds from fresh berries. The fruits of this plant have a lemon flavor and a pleasant aroma. They will favorably emphasize and enhance the taste of familiar dishes. In addition, lemongrass is very beneficial for health. It is rich in vitamin C and other substances necessary for the human body

Features of Schisandra seeds

You need to store more seeds, because the fruits of lemongrass have a very large percentage of the so-called empty grain. Instances in which there are embryos can be identified only after stratification.

To separate the seeds, juice is first squeezed out of the fruit, then the pulp is rubbed through a sieve, separating it from the skin. The resulting seeds must be washed and dried. Prepared in this way, they are folded in paper bags and stored in this form until winter. It is necessary not to forget to sign the date of collection of seeds - the sowing material of lemongrass does not remain viable for long. The shelf life is no more than two years.

Seed stratification

Seed stratification begins in January. The sequence of actions is as follows:

1. Soak the seed for 3-4 days, changing the water in the container every day.

2. Wrap the seeds in a piece of synthetic fabric and hide the bundle in a box with moistened sand, which was previously disinfected by calcination.

3. The box is left for a month in a room at a temperature of about + 18 … + 20 ° C.

4. Once a week during this period, the seed roll is removed from the box to be rinsed and then air-bathed. After drying, they are returned to the container again.

5. When the month expires, the box is buried in the snow. Three weeks before sowing, the container is dug out and the contents are allowed to thaw at room temperature.

Sowing of seeds that have hatched is done in the spring. To do this, choose a shady corner of the garden. Sowing holes are made up to 2 cm deep, planted using the belt method. The row spacing is left 15 cm each. The plantings are covered with humus.

Seedlings will look out of the ground after about 2, 5 months. Until this happens, a lighthouse crop with a faster growing season can be placed here. Caring for them consists in watering and loosening, cleaning the beds from weeds. In this nursery, seedlings are grown for 2-3 years.

If sowing is carried out in the fall, then during the winter the seeds will undergo a process of stratification in natural conditions. And the seedlings will appear closer to summer. But with this approach, the germination rate will be extremely low.

Harvesting lemongrass fruits and leaves

How to preserve the harvested crop if you are not engaged in harvesting seeds? From the fruits of lemongrass, you can cook jelly and jam, prepare marmalade, kvass, tinctures. But mostly they are kept dried. Initially, the fruit is required to dry up. Only after that, the stalks and other plant residues are separated from them.

Drying is carried out in the oven. The temperature regime is maintained at the level of + 60 … + 70 ° С. If the stove warms up more, lemongrass will turn black. The optimal color of the workpiece is dark red. The fruits should be large, firm to the touch, and take an irregular shape. Drying at room temperature will not get such a result, and the fruits will quickly become covered with mold.

In addition to lemongrass fruits, other parts of the plant are also eaten: leaves and shoots, bark and roots. They are rich in nutrients and have tonic properties.

To enjoy fragrant tea from leaves and stems, they begin to harvest them at the end of summer. Raw materials must be crushed and spread out for drying in a thin layer in the open air, but in a place protected from sunlight. In order for the leaves to dry properly, do not forget to mix them. Paper envelopes are made for storage.