Lemon Grass

Martha, What did you do to finally have success with lemon grass?

I apparently already started a thread on lemon grass 2 years ago.  This is what 3 seeds of lemon grass produces.  For perspective, they are in a 12" pot.  Lightly hot leaves, but Sweetie always likes to chew on them.  

Thanks for sharing, Sanderson! It's interesting to see how less common plants grow, what sort of space they take up. Do you have to bring it inside in your area -- or will it survive the winter outside?

I only grow them as annuals, so I don't know if they would over-winter inside.

I don't bring anything inside the house. I do have a 4' x 4' greenhouse if I want to over-winter tomatoes or peppers, but I won't be doing that this year as I am thinking that OW may also be OW some pests or disease. Especially for tomatoes.

Makes sense. I've attempted to OW tomatoes... in a rather dark apartment. Having aphids inside is no fun, and the poor confused bees (mason bees I think) that I eventually understood were appearing because they were nesting in my pots... 

If I had a designated room away from my houseplants like your greenhouse I might try it with peppers, as I have an acquaintance who is really excited about his results from that... but if I had such a room I'd likely fill it with houseplants before winter hit!

Zone 8 here.  I have a neighbor that overwinters hers in the garage.  I put mine in the plastic greenhouse with the citrus trees.  But I have a small space heater in it.

Kay

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote: Having aphids inside is no fun... 
!

Amen to that!!! And fungus gnats or whatever they are called.

CC

Lemon grass harvest.  Washed, dried, and stuffed in spice jars.  I will probably give herbs and spices to the girls for Christmas instead of HM cookies.  (Photo may or may not download -  having trouble this morning)  

Here is my Lemon Grass, started from a nursery transplant. I need to harvest it but I'm not sure what to do with it. The leaves feel very sharp but I think they can be used to make Lemon Grass tea. The lower stalks can be used in stir fry (e.g., Thai food). If I put some in jars like Sanderson is showing in her photo, what do I need to do to prepare it to go into the jars?  How long will it keep?  Can it be cut up and frozen?

TD, It took me forever to put that grass in the jar as it was my first attempt. The dried grass has one direction hairs so when I would put some in, some would pop out. Over and over. This time, I chopped down the whole pot full (they have grown 8" since), carefully grabbing and gathering the base of the leaves as I cut. I washed in a large bowl, still holding on to the whole cluster at some point as I washed everything. Then spread on a clean towel to dry on the counter. Only took a few days. I plan (ha, ha) to grab as a bundle and stick in a jar and cut to length, repeat with new jars. This is my first year doing this so my story ends here. Should last like all herbs, fading over time. PS I still have some cans of spice I bought as a military wife during the Viet Nam War. I should sell them on eBay. . .

I finally got the photo to download!

I see the photos, then they disappear

sanderson wrote:I see the photos, then they disappear  

sanderson ... I see your photos OK even the first one you posted. Thanks for the description of what you did. You are right about the one direction on the leaves. If you rub your hand over them they are like sandpaper in one direction and smooth in the other direction.

The new method worked! Stuffed the bunch in and cut to size. Squeezed more down one side, snip! Oh, the fragrance!

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Re: CANADIAN REGION:What are you doing in October 2016

Post  trolleydriver Today at 12:21
I tried growing some Lemon Grass this year for the first time. I just harvested what had grown. The following photos show stages of the preparation. I cut off the top leaves outside (no photo). What I ended up with is a few small pieces of lemon grass. I doubt that I will grow this again but I have out a few stalks into a jar of water to see if I can propagate new plants.

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:Re: CANADIAN REGION:What are you doing in October 2016

Post Mimi2 Today at 17:49
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing what you're doing with your lemon grass TD. Are you going to freeze it now? Or will you cook with it directly. This is also my first year growing lemon grass. Any chance it can survive during the Ottawa winter?

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Re: CANADIAN REGION:What are you doing in October 2016

Post  trolleydriver Today at 18:02

Mimi ... I've frozen half and kept the other half to use over the next couple of weeks. I don't think the lemon grass will survive in the ground here in Ottawa but it may be worth a try. I took mine out and I'm trying to propagate some in water indoors from what I harvested. There are examples on YouTube on how to do it.

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Re: CANADIAN REGION:What are you doing in October 2016

Post  Mimi2 Today at 18:05
https://bonnieplants.com/growing/growing-lemongrass/

I found this article about Lemon grass. I think I may put mine in a pot and bring it in over the winter. It looks like it would just go dormant.

Mimi2, Thank you for posting that the link. I didn't know about the "buttery" core of the base. I have only been saving the leaves. When I pull the plants, I will try to get some "butter pats"and freeze them.

TD,

TD, Is that bunch of lemon grass in your yard from one seed? Did you harvest all or did you pull up one clump. The lower stalks in my pot are getting thick (the leaves really grew back long!) and I'm curious about the "buttery" cores. I would like to pull one clump.

sanderson wrote:TD, Is that bunch of lemon grass in your yard from one seed? Did you harvest all or did you pull up one clump. The lower stalks in my pot are getting thick (the leaves really grew back long!) and I'm curious about the "buttery" cores. I would like to pull one clump.

I don't know about TD, but I bought my lemon grass as a small plant at a local seed vendors store (she sells plants between May and June). My plant is massive now. Last night, I pulled it up, put it in a gallon pot with some MM, and I left it outside wrapped in a paper bag by my house wall. In a couple of days I will bring it into my house to sleep for the winter.

I think I remember reading somewhere that you can re-grow the lemon grass that you buy at the store (kind of like what TD is doing with his own plant). Especially if you are able to get some pieces with some of the root ball intact. I have never tried this. But I have had success growing mint and Thai basil from the left overs of store bought herbs- and one of my neighbours does the same thing with spring onions (which she then transfers into her garden).

I'll take a pic of my beautiful lemon grass for this thread when I get home. Please feel free to post any good recipes (I haven't actually used any of mine yet).

sanderson wrote:TD,  Is that bunch of lemon grass in your yard from one seed?  Did you harvest all or did you pull up one clump.  The lower stalks in my pot are getting thick (the leaves really grew back long!) and I'm curious about the "buttery" cores.  I would like to pull one clump.

I bought a transplant to put in the garden in the Spring. When it was time for harvesting, I cut off some individual pieces as low down as I could get, even going below the soil surface. After a while I decided to just pull it all up. I think there were several main clumps. In you situation and climate I would probably take out part of the plant and leave a part of it in the ground for future growth.

Thanks folks.

What does one actually do with Lemon Grass?

Kelejan wrote:What does one actually do with Lemon Grass?

It works well in Assian cuisines and stir fry dishes.

Kelejan wrote:What does one actually do with Lemon Grass?

I have used it for Thai lemon grass soup in the past. That is very delicious. I never used any of my lemon grass that I grew myself though ;-) I guess I should before it becomes dormant.