Propagating lemongrass

ukvegfan · Sat Jun 24, 2017 11:50 am

Probably a too early to try yet, but as I've been struggling to find any properly fresh plants I thought I'd ask

I've got some store bought, packaged lemongrass I intend to use in some stirfry and was wondering if it had been cut off too high up the stem to allow it to root?

pepperhead212 · Sat Jun 24, 2017 12:13 pm

Every season, I buy some lemongrass at the Asian market, and root it in water, changing it every couple of days. In about 3 weeks it roots, then I stick it in the ground... and wait! It's not ready to harvest for 5 or 6 months.

imafan26 · Sat Jun 24, 2017 12:14 pm

You need part of the base of the plant in order to root it. So if the stalk is cut high, it is unlikely to root. If you can find an Asian grocer you may be able to get one that does have roots on it. Summer would probably be the best time to root it in UK. It is not cold hardy so it would have to be brought inside in winter and kept in a warm place.

ukvegfan · Sat Jun 24, 2017 12:49 pm

Thanks,

Originally I had tried to post a picture showing where it had been cut, but it failed to work, got it working now.

thanrose · Sat Jun 24, 2017 4:19 pm

You can probably root these. It would be more assuring if you had little root nubs sticking out at the leaf scar below the last blade at the bottom, but I would just take off that last one. Pull it down and tear it off. You'll expose the nodes. This year I started mine in water from market produce, but that was because they looked a little dry. After a few days of daily water changes, I saw some growth in the roots. When I knew all stalks were going to sprout, I put them in little moist peat pellet pots, then planted them when roots came out the bottom.

Since you are going to use a lot of the lower stalk for cooking, I'd suggest that you keep at least the bottom two inches or so to try to root. It's too easy for a smaller piece to dry out, I'd think. But I've been wrong before.