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- Location: Brittany / Breizh / Bretagne 9a
Gotu kola - Asiatic pennywort - Centella asiatica
Yet another one of my exotic herb queries. Has anybody tried Gotu kola? I've got a plant outside on the terrace in direct sunlight at the moment with daytime temperatures around 25°C. I read that it's semi-aquatic so I have it in a pot standing in a dish of rain water. I also read that given the right conditions it's rampant. Mine doesn't appear so 'rampant' at the moment so perhaps something needs to be changed.
Gotu kola likes damp places and will grow as a ground cover where it is humid and gets regular water in shade and in sun. It creeps by rhizomes along the ground and roots shallowly. It propagates by cuttings. I don't know about it being semi-aquatic. As far as I know it does not grow in water like watercress.
Gotu Kola is bitter if you eat it. It is a medicinal plant and many of them are. The most common use of gotu kola that I know of is as a poultice for minor wounds and skin ulcers. It also has rejuvenating properties that is supposed to help with things like arthritis and aging. The latter part, I don't know about, I think genetics and activity plays a large part in that as well.
https://herbsarespecial.com.au/plant-in ... gotu-kola/
Gotu Kola is bitter if you eat it. It is a medicinal plant and many of them are. The most common use of gotu kola that I know of is as a poultice for minor wounds and skin ulcers. It also has rejuvenating properties that is supposed to help with things like arthritis and aging. The latter part, I don't know about, I think genetics and activity plays a large part in that as well.
https://herbsarespecial.com.au/plant-in ... gotu-kola/
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- Full Member
- Posts: 50
- Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 8:08 am
- Location: Brittany / Breizh / Bretagne 9a
Oh dear! Where to start? Not looking to good for my gotu kola. I brought it inside when the temperature outside started dropping below 10°C at night. Since then things have just gone from bad to worse. All the leaves died one after the other and now all that's left in the pot is one tiny self-seeded seedling that sprouted but doesn't seem to be growing in any hurry. I kept it humid and put the plant in a south facing window in my kitchen - so not too much central heating and as much sun as I can give it. I used a basic peat based compost. Is GK sensitive to soil conditions, nutrient levels and pH? Do you think it might grow back again from the roots?