Pandan - Pandanus amaryllifolius

[MaLiorzh]

Just cracked and bought myself one on the net. I love it in the Indian and South East Asian food I do. Any thoughts on growing it in a temperate oceanic climate? I found one Youtube vid that seemed to suggest outdoor growth was possible despite burnt leaves in the Winter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... fC5toctt10

[pepperhead212]

I'll be waiting to see how this grows for you! That was another item I looked into, given my interest in Asian cooking, but it was another one I would have had to bring in; not sure if you are warm enough there, but if somebody in your zone on youtube did it, it's worth trying! Maybe you can do what some do with fig trees, and insulate them in the winter, with straw, or something like that? Or do what I do with my rosemary, and make a small hoophouse, and if it gets really cold, stick a heater under there! Good luck!

My kaffir lime and curry tree I have to trim way back, before bringing indoors in Oct., and I would have had to do that with the pandanus.

[MaLiorzh]

Tree ferns, rosemary, fig trees, aeoniums, aloe vera and even banana plants survive outside here all year. The banana plants turn to mush when they freeze - if not wrapped and protected that is - but they always grow back again from the root.

[imafan26]

I grow pandan. It can be grown in pots but it is a big plant. it will branch, but you can cut the branches off and repot them. I does not freeze where I live in Hawaii. The lowest it has gotten here was about 49 degrees, it usually gets to 51 normally. If you grow pandan, I think you will need to bring it in to keep it from freezing. Mine is in full sun.

You can use pandan leaves washed and tied in a knot and put it in the pot when you cook rice to give it a nice aroma
Pandan extracts are used to flavor pandan drinks and agar agar.

[MaLiorzh]

Of my three exotics that spent the summer outside and the winter in the kitchen, this one is doing the best so far. Many of its leaves went brown round the edges when it came inside (central/stove heating?) but is has maintained a good central crown of green leaves that promise future growth. Fingers crossed as my two others, gotu kola and curry tree, have proved to be real disappointments.

[imafan26]

Curry tree, murraya koenigii, is a large shrub. I have it in the ground and I have to cut it back a few times a year. I really have to cut it back when it flowers since it does reseed. Gotu kola, will likewise grow as a wild ground cover, but it does not really like to be transplanted or put in a pot. Pandan has a large root system and needs to be repotted frequently or it gets pale and the roots crowd. I have to repot mine now.

[MaLiorzh]

That's for the Hawaiian climate though. Here in Brittany, if I planted them outside, the tender little things wouldn't survive the winter.