What is lemongrass?

Lemongrass is a grass plant & herb that can be found in tropical areas of the world. But it can be easily grown at home. It is used all over the world for a wide variety of dishes, medicine, home remedies, essential oils, and so many more. It can grow like weed in hot regions. It has a great citrus scent, beautiful green leaves, and tough-layered texture.

There are quite a few types of lemongrass (variety). The most common type used in a lot of Asian cooking is known as West Indian (Cymbopogon citratus) Lemongrass. The stalks are little more on the pale yellow and green color. The aroma is a little weak raw, but becomes stronger when it gets cooked. This lemongrass is the most preferred and commonly used. There’s also East Indian Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) can also be used for cooking but it’s usually more known for it’s medicinal and essential usage. However, this one has more of a citrus scent even before cooking it. So it’s great raw and cooked. East Indian also has a more purple hue to it. There are more varieties, but these two are the focus today since it’s mostly used for cooking.

Lemongrass is one of my favorite herb to plant year round. I spent the year documenting our lemongrass crop this year and wanted to share how it went. Here are some information that I hope will help you out in hopefully growing your very own lemongrass. It’s super easy and so flavorful.

Ways to grow lemongrass

1. From seed: I find growing from seeds takes too long. It’s so much easier to buy stalks from the store or farmers market and propagate it. It’s a great propagating plant.
2. Rerooting a stalk: The most easiest and fastest way to grow lemongrass.

Propagating lemongrass from last years harvest and from store bought

Save a few stalks from last years harvest and store them in a glass vase with water. Let it sit somewhere in your house by the window, allowing sunlight to come through. It can sit from early spring or when it is ready to be planted. Change the water every 2-3 times a month.

TIP:

• Pack the lemongrass tight into the vase so it doesn’t grow so fast through the winter. You want the roots to be able to grow slowly by the time you will be ready to plant them in spring.
• If you live in a hotter region, you may not need to put the lemongrass in the vase. We only do this since we do get frost/snow during winter time (which will kill the lemongrass). Depending on where you live, you can keep the lemongrass in the pot with the soil and leave it in the garage with a greenhouse light to keep it warm. By Spring, bring it back outside to grow. Make sure the soil is moist through the winter though.

Stored in a glass vase with water from fall through early spring

What they look like after staying in the vase for a few months. The roots grew much longer. This is a sign they are still healthy and ready to be planted.

Roots growing through the winter time. That means they are nice and healthy still

SOIL

Lemongrass loves heat and humidity. The soil we like to use is as shown below.  My mom and I found this potting mix works best to help retain moisture and heat.

Black Nursery Pots

Because of the area we live in, we like to grow lemongrass in black nursery pots. Black nursery pots help the soil retain heat and moisture. We like to use 7-10 gallon nursery pots. Once winter hits, we can either transfer the lemongrass in pots indoors. If you live in a hotter region, you can grow lemongrass in the ground and keep it outdoors until the frost comes.

TIP: Check your zone hardiness to see how well lemongrass can grow in your area

If you live in hotter region, plant the stalks farther apart from each other (About 24 inch apart from each other)

Make sure to use BLACK nursery pots. Black will absorb the sun’s heat a lot better. Remember, lemongrass loves heat.

Planting/Growing

Lemongrass weather

• Lemongrass grows well in zones 8-11. It’s a great perennial plant in warmer climates since it loves the sun.
• Colder region can be a bit challenging, but as long as you give it a good amount of heat and moisture, it will survive. It just takes a little more care. 😉 Lemongrass will die easily if temperature drops to anything below 40’F

Note: We live in Zone 8b which gets a fairly good amount of sun and rain. Summers are nice but can be short. Frost usually reaches the area by mid October to Nov onwards. So lemongrass grows fairly well from Late march-October if the sun is consistent.

Watering, Fertilizing, Pruning

1.  The soil should be moist but not drenched in a pool of water. Water it at least once a day depending on the heat. Feel the soil for moisture level.
2. Use fertilizer once a month during the early stages if you notice it’s not growing much. My mom only fertilized it once during the first month after we planted it in the pot. Use fertilizer high in nitrogen.
3. Prune when you notice want to keep the plant neat. Prune any drier/dead leaves so other leaves can grow. Same goes with the stalks. Pruning will not harm the plant.

Plant about 3-4 stalks per pot depending on the size.  After a couple of weeks, you will start noticing little baby stalks popping up. This is a good sign! They will only continue to grow bigger and taller.

TIP: GRASS=MULCH

Use fresh cut grass to cover the top of the soil. Grass clipping is a great way to give soil nutrients, retain heat/moisture, and prevent any weed from growing. It should be loosely placed on top. It should not be compacted down or else there won’t be enough oxygen to get through the roots of the lemongrass stalks.
After 5-6 months of growing. Look at the abundant of stalks that grew!
And look at the healthy, lush, and green leaves! Super healthy 🙂

Propagating Store Bought Lemongrass

Tip: Buy stalks that looks greener, not dried, and the bulbs are still visible. Good bulbs (like the one on the left) will allow roots to grow, which will create more stalks!
Make sure to cut off half of the top part to allow healthier leaves to sprout out.
Place into a glass jar with cold tap water and put it near a window to give it some sunlight.

TIPS:

• You can propagate store bought lemongrass in the Fall up until Spring. Just make sure to use a bigger jar for more water access. I used a smaller jar since I’m only propagating them for 3 weeks. If you’re in a rush, 3 weeks propagating works just fine.
  After a week, you’ll start noticing the leaves starting to sprout out. After 2 weeks more greenery starts showing up. After 3 weeks, they will be ready to plant.
  You will start noticing little roots sprouting out at the bottom. This is a good sign.
  Planting in the ground 
  This was the first year my mom and I planted it in the ground. We use the same soil and good compost. Make sure to put it in a spot that will get good sunlight and retain moisture.

And surprisingly enough, they did very very well. The stalks were very thick and healthy.

Havesting/Storing/Usage

Use scissors or a knife to cut off the leaves. You can either take a knife to get the whole stalk out of the soil or use a pair of scissor to cut off the leaves and then use a knife to carefully take out the stalks. I found the leaves to be in the way when I trying to take the stalks out so I decided to cut the leaves off first.

Rinse the leaves and stalks well

Lemongrass leaves are paper thin sharp. To prevent cuts when wrapping lemongrass leaves, make sure to leave them out overnight somewhere in your kitchen to let it wilt so it can be more flexible to wrap. Wilting will dull the sharpness, allowing you to wrap it nice and tight w/out having to worry about cutting yourself. Because lemongrass leaves are super crisp when they’re freshly picked, wilting will also help prevent breakage when wrapping. This is the best advice I got from my mom. It took me some tries to wrap lemongrass leaves this good. So keep on practicing and you will surely do just as well.

These bundles will be used for enhancing soups, stocks, stews, and so many other dishes/drinks. Freeze them after binding and take one out when you want to use them. 😎

Store in zip lock bags and place it in the freezer. Take it out whenever you want to use it. It can last in the freezer for up to 6-8 months 🙂

Don’t forget to save some stalks to be planted next year!

TIP: Choose the biggest stalk. Make sure the roots are still attached so it can grow. Use a knife to help you get it out of the soil.
Place in a glass jar with water and wait until next season!

Ways to cut/use lemongrass

Lemongrass is a really tough plant in terms of texture. It also has lots of layers, starting from green/pale yellow/purple exterior to a slight pale to also (sometimes) purple interior (depending on the variety). It can only be consumed if it is thinly sliced, minced etc. It cannot be eaten whole. The leaves are paper thin sharp and are only used for it’s essence in soups/tea etc.

From left to right

1. Smashing and cut in half: This one can be used in stew, soups, and or stir fry. It’s only use for the essence. Discard after use.
2. Thinly sliced on a bias: This one can be used in salads, dressing, stir fry, and fillings. If cut thinly, it can be easily eaten.
3. Thinly cut in rounds: This one can also be used in salads, dressing, stir fry, and fillings. If cut thinly, it can be easily eaten.
4. Finely minced: This can be used in dressings, marinades, stir fry, and so many dishes. It’s the most common way to use lemongrass.
5. Lemongrass leaf bundle: Commonly used in soups, stew, and tea. It’s only use for the aroma/essence. Discard after use.
   Making lemongrass honey tea. It’s so flavorful and comforting! 2 cups water boiled with 1 lemongrass leaf bundle for 3 minutes. Add honey to taste! 🙂
   Lemongrass can be used in soups, salads, stews, stir fries, marinades, tea, chili oil and so many more!
   

   I hope you found this informative. Give planting lemongrass a try. It’s an amazing plant to grow. Until then, Happy gardening! 🙂

Playlist for dishes you can use lemongrass in: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLobJGQzWrUdMMYs8N3J4Pa_GQiIaERzvM

-Cindy Her (C.HerCreations)