on How to grow lemongrass at home? These are all your worries
Lemongrass is a very beautiful and aromatic plant with more than one benefit for the home. Therefore, we want to share all the care this species requires so that you can grow it in a pot or directly in your garden .
Lemongrass is a perennial herb native to tropical Asia. It grows as a shrub and belongs to the grass family. Its leaves have a distinctive texture and shape, and are dark green in color.
Among its benefits for the home, we mainly find that, thanks to its rich but strong citrus scent, it is a perfect plant to repel mosquitoes and other insects . In addition, lemongrass essential oil can be used to relieve headaches and migraines, serves as a natural flea eliminator for dogs and cats, among other uses.
Citronella Plant Repels Mosquitoes Basic Care
Growing it indoors is therefore a great idea, as it also looks very beautiful inside the house or in the garden. The best thing is that their maintenance is relatively simple, you just need to ensure the following points:
Climate
Being a plant of tropical origin, it needs warmth and good humidity to grow . A temperature of around 25 ºC is ideal for lemongrass, although it can tolerate a little less. But yes, you should be careful if you live in an area with very cold winters.
Ground
The advantage of lemongrass is that it can be grown in almost any soil type, as it is not too demanding in terms of substrate. It must be fertile and maintain good drainage both in pots and in the garden.
In any case, it is advisable to enrich the soil with organic matter before planting lemongrass . A good layer of compost or vermin humus will do the trick.
Growing Lemongrass for Houseplants
Irrigation
Perhaps under their care, watering is the most complicated or specific when it comes to wanting to grow lemongrass indoors because it is quite sensitive to drought . As a good tropical species, it likes humid environments and does not tolerate lack of water, since the fact that the roots dry out can be very harmful to it.
So make sure to water it every day, preferably twice a day in spring and summer, and reduce your watering in winter.
Sunlight
Although it can thrive in full sun, lemongrass also thrives in partial shade. It only needs six to eight hours of sunlight per day to be happy .
If you’re growing it in a pot and using it as a houseplant, try placing it near a window where it gets plenty of light. Remember to observe it to see if it’s getting too much or too little sunlight. If you notice its leaves looking dry, water it and move it to shade or partial shade.
Lemongrass seedlings growing indoors
Vase and reproduction
If you plan to grow lemongrass in a pot, remember to do so in a large pot as it is a fast-growing plant that can reach up to two meters in height. Therefore, it is also a good idea to grow it in the garden.
As for its reproduction, lemongrass is very user-friendly if you use the cutting method, collecting them with everything and rooting them and planting them directly in a pot or cutting one of its leaves from the stem which you will then have to place inside a glass of water until it takes root.
Other treatments
From time to time, it is advisable to fertilize lemongrass to benefit its growth and development . And it is very simple, just try, from spring until the end of summer, to fertilize every 15 days by adding organic matter such as compost, worm humus or manure to the soil.