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Cymbopogon citratus / West Indian Lemon Grass or Citronella Grass / Seeds

(Code: ES_052Packet)
Packet :
£ 1.89
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Cymbopogon citratus / West Indian Lemon Grass or Citronella Grass / Seeds

Citronella Grass is a culinary and traditional medicinal grass.  The leaves and stems are used in cooking and for making herbal tea.  Plants grow to a height of about 1.5m with arching, blue-green lemon-scented leaves.  There may be small sprays of brown-pink flowers in late summer but they often do not appear in cultivated plants.


Citronella Grass can be grown in pots or directly in the garden.  They grow best in sun and most well drained soils, with regular water.  The plants are killed by frost, so they can be grown as annuals or grow in pots and bring indoors over winter.


Pack of approx 200 seeds.  Sow the seeds anytime or in winter/spring if growing as an annual.  Germination can be erratic, so sow more seeds than you need.  Sowing instructions and a colour photo are printed on the packet.


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Hardiness Tender annual/perennial (RHS Hardiness H1B)
Flowers Late summer
Height 1 - 1.5m
Spread 1 - 1.5m
Conditions  Grow in sun and moist well-drained soil, protected from frost
Sow

Sow anytime on the surface of a tray of seed compost.  Press the seeds gently into the surface of the compost and do not cover.  Do not exclude light which is needed for germination.  Keep the tray at a warm 20-25°C and germination takes 1-3 weeks, sometimes longer.  Germination can be erratic, so sow more seeds than you need, for example 5 to 10 seeds per pot.  If growing plants as an annual, sow in winter or early spring.

Grow and Use

Plants grow well once established.  They are evergreen and do not need much maintenance other than removing dead leaves as necessary and dividing plants in the spring when congested.  The tops of the leaves can be trimmed once the plants have reached about 30cm in height and used to make herbal tea.  The young stalks can be snapped off at the base of the plant once they are bigger than 5mm across.  Stems can be crushed or ground up for cooking.  They can be frozen for about six months.