Rooting Store-Bought Lemongrass Stalks

We love green curry.  LOVE it.

One of the vital ingredients used when making green curry from scratch is lemongrass... and if I had a lot of it for free (it is not the cheapest ingredient), I would put it in pretty much every soup, make infused spirits, add it to refreshing teas.  I discovered that it is supposed to grow pretty easily without too much water, is a perennial in my area, that my husband loves the look of ornamental grasses (who knew!), and that it is also a mosquito repellent.  I need this wonderful herb in my garden.

The lemongrass experiment begins.

It took minimal experimentation to figure out how to root the lemongrass.  Here's how it went:

• Get some healthy-looking lemongrass from the store.  I visited Ranch 99, and picked the largest, greenest bulbs I could find.  None looked like they had much "root" left on, but it didn't matter.
• Cut the top half of the stalk off, including any parts of the leaves that look dead or dried out.
• Remove the outer leaves... just rip them off by hand.  I exposed about 1/2 inch of leafless stalk.
• Place them in a glass by a window, and fill with up to 2 inches of water.  Change the water every few days.
• Wait 1 week, and you'll see little roots beginning to form.
• 2 or 3 weeks later, realize you've forgotten about the lemongrass, and discover that the roots are an inch or two long.  Plant them in the ground about a foot apart and 2 inches deep, and keep the soil slightly moist.

Ta da!

2 weeks later:  roots have grown, and tops are leafy.

I planted them in partial shade by the Japanese maple, in the hopes that it would cover the area that our puppy most loves to dig.  I am not sure why she wants to eat the maple roots, but they must be pretty tasty.  It is also just a few feet from the back porch, so lemongrass there might keep mosquitoes away from the sitting area.  It is possible that I'll move a stalk or two to a sunnier area if they don't do well, but for the past few weeks they seem to be enjoying the spot.  I'll update later if/when the herb begins to reproduce!

5 weeks old and green as can be.

At 2.5 feet tall, and fenced away from the puppy, the lemongrass is looking pretty happy so far.


What herbs have you grown from store-bought produce?