PlantFiles: Curry Leaf Tree, Curry Leaves, Curryleaf Tree, Sweet Nim
Murraya koenigii

VERY HARD to propagate from stem cuttings. It's hard to get this plant in Canada, so I decided to buy the leaves with the stem still attached to it (only cost me $1.00 teehhee =D). within a day or two the leaves start to drop. I was lucky enough that one stem without much leaves was buried 2 inches down. I just checked today and it had new sprouts of leaves =D. I'm just lucky...not an experienced gardener lol.

Now I check them like 5 times a day and mist them and cover them with a plastic bottle. They're like diamonds to me hehehhe. Have to wait 2-3 years until I can use them *sighs*.

An Indian friend has a big one growing by her patio here...taller than the roof! When it's in bloom the butterflies swarm it. The leaves are a very typical South Indian flavoring; which I've experienced firsthand in Kerala. (Curry powders aim to imitate this flavor). I'm growing a little plant now, which sprouted from seed under my friend's plant. It doesn't like freezes, but survives here in zone 9a.

Hello. We bought our curry tree this last summer and it more than doubled in size in about 4-5 months time. As the weather started cooling off it started dropping many of it's leaves. Additionally, the leaves that remained started getting these hideous brown spots and getting this yellow veining in the leaves. It looks so hideous now. I've tried numerous things to help it to no avail. Any ideas out there? If need be, I can submit a picture of the poor thing. Thanks.

I am currently working for a Indian wholesale shop selling Indian sweets, and was given a specimen of this most cherished bush, and haved enjoyed its easy growth. I actually enjoy eating this occasionally raw, just washed a little. This spice makes certain dishes what they are. It is fairly easy to grow, I will say that it enjoys constant waterings, especially if its in a container, and likes soil that drains well. It likes soil rich in compost, and maybe the occasional fertilizer. Got to understand Indian food, culture, religion to really appreciate this bush.

I bought three seedlings from Old Hall Nurseries, and they have been growing well upto now. BUT, on one of them the apical bud is not opening; I snipped the second one's apical bud in the hope that I could make it bushy, but it is failing to respond; the third one is fine. I am hoping to propogate one by putting cuttings in gel2root. Has anyone tried this?
Re aphids and fungus gnats: I control these with a commercially available emulsion of mustard oil (Naturen; now available as bug killer from [HYPERLINK@www.greengardener.co.uk]). It seems to be useful for controlling all pests - my kaffir lime responded positively.

I live in the English Midlands and so for me this is a windowsill pot at the moment. I've had it for about a year and it's grown about 3-4 inches or so, so it's now about a foot tall, but very slender, so I have it staked as it'll just fall over if it gets wet!

Anyway, the reason I'm writing about it is that since a few months in, there has started a build-up of a kind of sticky resin on some of the leaves, almost reminiscent of the sap stains left by aphids, but there are no aphids on the plant. These stains are also on the window next to the pot! Very strange.

Further, all up the stem and on all the older leaves along the central vein is a buildup of little splotches of a kind of yellow-ish/brown resin. It wipes off the stem easily enough, but kind of needs to be scraped off the leaves.

Is this only me that has this? Perhaps it's a reaction to the plant being in my kitchen? It can't be grease...I very seldom fry and it's not on any of my other plants, such as my windowsill chilli plants!

It seems to be thriving despite this, but I can find no mention of anything like this in any description of the plant, and it's not on any photo of it I've seen!

Very strange...can anyone comment please? Many thanks.../Taras

4/29/04 - Report from Jacksonville, FL: My curry plant looks like Dinu's so I won't send a photo. Mine was a gift from an Indian friend after I commented about the lovely flavor in a dish she had made. For cooking, I nip off a "branch" and put it in the pot when the oil is hot to get the max flavor. Am amazed that this plant grows so tall - probably not in NE Florida, however. Mine is only 14 inches. Still it has survived 3 winters here and is looking healthy. A branch or two wrapped in damp paper towel and put in a plastic bag makes a great and unusual house gift for friends who like to cook.

Here in India, it grows almost without care! When the tree is old enough, the more often it is pruned, the better the quality of leaves. Last year, a particular pest - I have posted a picture of it in one of my threads, completely destroyed all the leaves. I had three of them, but I retained one. The pest was so stubborn. Since the leaves of it are edible, I did not use any chemical sprays. These pests attack only in the rainy season. Overall, it is a very useful plant/tree to have in every garden. The leaves, aside from its flavour, has good medicinal properties. The blakish berries are a favourite of the Koels, which also disperse the seeds. I have found seedlings esp. under the trees - the koels' droppings with the seeds grow new plants.

When you add curry leaves to cooking you get a deep weak bitter yet subtle flavour