PlantFiles: West Indian Lemon Grass
Cymbopogon citratus

This is just about the easiest tropical plant to grow in a pot in summer here. With little care beyond watering it if there hasn't been recent rain, I have had them attain heights of 5 ft. or more in a single season, even when in partial shade. I have had mixed results overwintering them indoors and continue to experiment with the best way to do that here; I think this winter I will try a humidity tray and see if that helps.

Wonderful for Southeast Asian cooking and for the garden. Easy to grow-is not very fussy. Give sun, water, and fertilize every once in a while, and it will grow well. Easy to start: just go to local oriental market's vegetable section and buy a bundle of lemongrass stalks (get the freshly cut ones-they are green and plump). Cut the stalks with the white swollen end down so that they are about 12" - Discard the upper cut portions or use in cooking. Place the cut lower sections in a glass of water and let stems form roots. In glass of water, roots are clearly visible in 7-10 days.When adequate roots are formed, then plant rooted stems in potting soil and place in diffuse sunlight. Keep moist but not wet. Can also pot the trimmed lower portions in potting soil and skip rooting in water. Stems will grow roots directly in potting soil. This is great plant to use in garden but also great for using in the kitchen. I live in southeastern Louisiana in Zone 9A.

These are supposed to be propagated by dividing the rootball but if you start from scratch there is another method. Just buy some lemon grass stems from the supermarket and put them bottom down in a glass of water. If you're lucky they will develop roots after a few weeks time.

This makes a great tea, hot or cold. better yet, is a combination of freshly grated ginger root and mint leaves with slices of lemmon grass from the white-going into the green part of the plant, as in Thai soup.

This is the second season I've had this plant. Last year it was in a container and it grew well. I covered it when winter brought temps below 32. It's planted in the garden now and has done great. Hurricane Ivan pummeled it, we cut it down, but it grew right back.

So far, I only have a small plant at this time. I have had some in the past that grew into huge clumps. Wonderful in South East Asian dishes.

Out on Maui, it works wonderfully for an edging plant, to keep the grass from invading an area. We prefer it to the more dense and quickly growing vetiver grass, because it is temporary and can be removed easily if the edge is expanded. Valuable for permaculture and a great sooting tea from the leaves. In Costa Rica they use the root decoction of "sacate limon" for sore throats.

I've been growing Lemongrass for years and found it refreshing as iced tea in the summer and soothing and comforting in the winter as hot tea. It's medicinal properties are well documented. Any garden is incomplete without this herb.

I regularly use lemon grass in cooking. I have to grow it in a large pot and keep it in a cool greenhouse over winter here in Northcentral Florida, zone 8b, but I go to all that trouble because the herb imparts such a wonderful flavor to oriental soups and fish. Carol Saville's excellent book "Exotic Herbs" devotes three whole pages to this herb, and includes a recipe for "Lemon Grass and Vietnamese Balm Cooler."

I grew this plant in the ground in St. Petersburg for many years, zone 9b, and the small plant I purchased this Spring and potted up in rich potting soil is now close to three feet tall despite constant "pruning" for cooking.

I absolutely love my lemongrass. I planted two plants about eight months ago, and they were about 3 strands of grass each. Now, they are huge, mature, beautiful plants with a graceful, swaying drooping habit as it gets long. Propagate by division. Needs full sun to light shade, and is not frost tolerant. I live in a hot semi-arid climate that does not freeze.

This grass grows in dense clumps that can grow to 6 feet in height to about 4 feet in width. The strap-like leaves are 1/2 to 1 inch wide, about 3 feet long, and have gracefully drooping tips. The leaves are bright yellow-green and release a lemon aroma when crushed.