PlantFiles: Cardamom
Elettaria cardamomum

I've had the same plant for over twenty years, re-potting it from time to time. In Tucson outdoors, it does ok in the heat and usually struggles a bit more in a cold winter. Brought it inside this year with the coldest temps in a very long time. It has gotten quite lovely in a sunny eastern window, but still under 12 ". How can we get a definitive id and correct the listing if it is indeed incorrect? When bought, I was given the info from (Richter's?) that it would probably never bloom. dh

NOTE:

If you bought a plant with a tag that says "Cardamom: Elettaria cardamomum," chances are great that
YOU HAVE THE WRONG PLANT!

Perhaps the widest misidentification in horticulture, the majority of cardamom plants sold in the US, are, in fact the Cinnomon Ginger, Alpinia nutans.
Don't feel bad, I've lived under this misconception for years, giving away numerous starts of mis-tagged plants!

The differences are obvious and easy to see:
>Alpinia nutans: Glossy, aromatic leaves on 3' or smaller plants. Rarely blooms, but flowers are on the end of a leafy stalk. Easy-going plant.

>Elettaria cardamomum: Fuzzy, up to 10' tall plants with flowers on short stalks along the ground. Fairly rare in ornamental cultivation.

I have been growing cardamom ginger since 1997, starting out with one small plant. I now have several cardamom gingers, and have given many away. Mine grow in full sun and shade. It doesn't seem to matter. Lots of water, little water - again, it doesn't seem to matter. They grow quickly from small plants to large plants - within a season or two. Mine have never bloomed, but I love their mounding form, and the fragrance of the leaves. Their leaves sustain freeze burn damage at 32 degrees, and I have to clean them up after, but they don't miss a beat in coming back.

Bought this at a sale several years ago and didnt expect it to make through our winters here but it has, though it has died back after a frost. It has returned each summer, though never growing as large as specimens in more tropical regions. I love the fragrance, which is powerful, and wish I could find another source for it as I've had no luck propagating it.

Excellent aromatic plant that can take heavy shade. White flowers striped pink. The spicy seeds are used in cooking and the leaves are superb chopped and simmered into tea or chutney. Needs moist or wet soil and can grow submerged 2-4''. Grows very easily indoors in very low light.

I found this site to be very helpful, and interesting. I would like to add that I have had this plant for over seven years and this is the first time it has bloomed.(May 10, 2004).

I grew Cardamon as a houseplant in a large pot in St. Petersburg, Florida for several years, until I moved and had to get rid of most of my plant collection. My Cardamon spent summers on a shady patio, under a large, spreading Chinaberry tree, and was always attractive, as it didn't seem to be ever bothered by pests. St. Petersburg is USDA Zone 9b, so this very tender plant had to come inside in the winter.

I like jungle-looking plants like this because I tend to overwater, and I don't think you can overwater this plant!

I saw plants 6' tall or taller in Florida. It flowers on horizontal stalks at the base and the seed pods are the source of Cardamom, the third most expensive spice in the world.

Native to the mountain regions of Indian, this understory plant receives 150" of rain/year so keep it moist but not boggy. (VERY loamy free-draining soil is the key.) Not at all fussy, left out in nighttime temperatures near 35°F. It makes a nice attractive houseplant or summer container plant. If you rub the stem it releases the wonderful odor of cardamom.


UPDATE:
I over-wintered in front of a South facing window and it thrived.
Easily doubling in size from the Fall photo.
Watered once a week early and twice a week thru March/April.
It actually sat in water for a few hours then rapidly absorbed all the moisture.

Even the dead dried leaves, of which there were few, are fragrant when crushed.

Am glad a flowering photo has been added, Thanks.
I was growing it for foliage but the flowers WOW!