Greetings dear readers, on this occasion we will socialize with you some aspects of interest about a crop known worldwide its use in the kitchen as condiment and food coloring, we refer to turmeric whose scientific name is (Curcuma longa), which has multiple uses and can be grown easily from the comfort of the home without needing large tracts of land.
Design made in CorelDraw with photographs captured by the author @amestyj 2020.
Below, before explaining how to propagate turmeric at home we will describe some general characteristics of the plant specie that will allow you to know some of its requirements.
General Characteristics of Turmeric - Curcuma longa
Turmeric is an herbaceous plant, meaning that its structure is not woody (hard), it is native to the Asian continent and has adapted well to tropical climatic conditions, with temperatures of approximately 30° Celsius and with good humidity conditions, The plants can reach up to about 2 m tall, with lanceolate leaves (the apex of the leaf has a pointed shape like a spear) and reproduces from rhizomes (underground stems), that is vegetatively.
Those same rhizomes are used to season and color meals, their appearance is wrinkled brown on the outside and inside orange, the color orange is due to the presence of a compound scientifically known as curcumin, which is used in agribusiness to give color and flavor to some products such as cheeses, mustard, butter among others.
On the other hand, turmeric was adopted as a medicinal product by the Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products in 2009, scientific studies have been done and some researchers have found that it reduces inflammation caused by arthritis in the human body, antioxidant capacity among other medicinal benefits, in addition it is considered to have high mineral contents such as phosphorus, potassium and excellent source of vitamin C and E[1].
7 steps to growing turmeric at home
As said above turmeric is propagated vegetatively, that is with parts of the same plant, in this case it would be through the rhizomes, if you are going to establish the crop for the first time in your home the place where you can find these rhizomes is the market, "Yes on the market", in the sale of vegetables you usually get these rhizomes which is no more than the same turmeric that is used to season and color meals, below is the photograph of the rhizome or turmeric so you can easily identify it.
Design made in CorelDraw with photographs captured by the author @amestyj 2020.
The planting in house can be done in the garden, planter and pots, everything depends on the space that has available, in this opportunity we will explain how to make it in pots since it will serve for those who live in confined spaces as apartments, Below, we will list a series of steps that will guide you when you set out to sow:
Step 1. Locate the pot or container where turmeric is to be sown, this is important to determine how much seed and substrate is to be used, is known as soil substrate or organic material used to place the seed and provide the necessary conditions for seedling emergence, nutrient supply and seedling support.
Design made in CorelDraw with photographs captured by the author @amestyj 2020.
Step 2. Place the rhizomes or vegetative seeds in a container with water for about 1 hour, without immersing them this procedure is done with the intention of hydrating the seed before sowing, Thus, when placed in contact with the earth, it will be activated as it presents ideal conditions.
Design made in CorelDraw with photographs captured by the author @amestyj 2020.
Step 3. Prepare the substrate for the filling of the pot, we recommend that you use a part of soil and a part of organic matter with a 50/50 ratio, this means that, if you need 8 kilos of substrate for the filling of the pot, must make a mixture of 4 kilos of soil and 4 kilos of organic matter.
To obtain the organic matter in your home you can use the food waste and put them to decompose (compost), although if you consider it a difficult task to execute you can go to the nearest commercial nursery and buy organic matter, have a dark color that is a good indicator of quality.
Step 5. After having the substrate ready we proceed to the filling of the pots, the rhizomes or vegetative seeds are placed on the substrate and are covered with a thin layer of 4 cm trying not to remain very deep, so that the seedling emergence is facilitated, When we speak of emergency we mean the moment when the vegetative parts of plants appear on the surface of the soil.
Design made in CorelDraw with photographs captured by the author @amestyj 2020.
Step 6. After sowing it is recommended to irrigate the surface with water daily while the seedling presents good development, then the waterings can alternate depending on the needs of the crop, You should also clean up unwanted plants that appear in the sown area. Avoid excess water that could cause anoxia of the roots (lack of oxygen) and rotting of the rhizomes.
Design made in CorelDraw with photographs captured by the author @amestyj 2020.
Step 7. The harvest of turmeric can be done in a period of approximately 9 to 11 months, an indicator that allows to know if this ready for harvest is that its leaves are placed as if they were drying, it is important to keep record of when it was sown, because if it has that kind of drying and is not the required time of harvest could be affected by any pathogen, lack of water or deficiency of any nutritional element.
Design made in CorelDraw with photographs captured by the author @amestyj 2020.
Friend reader, after harvesting turmeric you will no longer have to go to the market in search of rhizomes for sowing, you can use part of the rhizomes harvested to re-sow and thus maintain sustainable production in your small pot and from the comfort of your home. We hope that the material will be useful for the whole community, if you have any recommendation or opinion on the subject do not hesitate to leave it reflected in the comments is very important to us.
bibliographic references
[1]Saiz, P. (2014). CúrcumaI(Curcuma longa). Rev. Reduca biology , 7 (2),84-99.
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