How to Grow Turmeric

Today I’m going to speak about turmeric, which is also pronounced as tumeric in some parts of the world. In this video we will see how easy it is to grow turmeric plants on the pot. and lets see some medicinal and culinary uses of it. We will also harvest some rhizomes out of these plants.

Turmeric is a super food and also one of the easiest plants to grow in your garden. It is a tropical perennial plant which belongs to the ginger family. Turmeric is grown mainly for their rhizomes, which grow below the ground. There are several varieties of turmeric other than the popular yellow one; there is also a white one and the black turmeric which is not widely cultivated. They grow well in tropical climate with the temperature ranging from 20 to 40 degrees Celsius They require a  lot of sunlight, warm temperatures and plenty of water. The plant usually grows up to 4 feet and has wide green leaves. Flower color ranges form white to red. You can grow them in any garden soil mixed with organic compost. Just water it regularly and ensure it has a good drainage. Turmeric cannot withstand water stagnation and alkalinity.

You need not worry about the pests and diseases, if it is grown in small quantity in your home garden. Turmeric rhizomes are usually used as dry powder in various South Asian cuisines. It is used as spice in all types of Indian curries. Turmeric gives Indian curries their distinctive yellow color and unique flavor. Turmeric powder or the fresh rhizomes is also used to make Turmeric-Ginger tea which is quite popular as well. Turmeric leaves are also used to wrap steam cooked food as it gives wonderful fragrance to your food. When it comes to medicinal uses of it, curcumin and its related compounds which are present in Turmeric have a have wide range of healing effects. Several studies have indicated that curcumin slows the development of different types of cancer. Turmeric powder has been used for thousands of years as a safe anti-inflammatory in Indian traditional medicine. It is also a natural antiseptic and antibacterial agent, helpful in disinfecting cuts and burns.

Now lets see how easy it is grow turmeric in your garden and there are two ways of growing this plant, one with the rhizomes and another one with the saplings. I prefer sapling because with this there is a higher chance of getting the plant quickly. With the rhizomes there is a bit of a  dormancy period involved. You need to have lot of patience to get these sprouting. I have two identical pots, in which I am going to plant rhizomes in one  and in other saplings. I am going to put some gravel stones in the bottom so that water flows out of it easily and also I have organic manure and red soil over here, any kind of soil is fine with this. I am going to put the mixture of organic manure and red soil fifty-fifty. These are saplings and rhizomes which I’m going to plant. Now my pots are ready. In this I am going to put the rhizomes, in other one I’m going to plant a sapling. These are the two rhizomes which I have taken, you can see the eyes of it. Here . . . you can see it is pointing upwards, I’m going to sow this, you need to sow two inches below the soil. It’s better if you sow it in the summer because In winter turmeric will be dormant. Now we are done with this. Water it regularly  twice a day and keep it in a warm place. That’s it for now.

Welcome back its been three long months and finally the turmeric plant started to show some growth. This is the pot where we sowed the rhizomes one seedling has come, other than this broken leaf the plant looks fine. It took three long months to get this seedling and this seedling in this pot we had planted sapling, it has got dried but has given rise to many young shoots, which are very healthy. Overall I am happy about this. Winter has set in here, and as you can see what was a healthy turmeric plant is getting dried now. This is completely normal you need not worry about it. Turmeric plants are dormant in winter, they shed their leaves and will be completely inactive. and if the rhizomes are left in the ground they will regrow in summer. Now let’s harvest some of the rhizomes. These plants are about nine months old and ready for harvest. There are some dried leaves here and there and lot of healthy green leaves which indicate these plants have grown well, which indicate there is a good chance of getting a lot of rhizomes and to these I used the same soil mixture of generic compost and red soil and it requires a lot of sunlight and regular watering. Now let me show you the rhizomes that I have collected. So this is the rhizome which will be attached to the plant. You just need to break it out. Wow look at this bright yellow turmeric, It looks really fantastic. Now I am done with the harvest, these are the rhizomes that I got from this pot. These are completely organic and pesticides free. I am happy about these and it is really satisfying to see these from the terrace garden. Lets see the rhizomes that we harvested from the pot. I have washed and separated these rhizomes. These are medium size rhizomes and the smaller one will be high in curcumin ,which gives turmeric its fragrance and color. The bigger ones are not used usually but I prefer them for the rawness that they bring to the turmeric powder. Now lets cut one of the rhizomes and have a look at the medullary mass of it. I am going to cut this one vertically. Wow it looks really amazing, a bit like carrot inside. Let me cut one more medium-sized rhizome. It looks so fresh and vibrant, beautiful. You can really feel the fresh aroma from these it is quite unique and smells awesome. It really feels good to see these fresh rhizomes from the garden.

Now lets see how to make turmeric powder. You need to take fresh rhizomes, clean them well and put it in a bowl and then boil these rhizomes in fresh water for about 40 – 45 minutes. so that harmful bacteria and germs are killed. and after that drain the water out and let the rhizomes cool off. ;Now you need to grate/cut it into slices so that it is easy to dry them. When it comes to drying these slices you can either sun dry them or use an oven to dry them. I prefer sun drying them because that feels more natural to me but you can do whichever way you prefer. Here I have some dried rhizomes which took me about a week to dry. You should be able to easily break these rhizomes, that’s when you know they are ready. You need to dry them until they loses all of their moisture content and they should be completely brittle Now you just need to put these dried rhizomes in a mixer/grinder and grind it. Now my home made organic turmeric powder is ready. This looks much different from what we get from the market. This is our finished turmeric powder. It is very easy to make, since the turmeric was organically grown. It looks vibrant and it has got very strong earthy aroma as well. I just cant wait to use this.

That’s it for now. Happy Gardening