Turmeric is a highly decorative perennial herbaceous deciduous plant. Genus Turmeric (Curcuma L.) belongs to the genus of perennial plants of the ginger family, includes about 60 species. Homeland – the tropics of Southeast Asia.
Its complex root system consists of a yellowish-gray, short (3-10 cm), almost round, tuberous rhizome, up to 4 cm in diameter.
The leaves of turmeric are large, beautiful, basal, up to 1 m long, outwardly resembling the leaves of a dwarf banana.
The flowers are located in the axils of the bracts at the top of the peduncle. Inflorescences are green-pink. Turmeric blooms all summer and in September.
The rhizomes are marketed as a spice, used in medicine as a choleretic agent, a yellow dye is extracted from them for coloring, and partially used in perfumery. In the tropical countries of Southeast Asia, an industrial crop of turmeric is grown.
Turmeric is an exotic plant that can be compared in showiness and style even with the recognized favorites of greenhouse floriculture. The secret of the success of turmeric in room culture is the perfection of shapes and lines, a bright personality and a peculiar flowering. Turmeric slowly awakens, but then begins to develop very actively.
At first, peduncles are formed and flowers open, then leaves grow. Due to the fact that the inflorescences last for several months, the plant is attractive until mid-autumn. Therefore, all the warm season, turmeric serves as a decoration in the interior.
types of turmeric plant
All representatives of the genus are similar to each other in terms of growing conditions and outwardly, with a slight difference in the shape of bushes and leaves.
Most often grown at home:
Turmeric long or domestic (C. longa, C. domestica);
Turmeric Siamese tulip (C. alismatifolia);
Turmeric zedoaria (C. zedoaria) – especially suitable for indoor use. The following is a description of these varieties.
Homemade turmeric, long or turmeric is a perennial herbaceous plant up to 90 cm high, originally from the Malay Peninsula in India. The rhizome is large; elongated roots with tuberous thickenings, a bunch of leaves and a shoot bearing a long inflorescence depart from it.
The leaves are oblong, elliptical, up to 45 cm long and 16-18 cm wide, green in color.
The flowers are yellow, concentrated in an apical inflorescence up to 15-25 cm long with a spiral covering leaf on a strong high peduncle. With proper care, the flowers stay on the plant for up to 3 months. A properly formed plant forms up to 7 peduncles.
Fruit is very rare. Since ancient times it has been known as a spice and dye.
Turmeric zedoaria is an exotic and very representative plant, also known as citrus root. It naturally grows in humid habitats in India and Indonesia. A perennial herbaceous plant with a large (up to 4 cm in diameter) tuberous rhizome, which emits a pleasant smell when broken.
In room culture, this turmeric reaches a height of up to 50 cm.
The leaves are linear-lanceolate, pointed, up to 30-40 cm long and 9-11 cm wide, with purple-brown veins. The flowers are densely collected in capitate spikes.
The petal-shaped lip of the 3-lobed corolla is serrate (in the upper part of the bract without flowers). Up to 7 inflorescences bloom on one plant. The apical leaves are pointed in shape, have a bright luminous color.
Traditionally, zedoaria turmeric flowers are pink, but white, light pink, and light purple colors are also available. Its leaves are lanceolate, spear-shaped, long, grow straight, wider than those of other species, beautifully curved at the ends.
The rhizome contains essential oil (the so-called citvar oil), starch (45-50%) and other substances. Cultivated as an indoor pot plant.
Turmeric Siamese Tulip or Patumma is the tallest of the indoor species.
A plant 40–80 cm tall, originally from Thailand, has many forms with different flower colors: yellow, white, purple, pink, purple. A compact form up to 25 cm high, with a small rhizome, has also been bred.
The Siamese tulip develops into a graceful, slender bush.
Straight lanceolate leaves grow from rhizomes, appear rather stiff, and are cold dark green in colour.
Flowering at Patumma repeats the features of zedoaria: at the top of straight peduncles are bracts (apical leaves), which give turmeric such an exotic beauty. The lines and structure of the inflorescences are surprisingly elegantly combined with the leaves.
How to grow turmeric at home and how to properly care for the plant
The plant is quite capricious. Turmeric loves warm, humid conditions and long daylight hours, but prefers indirect to diffused sunlight. With insufficient lighting, growth slows down, the duration of flowering is reduced, and the color intensity of the petals decreases. Therefore, in summer, turmeric needs a warm, bright place, and in bright sunshine – shading. To grow turmeric, an air temperature of at least 20 ° C is required, a bright location, high humidity and regular spraying in the summer.
Turmeric prefers bright diffused light, without direct sunlight. Therefore, at home, it is recommended to grow it near the windows of the western and eastern directions. At the windows of the south direction in spring and summer, shading from the bright sun should be provided. In summer, it is useful to place the plant outdoors (on the balcony, in the garden), avoiding direct sunlight. It should be remembered that with a lack of lighting, turmeric can slow down in growth and bloom worse.
The recommended temperature for the proper cultivation of turmeric during the growing season is 23–25 °C. During the dormant period of the plant from late November to February–March, tubers are stored mainly at a temperature of 10–15 °C.
The plant needs high humidity. In the spring, before germination (April – early May), the plant is rarely watered with water at room temperature. Spray frequently in summer, water regularly. Watering and spraying is carried out with soft settled water. To create additional humidity, pots can be placed on pallets with wet stones (expanded clay, etc.), while the bottom of the pot should not touch the water. However, in order to avoid rotting of the rhizomes, water should not be allowed to stagnate in the pot. In November, after all the shoots and leaves dry out, watering is stopped. Only occasionally moisten the soil so that the tubers do not dry out.
Only the upper centimeters of the soil should dry out completely between procedures, but it is better to maintain a uniform, constant humidity. From the moment the turmeric is planted in the substrate and until the preparation for digging, the soil should not be allowed to dry out completely: even a short drought can be fatal for turmeric.
Top dressing with complete mineral fertilizer is carried out 1 time in 2 weeks during the entire growing season (from April to October). In the autumn-winter period, the plant is not fed.
To feed the soil, fertilizers for flowering houseplants are used, in standard dosages.
Usually, by the end of November, all above-ground shoots of turmeric dry out, and it falls into a dormant period. After the death of the aerial part of the rhizome, without removing it from the pot, store in a cool dry place at a temperature of 10-15 ° C. Until February-March, the plant is kept in a semi-dry substrate, which is occasionally moistened so that the tubers do not dry out. The container with tubers can be removed from the substrate and stored in the sand. The excavated rhizomes of the plant are stored in complete darkness in winter: the access of light to the roots at the stage of complete dormancy can be fatal.
Some sources claim that the rhizomes of some types of turmeric must be stored at a colder temperature (7-9 ° C). Therefore, when buying a plant, it is necessary to specify the storage temperatures of tubers for a particular species.
The main pests of turmeric are spider mites and scale insects. To eliminate them, it is necessary to treat the plant with insecticides and humidify the air in the growth zone. Fungicide treatment is used to control leaf spot.
With improper care of turmeric, the following problems arise:
- Keeping in a dimly lit place leads to slow growth in spring, faded color of leaves and bracts.
- The plant does not bloom if wintering conditions are violated.
- The edges of the leaves become dry with insufficient soil or air moisture.
Planting and caring for turmeric after dividing the rhizome
The plant is propagated by division into rhizomes. In February – March, the rhizome is divided into several parts (preferably no more than 3), the sections are treated with crushed coal. At the same time, at least 1 bud and 2-3 lateral roots should remain in each part. Rhizome segments are planted in wide and shallow containers to a depth of 3–5 cm.
Pots for the plant should be a few centimeters larger than the volume of the rhizome, not too spacious. The substrate for growing turmeric is nutritious and rich in biohumus. According to acidity, it is better to choose slightly acidic substrates. You can use the finished substrate “Palm” or “Begonia” or make it yourself from a mixture of sod and leaf soil, humus and sand (1: 1: 1: 1).
Immediately after planting the turmeric, the first watering is carried out, then the minimum soil moisture is maintained, but the plant is not transferred to abundant moisture. At the first stage, after disembarkation, turmeric is transferred to a bright, warm place. Active care is resumed only after the appearance of sprouts. Watering increases gradually. Top dressing begins to be introduced a month after planting.