Well its not May yet but I checked my stored tumeric root plants. they have been in my garage heated to 45 F all winter. the potted ones I left dry and found that they had drawn all the life from the original roots and formed hard round bulb like crowns that look ready for spring though i am sure they are rootbound as there are 5 plants in an eight inch shallow pot. the plants I pulled bare root from the garden were kept moist in an open plastic bag and are also looking ready to go. They have a hard bulbous crown and 2 or 3 small tumeric rhizomes forming on the undersides.Its looking pretty good for growing a small crop of tumeric this year.I will post again when I have green plants in the garden Ric

THAT is just too cool!

:){{gwi:33214}}

well the tumeric crop was unable to thrive in the hard cracked iowa earth that resulted from the drought conditions we had. The six roots in a flowerpot of good loamy potting soil that I was able to water well have formed a very nice looking display which I will be bringing in this fall as a house plant. If the foliage dies back I will dump them out and check to see if there are usable roots.

The foliage died back mid winter but I just left it with an occasional light watering to keep it from drying completely. Today I dumped it out and not only are there live edible sized tumeric roots in the center but there are many peanut sized tubers spread out thru the pot even down close to the bottom. I carfully repotted it and will continue to let it grow as an outdoor / indoor houseplant .

will have to go to my local indian store to get some
I use turmeric all the time
its VERY healthy.
they just found that turmeric with Omega-3 grows braincells and repairs some damage to the brain

I was very pleased how much spicier and tasty fresh turmeric is than dry. Not sure about all the claims of health benefits but its sure good to eat. Thanks for the correct spelling

not a bad looking potted plant . I read that turmeric leaves are good to use like grape leaves in dolmas so I will be trying that soon

Well now it's about two and a half years since I planted turmeric. The pot grew vigorously all summer of 2013 and now the foliage has all died back. The soil is sunken and probably depleted so I have dumped it out and gently pried apart the plants. ;last winter there were many tiny round roots at the outside edges of the pot down deep. Not this time.All the roots sprout from the center of an older plant. The center plant is very large (pic) and I will use it for food. I am curious about the quality of the center bulb which is covered with a thin bark compared to the outer roots which look succulent though not as pink as the ones in the health food store. I broke a root and it doesn't smell as aromatic either. Maybe the lack of tropical sun. Three medium sized plants will go back in to the original pot with fresh soil and four small plants will start a second pot. I tried making dolmas out of the leaves last summer but they were way too fibrous though they flavored the stuffing nicely. I will try picking the leaves early when young this year before they toughen.

Here is a pick of the whole crop

That is awesome! Tumeric is really good for you. I have an underactive thyroid, and tried some in a juice, and it did wonders for me.

I didn't know we could grow it here - thought it was only in India or somewhere. Yours look really beautiful!

The "juice" was actually a warm drink that was very comforting and good. Really did wonders for me. I haven't done it again, because it's just too hard to find tumeric root.

Would love to trade you something from my list - although I'm a new to gardening, and my list is rather small right now. I'm in Omaha - do you think a sliver of root would go through the mail?

By the way - the recipe for the tumeric milk/tea, is here:

Here is a link that might be useful: Creamy Tumeric Tea

This post was edited by twintoes on Mon, Mar 10, 14 at 22:40