West Indian Lemongrass
Cymbopogon citratus

days to maturity:
plant spacing: 1 plant every 3 feet
sunlight requirements: 8-14 hours
look out for: rust
harvest notes: prune
perennial

Lemongrass is a perennial grass often grown for its fragrant leaves and stalks. There are two common varieties of Lemongrass: West Indian and East Indian. West Indian is grown more for its stalk, the East Indian is grown more for its leaves. We prefer West Indian because the plants get larger but also it produces thick stalks that are more traditionally used in cooking than East. While perennial, lemongrass typically has a life span of around 4 years before it looses vigor and should be harvested entirely and replanted. 

The stalks (leaf bases) of the plant are commonly used to flavor dishes in Southeast Asia & India and the heart of young shoots may be cooked and consumed as a vegetable. The tougher less edible leaves are used to flavor dishes or made into tea. Try using your lemongrass to flavor marinades for fish, stews and curries.

The extracted essential oil is commonly used in insect repellents, perfumes and soaps, and while people think that means a lemongrass plant in the yard will keep mosquitos away, thats actually not the case since the plant needs to be crushed and its oils extracted in order for it to repel insects. To capture its aromatic oils put fresh plant matter in hot or cold oil or alcohol. Most aromatics are fat soluble and are not easily captured in water.

Our resident herbalist, The Garden Jules, says “Lemongrass is super rich in vitamins A & C, so this is one of my favorite plants to make a Hydrosol out of for my skin care routine. I also love using a Hydrosol blended with a lemongrass and beautyberry witch hazel extract tincture as a natural mosquito repellent."