Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Sowing
• Part 2 of 3: Planting and caring for cardamom
• Part 3 of 3: Harvesting cardamom
• Tips
• Necessities

Cardamom is one of the most expensive and unique spices in the world. If you live in a very warm, humid climate (for example, U.S. Department of Agriculture zones 10-12), you can grow a cardamom plant yourself. Plant a few cardamom seeds indoors and let them grow for a few months so that they sprout above the soil. Then move the seedlings to a shady spot in your garden. It will take several years of watering and care, but your plant will produce cardamom, which you can then harvest and use for baking and cooking.

To step

Part 1 of 3: Sowing

1. Buy cardamom seeds from a supermarket or garden center. While you can collect cardamom seeds from store-bought capsules, it is better to buy the seeds from a farm. These seeds are free from disease, making it more likely that they will grow well.
   • Purchase the seeds at a local garden supply store or from an online farm.

   Tip: if you are collecting seeds from a cardamom plant, make sure the plant is at least five years old.

   
   
2. Fill seed trays with loamy soil. The soil should be slightly sandy so that it drains gradually. You can buy loamy soil at most garden centers. If you plan to plant the seedlings in your garden, you can use any size container. If you are leaving the seeds in their pots and want to grow the plant there, get a pot that is at least 12 inches deep and 6 inches wide.
3. Plant the seeds at a depth of 0.5 cm. Push a few seeds into the containers and cover them with 0.5 cm of soil. Water the seeds so that the soil is completely moist.
   • Plant as many cardamom seeds as you like, but plant them about an inch apart in the pot so that you can thin out and repot them when they start to grow.
4. Let the cardamom grow until it has a few leaves. The cardamom should sprout after about 30 to 45 days. This means that you will see the cardamom plants appear above the earth. Continue to water the soil to keep it moist and let the seedlings sit in the trays until they have produced at least two leaves.
   • It takes about 90 days for the seedlings to be big enough to be planted outside.

Part 2 of 3: Planting and caring for cardamom

1. Choose an area of ​​the garden with well-draining soil. Watch the soil after a heavy rain shower to determine how it drains. You should not see deep puddles, but the soil must remain moist.Too much clay in the soil will kill the cardamom plant. Then find another spot in the garden or mix sand into the soil to break up the clay.
   • The ideal soil for cardamom is loamy and has a pH value of 4.5-7.
2. Choose a partially shaded spot. Cardamom plants die if they are in direct sunlight. Therefore choose a spot that is partly shaded. If you only have completely shaded areas, then that will work too. The plant may then grow less quickly.
   • Cardamom plants typically grow under the canopy of trees.
3. Choose a place with high humidity. Since cardamom grows in sub-tropical forests, it needs a high level of moisture to grow in your garden. To plant cardamom outside, the humidity should be about 75% there.
   • Cardamom also prefers temperatures of 17.5-35 degrees Celsius.
4. Plant the seedlings about an inch to three inches deep. Dig holes 2.5cm deep, spaced 15-45cm apart. Place one seedling in each hole and cover the seedling's roots with soil. If you want to support the plant as it grows, push a climbing stick into the ground about 5 cm from the base of each plant.
   • As the cardamom grows, you can tie the plant to the stake.
   • Avoid planting seeds too deep, they may not germinate if they don't get enough sunlight.
5. Plant the cardamom in a pot if you want to move it. If you live in a climate where the temperature sometimes drops below 15 degrees, it is better to plant the seedlings in large pots rather than in the garden. This allows you to put the cardamom inside when it gets colder.
   • If you are using a pot, choose as large a pot for your available space as possible, which is also easy to lift so you can move it in and out.
   • If you must put the cardamom indoors, consider placing the plant in the warmest, most humid room in your home, such as the bathroom.
6. Water the plants to keep the soil moist. Feel the soil daily with your fingers to make sure it is moist. Since the soil should never dry out, you should water until the soil is soaked.
   • The cardamom plants need even more water in the summer when they are producing their fruits. Plan to water more in these months.
7. Add fertilizer twice a month during the growing season. Choose an organic fertilizer with a high phosphorus content. Spread the fertilizer through the soil around the plant, do this twice a month in the summer season.
   • To add nutrients to the soil, you must also provide fertilizer or compost annually.

   Tip: heavy rain spews away fertilizers, so wait until after a storm or heavy rain shower before applying.

   
   

Part 3 of 3: Harvesting cardamom

1. Grow the plant until it is 1.8-2.4 meters high. Continue to water regularly and fertilize the plant as needed. The plant will start to produce tall, narrow stakes that rise high above the ground.
   • Keep in mind that it will take a few years for the plant to grow large enough.
   • The stakes will produce rows of bright green leaves that are about 5 cm long.
2. Wait two to three years before harvesting the cardamom fruit. The plant will start to flower in April or May and will continue to do so until July or August. The yellow flowers are small and oval in shape.
   • The flowers contain capsules containing 15 to 20 cardamom seeds.
   • Some plants take four to five years to flower.
   • Although the cardamom flowers early in the year, you should wait until October or November to allow the cardamom to ripen.
3. Collect the cardamom capsules by hand. Once the cardamom capsules dry out a little, pull one of them to see if it breaks easily. If the fruit breaks down easily, you can start to break down any ripe capsules.
   • Cardamom plants will produce more cardamom seeds every year.

   Did you know? Cardamom is harvested five or six times in one harvest year. Wait 35-45 days between each harvest to allow more cardamom to ripen.

   
   
4. Dry the cardamom capsules. Depending on how many capsules you want to dry, you can use different methods. For small-scale drying, you can spread the cardamom in a single layer and let the capsules dry in the sun. Larger, commercial yield is usually dried in very hot ovens.
   • Once the cardamom is dry, you can open capsules and crush the cardamom for cooking or baking.

Tips

• If the leaves of the plant turn brown, it will receive too much sunlight. Then consider moving the plant to a spot with more shade. If the leaves turn yellow, the plant will likely need fertilizer.
• Spray the leaves of the plant with water when the tips of the plant turn brown. Be careful not to over spray or the roots may rot.

Necessities

• Seed boxes
• Cardamom seeds
• Soil
• Organic fertilizer
• Watering can
• Large pot, optional