In this article, you’ll find out how to grow organic turmeric in your garden or small farm regardless of what climate zone you live in!
A decade+ of turmeric-growing experience
My better half (aka The Tyrant) and I have been growing multiple varieties of turmeric in our own organic garden for about a decade. I also grew turmeric commercially, when I was the farm manager at a local farm.
Beautiful piles of freshly cleaned turmeric (back) and ginger (front).
Over the years, we’ve learned quite a bit about how to get large yields of turmeric from both in-ground and container-grown production.
Two different types of turmeric and ginger harvested from our front yard garden beds.
Why grow your own organic turmeric?
Here are five good reasons you should consider growing your own turmeric:
1. Turmeric is easy to grow.
As you’ll find out in this article, turmeric is relatively easy to grow. Yes, even for beginning gardeners — and even if you live in colder climates!
If you live in tropical or warm climates (9-12), turmeric can easily be grown as a low-maintenance herbaceous perennial herb that also makes an attractive landscape plant, with an appearance akin to cannas.
2. Grow interesting and unusual varieties.
As with pretty much every other crop on earth, there are multiple varieties of turmeric to choose from, some of which you won’t find on a grocery store shelf.
3. Better quality – and grow organically.
It’s hard to beat the quality of your own organically grown turmeric. Also, food doesn’t get any more local than your own yard!
4. Grow ‘baby’ turmeric.
We love making turmeric and ginger candy. The best way to do this is using “baby” turmeric and ginger, e.g. the younger, immature rhizomes, not the mature, more fibrous rhizomes that you get in the grocery store. (Those are great in other recipes, but usually not tender enough to make an ideal candy.)
5. Joy of growing your own.
If you’re like us, you love growing plants and the joy that comes from growing new things. If you’ve never tried growing turmeric before, why not give it a try?
Plus, as you’ll read below, turmeric also has many interesting medicinal properties. That means you can grow medicine!
Research on medicinal properties of turmeric
As you’ve probably heard, gardening helps keep you healthy.
Garden fresh veggies combined with diced ginger and turmeric make the BEST summer rolls!
Aside from the health benefits of gardening in general, another great reason to grow turmeric is that it has proven medicinal benefits. A few highlights:
Turmeric’s medicinal benefits:
Gorgeous medicine. Baby turmeric rhizomes (Indira Yellow variety).
By growing your own turmeric, you’re growing edible medicine and getting all the health benefits that come with gardening!
Side note: “Turmeric root” is often what’s on the label of various commercial products, such as turmeric powder. However, this is a misnomer. Turmeric rhizomes (which are technically modified underground stems) are what’s used. Small roots grow off the rhizomes (see above picture) but are not used. The roots are trimmed off after harvest.
Step-by-step: How to grow your own organic turmeric anywhere
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a tropical plant native to Southeast Asia that is prized for its edible and medicinal rhizomes. It’s a member of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae).
Despite its tropical origins, turmeric also grows quite well in cooler climates, as we’ve previously mentioned.
Turmeric (large-leafed plant) growing in late summer on a small farm in Greenville, SC.
Step 1: Select the turmeric varieties you want
Unless you’re a breeder, turmeric is typically grown from pieces of a previous year’s rhizomes, not actual seed. Even though they’re not technically seeds, these pieces are referred to as “seed” turmeric.
There are two ways to get hold of seed turmeric:
Option 1: Grocery Store
You may be able to find organically grown turmeric at a local grocery store or farmers market. If so, those store bought rhizomes can be used to grow your own plants.
However, grocery stores don’t usually carry rare varieties and sometimes the rhizomes have been sprayed with growth retardants to extend their shelf life.
Option 2: Specialty Retailer
If you want to grow more unusual species and varieties of turmeric, we’d recommend you source your seed rhizomes from a specialty retailer (nursery or breeder).
We purchased our original rhizomes from Hawaii Clean Seed.
The two varieties of turmeric we grow are:
1. Indira Yellow, Curcuma longa
This is the classic Indian variety with dark yellow/orange flesh. Fastest to maturity and robust flavor.
Indira Yellow is less cold-sensitive and will actually overwinter in-ground in zone 7b under a heavy mulch layer. (More on its overwintering abilities further below.)
2. White Mango, Curcuma mangga
(Also called “Mango ginger.”) The rhizomes or White Mango have a pure white flesh. The flavor is very mild with notes of green mango.
This is a variety you want to grow if you want to eat raw, fresh turmeric. Originally from Java, this turmeric is more cold-sensitive and will not over-winter in-ground in our zone 7b garden.
“Baby” Indira Yellow turmeric, harvested after only 7 months.
Step 2: Choose the optimal growing spot (or container)
Turmeric grows best under the following conditions:
- in rich loamy soil with good drainage and amended with compost and/or worm castings,
- full sun,
- consistently moist soil but not wet, and
- temperatures between 70-90°F.
Turmeric can grow up to 6′ tall x 3-4′ wide and produces wide flat leaves.
The Tyrant demonstrating how tall turmeric can grow.
The following information is important to consider when selecting the location(s) to plant your turmeric:
- “Baby” turmeric takes about 6-8 months to develop;
- Mature turmeric (like you get in a grocery store) takes about 9-12 months to develop.
Given our location in USDA hardiness zone 7b on the outskirts of Greenville, SC, we technically only grow “baby” rhizomes, which are delicious, more tender, and milder in flavor than the mature rhizomes. (Ours go in the ground mid-April and come out around Nov 1.)
Baby rhizomes can still be stored indoors and used as seed for next year’s crop.
Climate variability notes
Depending on your specific climate/ag zone, you may want to select sunnier or shadier spots to plant your turmeric. You may also want to use pots or grow bags, rather than growing your turmeric in-ground.
For instance:
- Tropical or hot desert climates – If you live in a hot climate, you can get away with planting turmeric in partial shade (6 or fewer hours of direct sunlight). Ideally, the spot could get morning and/or evening sun, but midday shade.
- Moderate climates – If you live in a moderate climate zone like we do, you’ll want to grow your turmeric in a sunny spot that gets 8+ hours of direct sunlight per day.
- Cool climates – If you live in cooler, northern climates, you may want to consider growing your turmeric in pots of grow bags, 5 gallons or larger per plant, to provide ample room. Grow bags will make it easy for you to start your rhizomes indoors before last frost, carry them outside after last frost, then bring them into protection as-needed to finish maturing when cold weather returns in the late summer-fall. Grow bags also allow for healthier root growth relative to standard gardening pots as you can read about here.
Step 3: Sow your seed turmeric
Important details when sowing your seed turmeric:
When to sow turmeric
Turmeric will not break dormancy until there are sustained soil temperatures close to 70°F (21°C) or higher, so don’t bother planting it until after your last frost date. You can check your local soil temps here.
We’re in USDA zone 7b and our last frost date is mid-April. In warm years, we’ll put our seed turmeric in the ground in late April; in cool years, we won’t put it in the ground until early May. There’s no reason to put our seed ginger in the ground in early spring.
If you want to get a jump on the growing season, you can start your turmeric indoors in smaller nursery pots filled with dampened potting soil, then transplant them outdoors once soil temperatures are ideal. A heat mat can help speed up the process, but isn’t essential.
With the Indira Yellow turmeric that we overwinter in-ground, we won’t see the young shoots emerge from the ground until late May.
Break or cut turmeric “hands” into “fingers”
Turmeric rhizomes develop into large “hands” which contain multiple smaller “fingers.” Botanically, the fingers are called nodes and each node is comprised of internodes covered with thin papery scales.
From the tip of each node, arial shoots will form to produce the above ground plant that you see. Roots will form on the bottom of each node.
Before sowing your turmeric, cut or break each hand of turmeric into individual nodes/fingers. These small pieces are your “seed” turmeric.
Turmeric also forms a round structure in the center of the rhizome at the base of where the primary stalks emerge. Rhizomes and roots develop off of this central structure.
Plant spacing
Sow seed turmeric about 12″ apart in rows that are 24″ apart. If you’re putting the plants in an edible landscape, you can cluster them together a little more densely.
Depth
Bury each finger about 2-3″ deep.
Soil Fertility
Turmeric will grow best in rich, deep, fertile soil with lots of organic matter to help maintain even soil moisture (if the soil is too wet, the plants may develop root rot). We always put compost in the planting hole and also top-dress the beds with 2-3″ of compost when planting. We also recommend top-dressing with an additional 2-3″ of wood chips or chopped leaves to boost biological soil fertility, moderate soil temp fluctuations, maintain even soil moisture, and block out weeds.
It will take anywhere from 2-4 weeks for the first turmeric shoots to emerge from the ground after planting.
Step 4: Care for the plants
Thankfully, turmeric plants are very low-maintenance, requiring little care throughout the growing season. A few important notes:
Pests & Diseases
Don’t like dealing with plant pests and diseases? Then you’ll love growing turmeric.
There are virtually no pests that will damage turmeric — at least not where we live. And if you grow turmeric in good biologically rich soil, there are virtually no diseases that will affect them either.
Irrigation
If you don’t get at least 1″of rain per week in summer, you might want to irrigate you turmeric to get the best results (optimal rhizome development), even though it’s a fairly drought-tolerant plant.
Prolonged periods (10+ days in the summer) without water will stress the plants and slow rhizome growth.
“Topping Up”
After a few months of growth, you’ll probably see the tops of your turmeric rhizomes pop through the soil surface. At that point, you’ll want to apply another 2″ of compost + 2″ wood chips around the plants, aka “hill them up.” This will protect them, give them a boost of nutrition, and lead to larger rhizomes.
A happy row of turmeric (right) growing in mid summer in Greenville, SC.
Step 5: Harvest, Clean, and Store
Turmeric rhizomes have an intense and unique earthy flavor that’s a staple in Indian cuisine. However, the entire plant is edible, including the flowers, stalks, and leaves.
Edible turmeric flowers
Turmeric that we over-winter in ground will produce gorgeous showy flower stalks in late summer. Individual turmeric flowers/petals can be used as a garnish, in salad, added to a stir fry, etc.
Turmeric flowers are stunningly beautiful and edible. These are blooming in late August in zone 7b.
Edible leaves and stems or turmeric
The leaves and stems of turmeric are also edible, though harvesting them aggressively will reduce rhizome development. The leaves and stems taste like a mild versions of the rhizomes and are used to flavor teas, soups, and sauces.
The large leaves of turmeric are also perfect for wrapping food inside for steaming or cooking over a fire. We’ve seen turmeric leaves used for wrapping everything from a piece of fish to Asian desserts like coconut sticky rice.
These turmeric leaves are the perfect size and condition to use as wraps in various Asian dishes. An Eastern swallowtail butterfly provides some size perspective!
Again, keep in mind that removing the plant’s leaves does take energy away from rhizome production, so don’t harvest too many leaves from a single plant.
“Baby” turmeric rhizomes
Depending on growing conditions, baby turmeric can be ready to harvest 6-8 months after planting.
Baby turmeric and ginger with scales removed, about to be thin-sliced and turned into candy.
“Baby” simply means the rhizomes are younger, more tender and less fibrous, with a less potent flavor than mature rhizomes. These baby rhizomes are perfect for making candied turmeric and ginger, or for other recipes that call for the fresh rhizomes. (Here’s our delicious chewy candy ginger and turmeric recipe.)
We LOVE making Asian dishes like summer rolls and ramen with diced ginger and white & orange turmeric added).
Mature turmeric rhizomes
After 9-12 months, you’ll have fully developed, large mature turmeric rhizomes.
When and how to harvest turmeric rhizomes
Our last frost date is around April 20, which is when we put our seed turmeric in the ground. You can start yours earlier than your last frost date by either: a) planting them under low tunnels, or b) starting them indoors in containers (pots or grow bags) early then transplanting them outdoors once warm weather has arrived.
Leave your turmeric in the ground until after the first frost or freeze burns the leaves back to the ground. Then it’s harvest time!
To harvest your rhizomes, start by brushing back the soil/mulch around the base of the plant. Then, using a spade or shovel, dig under the plant and lift.
Unless your soil is really light and loose, you’ll likely have to go all the way around the plant with your shovel in order to dislodge the entire rhizome — especially if you’re harvesting older, larger plants.
Next, use a sharpened set of quality pruning shears to cut the dead leaves and stems off the plant. (Put the leaves in compost, in your walking paths, or back into the bed to decompose if you’re not immediately planting the next crop.)
Clean the rhizomes
Turmeric rhizomes can be hard work to clean, given their tight, dense structure.
A farm intern hard at work cleaning turmeric and ginger rhizomes.
We start by dumping the rhizomes in a large tub/bucket of water to loosen up the soil clinging to them. If you’re cleaning a large amount of rhizomes, the next thing you’re going to want to do is lay them on a firm, slatted surface outdoors so you can blast them off with a hose sprayer.
If you’re cleaning a small batch under a few pounds, you can just spray off each rhizome by hand. You’ll then want to clip off all the small roots attached to the underside of the nodes, and give the rhizomes one final hose down.
A freshly cleaned pile of Indira Yellow turmeric ready to be laid out to dry.
Dry and store turmeric
Once your turmeric rhizomes are cleaned, it’s time to dry and store them.
If weather permits, let the rhizomes dry outside during a sunny day to evaporate any water left over from the cleaning process. Then bring them indoors to dry for another 2-3 weeks. Be sure to lay them out no more than one layer deep, not stacked, so air can circulate around them (and ideally under them as well).
White Mango turmeric (front) and Indira Yellow turmeric (back) drying indoors at Tyrant Farms.
After a few weeks, your turmeric rhizomes are ready for long-term storage. We put ours into large, open cardboard boxes (so they can breathe) stored indoors at room temperature.
One of our favorite uses of turmeric and ginger is to flavor ramen. Here’s a big bowl of late winter turmeric-ginger ramen buried under fresh garden veggies and duck eggs.
Once dried, our baby turmeric easily stores for up to 6 months until it’s ready to plant again in the spring. Mature rhizomes can store even longer.
Overwintering turmeric in-ground?
What’s the in-ground cold hardiness of turmeric? Conventional wisdom says turmeric won’t survive winter in the ground beyond Zone 8.
Over multiple winters, we’ve experimented with overwintering ‘White Mango’ and ‘Indira Yellow’ turmeric and ‘Bubba Baba’ ginger (turmeric and ginger are in the same plant family). Beds were covered with a 2-3″ layer of insulating wood chip mulch.
Here’s what we’ve found:
- Indira Yellow turmeric has survived in-ground in Zone 7b for over five consecutive winters, including down to 6°F (-14°C).
- Neither White Mango turmeric or Bubba Baba ginger survived our winter in-ground.
So, if you want to grow turmeric as an in-ground, overwintering herbaceous perennial in moderate climate zones, we’d recommend growing ‘Indira Yellow’.
In fact, in our our garden we no longer bother to harvest our Indira Yellow turmeric at the end of the growing season. Instead, we just dig rhizomes whenever we need them throughout the year.
We no longer bother to harvest the Indira Yellow turmeric in our organic edible landscape at the end of the season. We now treat it as an herbaceous perennial that comes back each year. Whenever we need turmeric rhizomes for a recipe, we know where to find them, any month of the year. Pictured: turmeric in the center of a circular bed with garlic chives and melons finishing out the edges.
Key takeaways: How to grow organic turmeric anywhere:
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How to grow organic turmeric anywhere
Basic instructions to grow your own organic turmeric in any climate zone.
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Source "seed" rhizomes of the varieties of turmeric you want to plant. (See variety notes in article.)
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Tender, immature "baby" turmeric takes 6-8 months to develop. Mature rhizomes take 9-12 months to develop. In colder climate zones (7 or lower), you can get a multi-month jump on the season by starting seed rhizomes indoors in flats or pots. Then either transfer plants in-ground after last frost or move pots outdoors after last frost. Alternatively, starting under low tunnels can provide a jump on the season but is a bit riskier if a severe, late cold snap comes through.
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Warmer climates (8+): plant individual fingers of turmeric in-ground or in pots after last frost date. Turmeric needs rich, consistently moist soil and temperatures between 70-90°F for optimal development. Amending or top-dressing the planting spot with quality compost or worm castings prior to planting is recommended. Or use organic/OMRI fertilizer in each hole. Once planted, apply 2-3" of mulch (wood chips, chopped leaves, etc) to soil surface to help prevent weeds and maintain optimal soil health.
Note: Turmeric plants grow to 6'+ tall and thrive in full sun, so select planting spots accordingly.
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Spacing: Plant each turmeric finger at least 12″ apart, rows 24″ apart. If edible landscaping, cluster them together more densely.
Depth: Bury each node about 2-3″ deep.
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Shoots will emerge from rhizomes in 2-4 weeks. Maintain even soil moisture or about 1" of water per week, irrigating if no rain.
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After about 3 months, you'll see developing rhizomes popping through the soil surface. We recommend covering these rhizomes with an additional 2″ of compost + 2″ wood chips, aka “hill them up” to maximize development.
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At first hard frost, turmeric leaves will wilt and die back to the ground. Cut the stalks just above the soil line and use a shovel to dig entire rhizomes from ground. Use garden pruners to remove roots growing off of rhizomes. Use a garden sprayer to blast off soil.
Allow rhizomes to dry indoors under a ceiling fan for 2-3 weeks (don't pile them). Then place in cardboard box or breathable containers for long-term storage. Turmeric rhizomes (baby or mature) can be stored for at least 6 months.
Now you know how to grow your own organic turmeric anywhere! We hope this information helps spice up your life.
KIGI,
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35 Comments
Jules Tringali
August 19, 2022 at 1:30 pmHey there! This is very informative! I have a question about the shape of the berries. I have several elderberry trees that produce the normal round dark berries. However, I also see a tree next to them that look like elderberry trees but the berries are more oblong and not a circle. Still elderberries?!?
Aaron von Frank
August 21, 2022 at 5:19 pmHmm, we’re not comfortable with a potential elderberry identification based solely on description. Please send photos to aaron at tyrantfarms dot com (spelled out to avoid spam bots).
Charles Mitchell
November 11, 2021 at 4:34 amhi Aaron, I desperately need help with my elderberry. Everyone, including you says cross pollinate for bigger fruit production. But what can I cross pollinate Sambucus canadensis (American elderberry) with? Can I cross pollinate American Elderberry with The European ones such as black lace or can I only cross pollinate with other native north American varieties.I prefer to plant a Sambucus nigra or Sambucus racemosa to cross pollinate with my Sambucus canadensis. Will I be okay doing this? Or can you give me a list of elderberry varieties I should be cross pollinating my American elderberry with with to maximize fruit production. Unlike, some of your readers I grow them specifically for birds. They are popular with Waxwings, Grosbeaks and Catbirds.
Aaron von Frank
November 12, 2021 at 7:11 amHi Charles! There is tremendous genetic variability within the species Sambucus canadensis, you just don’t want genetically identical plants. For instance, if you had a single elderberry plant that you then propagated via branch cuttings or digging runners, you’d have genetically identical plants which wouldn’t be ideal for fruit production. And that’s how specific cultivars/varieties are propagated.
Ideally, you just need more than one different cultivar/variety of S. canadensis in order to get optimal pollination. You could get entirely different species of elderberry, but that’s not necessary.
Does that make sense and answer your question?
Charles Mitchell
November 15, 2021 at 5:06 amThanks for your reply. It kind of answers my question. I think I have an Adam’s sambucus canadensis and would like to plant black lace or black beauty varieties– so non-native. Will cross pollination work with these, meaning native with non-native? Or do I need another variety of Sambucus canadensis as you suggested above? If you’re saying any variety, native or foreign, will work then that would be great and leave me with many options.
Aaron von Frank
November 15, 2021 at 9:52 amGotcha. Those elderberry species *may be* genetically proximate enough for their pollen to be compatible but we can’t say for certain. However, if they don’t have the same bloom time, they won’t pollinate each other – even if they are compatible. If you want to be certain to boost fruit production, you’re better off getting different cultivars within Sambucus canadensis. Example: ‘Adams’, ‘Nova’, ‘York’, etc.
Pone
March 30, 2021 at 7:22 amHow deep will the roots of an elderberry (Sambucus) grow? Are they putting out deep roots or is it like a Rhododendron putting out a wide shallow root system? Any tap root?
I purchased one of the Black Lace Elderberry from Proven Winners. I wanted a show plant for the landscape. What would be the correct sister plant for that species to cross pollinate, and who sells that plant?
Aaron von Frank
March 30, 2021 at 1:04 pmElderberries have a fairly shallow, dense root system. As best we can tell having moved quite a few young ones and remove a mature one growing in a bad spot, they don’t have much of a tap root. The roots also produce quite a few runners, but not sure if that’s true of every variety or just the ones we’ve grown.
As for a partner plant for your Black Lace elderberry: if you want to increase fruit set/production, any other variety of elderberry will do. If you’re just after beauty and aren’t interested in fruit production, you don’t need to worry about getting another elderberry variety. They’re fairly common plants in the wild, so you may already have them growing close enough to cross-pollinate with your Black Lace.
st
May 2, 2021 at 10:56 amWe’re wondering if buying a pollinator to have in our yard would result in a huge amount of debris and bird poop (i.e. are there any potential disadvantages to living with pollinated berry trees?). We’re newbies and we planted a black lace elderberry last year.
Thanks!
Aaron von Frank
May 3, 2021 at 7:29 amHi! Buying a pollenizer for your Black Lace elderberry would presumably result in you getting berries on two elderberry trees once they both reached reproductive age. As for the potential mess the berries would cause: if you harvest and use the berries, mess will be minimized. There are likely to be birds attracted to your elderberries, which means some bird poop in the general area. If birds are a problem, you can also put up bird deterrents such as these: https://amzn.to/3vCsyTn. Hope this info helps!
Karen Scugoza
June 23, 2020 at 11:04 pmThank you for sharing your experience and expertise. I do have a question if you would be so kind. I live in zone 5b, southern Michigan. I bought 2 Niger Sambucus elderberry last year, they had quite a bit of flower on them. I did not get them covered to keep the birds away, it seemed the flowers either were eaten by something or dropped off. I had no berry at all on either plant. This spring they are full of flower once again, I notice the flower seems to be dropping off both plants. Possibly something is eating the flower, I’m not sure but it’s bare where the flowers were. Both seem healthy and pest free from what I can tell. I want to cover them both (I might be too late) to make sure the raccoons or opossums are not eating the flower as they are still low to the ground, about 2′ high. I just finished your article and now I’m wondering do I need a different strain of elderberry tree to insure success? I’ve searched the internet for answers and can’t seem to find anything regarding flower loss. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Aaron von Frank
June 26, 2020 at 8:29 amHi Karen! It’s highly unlikely that anything is eating your elderflowers. Each individual flower only lasts for a few days before it dries up and falls off – regardless of whether it’s been pollinated. If you cover the flowers, pollinators can’t get to them. My guess is that you have two of the same exact elderberry varieties, which means you either won’t get any fruit set or you won’t get good fruit set. The exception to that rule would be if you have wild elderberry plants growing around you that were flowering at the same time, in which case cross-pollination could occur.
You’ll want to have at least two different cultivars planted to ensure you get good fruit set. You’ll know pretty quickly whether the flowers were pollinated because small green immature fruit will appear shortly after the flowers drop. Those will mature into ripe elderberries over the course of ~1 month.
Side note: I’ve never heard of an elderberry plant generating flower clusters at 2′ high – do you have some type of dwarf cultivar?
Sam R
April 19, 2020 at 11:31 amNot quite sure about the elderberry suckers and can you grow them instead of tossing? Need any rooting hormone? Also reading that elderberry sambucas nigra does not produce many suckers yet mine are “running over” with them – if I cannot grow them do I just pull them or cut them? Bought plants from reputable source as organic sambucas nigra. GREAT article!
Aaron von Frank
April 23, 2020 at 1:12 pmThanks Sam! Yes, elderberry suckers root super easily IF they have developed brown bark. The green-stemmed suckers won’t root. In fact, the cuttings and runners with more mature bark root TOO easily. I’ve tossed cuttings on the ground along the back of our property line and found them rooted and sprouting a year later. No rooting hormone required. 🙂
You don’t have to remove your elderberry runners if you don’t want to. You’ll just end up with a dense and unruly patch of elderberry plants if you let them do their own thing. We have ours in specific spots in specific beds, so we cut down the shoots that come up from the runners throughout the spring and summer.
Also, interesting to hear about your experience with Sambucus nigra plants!
Holly Karpinski
April 13, 2020 at 12:53 amI have an Elderberry plant I believe it’s a black lace, it has dark leaves almost looks like a Japanese maple. Are these types good for fruit and and make syrups and such?? Also the one is going on it’s 3 year that we have had it and planted it and the very first year we had it, it shot up and one very center middle branch shot up by like 3ft or so, is this common??
Aaron von Frank
April 14, 2020 at 12:40 pmHi Holly! Yes, you can eat the berries from ‘Black Lace’ elderberries, but they’re not the best variety/species for berry production. You’ll also need another Sambucus nigra elderberry cultivar nearby to pollinate your Black Lace or you won’t get fruit. If that’s not in the cards for you, you can also use the edible flowers.
As far as the growth habit, we’ve never grown that particular elderberry species or cultivar before so can’t say for certain what’s normal. Our Sambucus canadensis plants are incredibly fast growing. Cuttings will easily grow to 6-8′ tall in the first year, with multiple additional shoots emerging from the base around the main stem.
Hope this info helps!
scot_belle
March 14, 2020 at 3:09 amI want to grow Elderberry trees, and I know they grow here in Klickitat Co. WA, but first….what I need to know is…if the deer will leave them alone. If not, then…I will just have to put up deer fencing, but my budget would like to know ahead of time…. I have 20 acres here, so their size…is not an issue.
Many thanks for your article.
Aaron von Frank
March 14, 2020 at 9:32 amWe’re surrounded by deer but have never seen so much as a nibble on our elderberry plants – perhaps because there are better food choices for them in our area. That being said, our experience is anecdotal and other people on social media have said deer have eaten their young elderberry plants to nubs. Our two cents: better safe than sorry – plan on at least putting up temporary fencing to keep deer off of your plants until they’re established and too large for deer to harm.
scot_belle
March 14, 2020 at 3:09 amI want to grow Elderberry trees, and I know they grow here in Klickitat Co. WA, but first….what I need to know is…if the deer will leave them alone. If not, then…I will just have to put up deer fencing, but my budget would like to know ahead of time…. I have 20 acres here, so their size…is not an issue.
Many thanks for your article.
Eric Hines
March 10, 2020 at 7:27 amThe one problem with your article is that you are in fact growing Sambucas canadensis not Sambucas nigra. Adams, Johns, and Nova are all canadensis varieties. While close they have different growing habits. Canadensis suckers while nigra does not technically sucker. It seems you aremixing information on both varieties in your article.
Sincerely,
Eric
Susan von Frank
March 10, 2020 at 7:37 amThanks for catching that mistake, Eric! It’s been corrected.
Aaron von Frank
March 10, 2020 at 2:40 pmThanks for catching that mistake, Eric! It’s been corrected.
Koromir
January 24, 2020 at 2:12 amHey I hope you see this. I want to try growing elderberry for syrup. I originally thought it would be like a raspberry bush. Some issues. I do have a small yard front and back and I live in an HOA and renting. So if I tried I can only have one kind and it will have to be in a big planter pot. Will that work? I am getting starters from a mature plant soon but I’m unsure of the variety. This will be my second year gardening and I really hope to have a purposeful garden even if it is a little small. Thanks.
Aaron von Frank
January 25, 2020 at 12:37 amHi! Elderberry plants are MUCH larger than raspberry canes as you can hopefully tell from the photos in this article. Growing a plant this size in a container is going to be difficult. You can certainly start them in containers then transplant them to their final in-ground locations, but we don’t want to tell you that you’re going to have much luck growing mature elderberry plants in a pot. Another option if you can’t grow them on your property is to guerrilla garden them in a wild spot nearby that: a) you have easy access to, b) isn’t sprayed by pesticides, and c) won’t be objected to by whomever owns the property.
Elderberries also make fairly attractive landscape plants so you can ask your landlord if they mind if you plant some on the property you’re renting? Nobody in your HOA is likely to notice or mind a large flowering shrub.
Marsha McGuire
January 20, 2019 at 6:50 pmI have a Novus and a York Elderberry that are going into their third spring. They are about 6-7 foot tall. But they are too close together and I need to move one of them. Do you have any suggestions/best practices for how to do this? I live about 45 miles from you in NC. Thanks for any help or ideas.
Aaron von Frank
January 20, 2019 at 8:24 pmHi Marsha!
Few thoughts: We’ve never moved an elderberry before but we did try to get rid of one that we put in a bad location, and we had nowhere else to move it to. That was three years ago, and it still has runners coming up in the bed despite being cut down all the way to ground level multiple times.
Point being: elderberry trees are some seriously robust and hardy plants. I’d be surprised if you kill yours while moving it if you do a halfway decent job of digging it up and preserving some of its root system. If you’re concerned about losing it, you could root a few cuttings for backup, so you’re not stressed about it. (See instructions on starting elderberries from cuttings towards the middle of the article.)
Hope that helps, and please let me know if you have other questions.
scot_belle
March 14, 2020 at 3:11 amTIP: for the plant you needed to remove, but keeps having suckers coming up.
Pour straight vinegar over that area. It’s safe for anyone, except that specific plant.
Caution, don’t use a spray, because whatever it touches…will get burned.
Aaron von Frank
March 14, 2020 at 9:33 amSuckering elderberries are virtually impossible to kill. You just have to trim them out. Highly suspect vinegar wouldn’t do the trick, but it would increase the acidity of the soil for a period.
scot_belle
March 14, 2020 at 2:36 pmMy mother’s 1st cousin, Frank Raffel, was the original owner of the Port Stockton Nursery in Stockton CA. THIS was a tip he shared with my mother …..many many years ago. Sadly, he passed away about 30 years ago.
Using straight vinegar was one of Frank’s “go to” items for TEMPORARILY sterilizing soil, and killing “determined” weeds. Vinegar, in diluted form, when added to Epsom salt…also makes a great fertilizer. STRAIGHT …its high acid base will kill whatever plant it touches, but it won’t harm pets and/or children. I am now…70, and knowing this aspect of vinegar has been very very helpful to me…and for many years.
In today’s chemical world, I prefer to use vinegar rather than all the anti-bacterial items in the store. It kills bacteria, virus’, deodorizes anything that it is used on. So…I use it to wash eggs from my hen house, clean all kitchen/bath counters, and put it in a spray bottle (1TBSP + 1 GAL. water) …for fighting flu bacteria. YES, it will work on coronavirus. 🙂
Peggy
January 19, 2019 at 11:40 amAll of your articles are great. So informative and detailed. Do you have any articles on growing figs? Thanks so much.
Aaron von Frank
January 19, 2019 at 11:52 amThanks, Peggy! Glad to hear you enjoy our articles including this how to grow elderberry trees article. Each one takes a long time to put together, so we appreciate your kind words.
We don’t have any articles about growing figs yet, but that’s something we’ll add to our future articles list. We do grow a couple different fig varieties here, and will be putting more out at a farm I manage over the next year or so. Are there specific fig questions you have that we might be able to help you with in the meantime?
Serena Swift
January 18, 2019 at 7:06 pm5. How long do elderberry trees live?
60 years, or about 1/10 the lifespan of Keith Richards.
LMAO!!!!
Aaron von Frank
January 19, 2019 at 1:03 amGlad you had a good laugh, Serena. 😛
Sharon Goodenough
January 18, 2019 at 2:15 pmExcellent article!!! Thank you 🙂
Aaron von Frank
January 18, 2019 at 2:39 pmGlad you enjoyed it!