🌾 Lemongrass

Lemongrass is a tall, tropical grass with intensely citrus-scented stems, essential to Thai and Vietnamese cooking. It will grow in the UK in a large pot in summer, and be moved to a bright, frost-free windowsill for winter.

The easiest method is to root fresh stalks from a supermarket in a glass of water. In a hot summer it can reach 1 m and give you a harvest of fat stems.

Varieties to try

West Indian lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus, the culinary type)East Indian lemongrass (C. flexuosus)

Buy fresh lemongrass stalks with the base intact and stand them in a glass of water on a warm windowsill. After 2–3 weeks, roots appear; pot up into 15 cm pots of multipurpose compost. Seed is available but slow.

Pot on to 30 cm containers by May and move outdoors in June to a sunny, sheltered spot. Keep warm and well watered.

Top tips

• Root shop-bought stems.
• Keep warm on a windowsill.
• Pot on regularly.
• Move outside in June.

Water generously in summer, since lemongrass is thirsty, and feed fortnightly with a general liquid fertiliser. Keep in the sunniest, warmest spot. Divide clumps in spring.

Bring into a bright, frost-free room in September, and keep nearly dry over winter. Cut leaves back by half before bringing indoors. Spider mite may attack indoors; mist regularly.

Top tips

• Water and feed in summer.
• Bring in before frost.
• Keep nearly dry in winter.
• Divide in spring.

Watch out for

Red spider miteAphidsFrost damageRust

Harvest stems when they are at least 1 cm thick at the base, from late summer. Cut or twist off stalks near the base, taking the outer ones. The tender lower 10 cm is the culinary part.

Leaves can be dried for tea. Harvest before the first frost.

To harvest, grasp a stem low down and twist and pull it away from the clump; this encourages new stems to develop. Peel off the dry outer layers to reveal the tender pale core, which is the part to bruise, slice and cook with.

Top tips

• Cut thick stems.
• Use the lower 10 cm.
• Harvest before frost.
• Dry leaves for tea.

Bruise the stalks, then slice thinly or add whole to curries, soups, stir-fries, marinades and tea, removing the tough pieces before serving. Pair with chilli, ginger, coconut and lime. Leaves make an aromatic tea.

Stalks freeze well chopped or whole. Fresh stalks keep 2–3 weeks in the fridge.

Top tips

• Bruise before cooking.
• Freeze chopped.
• Make tea with leaves.
• Pair with coconut.