Planting Time! How to plant Moringa Seeds

Growing your own Moringa can be very beneficial. Although it will only survive the winter if the ground does not freeze, you CAN grow it annually. Start the seeds early in a warm environment, then plant outside when danger of frost has passed. Plant in an “intensive bed” planting 6″ to 8″ apart. Just keep cutting the leafy stems to add to your food and encourage the plant to produce more stems and leaves.

1. Take a peat pod. It is peat moss inside a cellulose mesh (corn husk I believe)
2. Hydrate the pod by putting about ¼ cup of water in the container with it. It takes about 30 minutes for it to hydrate.
3. Open the top of the hydrated peat pod. Take out a bit of the soil out of the center, going about half deep into the pod.
4. Add just a small pinch of Perlite. This will help with both water retention and drainage.
5. Put seed inside, the top should be about ½ way down in the pod.
   1. The seed can be whole or you could take off the outer husk of the seed and plant the white inner seed. I find it germinates faster with the husk off.
6. Cover with some of the soil you took out and lightly tamp down.
7. Place in a bowl or dish that you can add water to.
8. Place in a warm (75°-78°F) area for optimum germination. It takes about 2 weeks for germination before you will see the stem come through the soil.
9. Once it is about 6” tall, transplant either into the ground if it is warm enough outside or up-pot to a larger pot by inserting the whole peat pot into the soil.

Moringa will take a frost, but not a freeze.  If you live in an area that does not freeze but may frost, cut the moringa tree back to about 3-4 feet in the late autumn when the leaves will start to turn yellow and fall off.  This will enhance the number of branches that emerge when it warms up, producing more of the nutrient-dense leaves that you can then eat fresh, dehydrate, or powder.  Enjoy!