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Spice growing guide
Small cardamom is a shade-loving rhizomatous perennial from the Western Ghats. It grows from fresh seed in a shaded nursery, germinates slowly over one to three months and is planted out at about 18 months old.
Cardamom seed loses viability quickly. The Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) advises sowing within a fortnight of extracting seed from the capsule, so sow as soon as your seed arrives. Rinse the seed several times in clean water to remove the slimy coating and dry it briefly in the shade before sowing.
Optional, and done only in professional nurseries. TNAU and KAU describe a brief strong-acid treatment followed by thorough washing to raise germination. It is hazardous and not needed for a home sowing; fresh, cleaned seed and patience work well.
Not needed. Cardamom is a tropical plant and must never be chilled.
Not required. Washing off the mucilage is the useful step; long soaking is not part of the KAU or TNAU nursery method.
Keep the nursery warm and humid. Cardamom areas in Kerala lie at 600-1,200 m with 10-35 °C (50-95 °F) and 1,500-4,000 mm of rain a year. KAU finds September sowing best for germination and advises against sowing during the southwest monsoon and in winter. Outside the tropics, sow indoors in a warm, bright room or heated greenhouse.
Sow in lines and cover with only a very thin layer of fine soil or sand. KAU uses about 10 g of seed per square metre of nursery bed.
TNAU uses equal parts well-rotted cattle manure, wood ash and forest (jungle) soil. In pots use a loose, humus-rich, slightly acidic mix that drains well.
Keep beds moist but not wet. KAU mulches the bed with about 2 cm of dry grass or straw, waters morning and evening and removes the mulch as soon as germination starts.
Shade the bed with a pandal (overhead shade frame) or shade cloth; never expose seedlings to full sun.
Germination begins about a month after sowing and continues for up to three months, so do not discard the tray early.
At the 3-4 leaf stage move seedlings to a secondary nursery at 20 x 20 cm (8 x 8 in) to 25-30 cm (10-12 in) spacing, or into 20 x 20 cm polybags, under overhead shade. Enrich the bed with decomposed manure and mulch with dry leaves.
Plant 18-month-old seedlings (TNAU uses 18-22 months) at the start of the rains. Spacing is 2.0 x 1.5 m for smaller types and 2.5 x 2.0 m for larger ones, under 40-60% shade.
Young clumps need steady moisture, mulch and weeding. In pots, grow on in a large container in bright, indirect light and keep frost-free all year.
In India cardamom grows best in shaded, humid hill areas of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu at about 600-1,500 m. On the hot plains or in dry climates grow it as a pot plant in shade.
KAU recommends shade trees such as red cedar (Toona ciliata) that thin out in the rains, and advises avoiding dadap (Erythrina), which hosts root-knot nematodes.
Seedlings vary. Named varieties such as Njallani (Green Gold) are multiplied commercially from suckers, so seedlings will not exactly match a parent variety.
Plants begin bearing two to three years after planting. Pick capsules when full-sized and still green, every 15-30 days through the season.
Sow cardamom seed fresh in a shaded, humid nursery and be patient while it germinates.
Germination starts about a month after sowing and can continue for up to three months. Keep the bed warm, shaded and moist the whole time.
Yes, as a foliage plant. Use a large container of humus-rich, acidic, well-drained mix, keep it in bright shade, humid and frost-free all year. Pods depend on the warm, humid, shaded conditions of the cardamom hills.
After about 18 months in the nursery, plants start bearing two to three years after planting in the right climate.
