Do you want to have a cardamom plant in your garden area? Fancy growing once? If yes is your answer, check out our detailed guide on how to grow cardamom in your home garden.

Cardamom, the king of Indian spices, hails from South Asia, mainly tropical India. This is one of the famous aromatic herbs used in cooking and has various medicinal values.

At the same time, it is considered the most expensive herb. Being a delicate herb requires a lot of care, significantly when growing in the garden area. There are different varieties of cardamom, such as green and black cardamom.

Green cardamom is expensive because of its labor-intensive harvesting process. To grow a cardamom plant, you need to take care of many things and maintain the tropical environment.

If you want to grow a cardamom plant in your garden area, we provide you with a stepwise guide here in this blog.

If you want to grow vegetables at home, we have a dedicated article that will help you learn about growing vegetables at home with ease.

All About Cardamom

Elettaria cardamomum

Cardamom is an Indian spice containing seeds and thin pods. The pods of the cardamom are triangular and have sleek paper-like outer covering.

The plant is approximately 5-10 feet tall and thrives excellently in partial shades. Cardamom is a tropical plant, so you can grow it in the summer season and even in winter to maintain optimal temperature.

There are various types of cardamom categories like black cardamom, white cardamom, and green cardamom. However, if you want to grow it in your areas, you need to create a topical nature.

The best thing about this cardamom can grow with rhizomes throughout the year. As a result, you get tiny flowers that look fascinating and make your garden fragrance rich.

Not only that, cardamom is great health benefits just like spinach and microgreens. You can click on the link to grow them in your home.

Do you like the facts about cardamom? Want to grow cardamom plants in your home garden? Keep on reading then!

Btw, what do you think about Garlic? Is it a herb, spice, or vegetable? We know it’s quite confusing but to come out of it, check our article.

Also, do not forget to check if you fancy the idea of growing garlic at home.

How to Grow Cardamom

So, let’s continue reading and follow the stepwise guide to grow cardamom plants in your garden places adequately.

This is a step-to-step guide so that it won’t be difficult for you to grow a cardamom plant in your home garden.

Let’s get started and learn how to grow cardamom plants easily.

1. Prepare The Soil Bed

Cardamom grows wells in loamy soil rich in manure and organic matter. To make it fit for growing cardamom, you need to maintain an ideal pH of around 6-6.8.

However, if the pH of the soil is slightly acidic, about 5.5-6, it can still tolerate the soil.

Before you start to grow cardamom plants, prepare the soil bed and keep it moist. However, don’t create the waterlogged condition as it may spoil the plant. Instead, maintain the clayey texture of soil to support the growth optimally.

2. Grow Cardamom from Seeds or Rhizomes

There are two ways through which you can grow cardamom plants. One is by putting the seeds into the soil or growing cardamom plants using rhizomes

Method 1. Grow Cardamom Plant By Seeds

Take the seeds from the marketplace and make sure the seeds are of optimal quality. Before you start sowing the seed, soak the seeds into the jar full of water and, if possible, fill 2.5% nitric acid solution.

The nitric acid solution is helpful to nourish the seeds. Do ensure to mix for two minutes. After that, pour the seeds into the strainer.

Rinse the seeds properly. Cover the seed with lukewarm water and soak it overnight. Plant the cardamom seeds into the soil that we have prepared in the first step.

Dig out a 1-inch deep hole. Make sure to keep it in shady places. Also, keep the soil humus-rich and slightly acidic.

In addition to this, you can also plant the seeds into the pot and keep them indoors overnight and outdoors in the daytime.

Germination of the cardamom takes place within 20-40 days. Make sure to pour adequate water and enrich the soil with essential nutrients.

Also Read: How to Grow Epazote

Method 2. Grow Cardamom from Rhizomes

This is the easiest way to cultivate cardamom. First, cut the rhizomes with the help of a sharp knife and separate them. Now, you can easily plant into the soil in favorable conditions.

However, pay attention while propagating cardamom with this method because it is prone to cardamom mosaic virus from its mother plant if it is infected.

3. Transplanting and Caring

Cardamom is a tropical plant that requires a hot and humid climate to grow properly. They can tolerate up to 70 to 85 F temperature.

At the same time, it requires extra care when growing it in outdoor spaces. So, ensure to follow these tips:

• Pour water continually into the cardamom plant during summer times. Make sure the soil remains moist, not soggy.

• If your cardamom plant turns brown due to excessive sunlight, make sure to transplant it into the shady spot.

• Monitor the plant; if you observe that leaves get yellowish, add some fertilizers into the soil. It is a sign that plants lack nutrients.

• If you observe that the cardamom leaves are brownish, spray some water but don’t spray water on the roots as it may get rotten.

• Try to maintain the humidity in the soil and keep it damp and moist. Feed them liquid kelp once every two weeks. Moreover, you can add an adequate amount of water so that plants absorb it properly.

• Make sure to transplant the seeds for about five to six months when they show four leaves. Make sure to plant these seedlings into a four inches pot that contains the potting soil.

• Try to maintain the humidity and ideal temperature if you grow into a cool climate. Also, ensure that the plant receives partial sunlight as it cannot tolerate the cold and add more water when the cardamom plant starts fruiting.

• Apply the organic fertilizer that is rich in phosphorus. Ensure to feed the plant with essential nutrients twice in the month during the growing season. Add compost, if possible, into the soil.

• If you are growing cardamom at indoor places, keep the pot in an open place to receive sunlight for at least 6-8 hours.

• Transplant older plants when the roots start damaging or infecting with the pests. It is easy to grow in indoor spaces.

Other than this, when the plant grows up to 10 feet, then you can choose the ideal location or ground where they have plenty of space to grow and stretch.

This would help to grow a healthy cardamom plant with excellent fruiting.

4. Control Pest and Diseases

Cardamom crop is generally not harmed by the pest. Instead, it is attacked by the cardamom mosaic virus and rhizomes rot.

Unfortunately, the cardamom mosaic virus is one of the most common and severe diseases, destroying the plant. The virus spreads through the aphid on the cardamom plant.

To prevent aphid attacks, you can apply pest control chemicals. In addition to this, rhizomes rot results in chlorosis of the leaves and premature fruit dropping.

Again, this happens due to soggy conditions. So, try to avoid the saturated condition in the soil to prevent the plant from infection.

Related: How to Grow and Care Curry Leaf

5. Harvesting and Storage

During harvesting time, you need to be extra careful. It is a labor-intensive process and may take longer to harvest than regular crops.

However, the seed pods are ready to harvest within two to three years. Since this is a delicate crop, you may need to handpick the seed pods.

However, the time of harvesting is trickier. So, you can notice the pods as they begin to split when they mature and release the seeds; if you are unsure about the ripening of the cardamom, check the cardamom seed color by plucking the pod.

The completely ripe cardamom has black color seeds. At the same time, the immature seeds are slightly whitish.

If the crop is ready to harvest, then pluck it from the base of the stem and move upward. The entire process is done manually.

Before you keep them into the container, do ensure to sundry the cardamon for at least 6-7 days. This helps to maintain the viability and keep the cardamom seeds for longer. After drying, keep the cardamom in airtight containers.

Also Read: How to Grow and Care Betel Leaf

Would you Grow Cardamom Plant

This is the step-to-step guide that will help you to grow the cardamom plant from the scratch till harvesting time. In a nutshell, the cardamom plant is very easy to grow if you follow these steps.

It can tolerate acidic soil conditions. But you need to maintain the ideal pH of the soil. In addition to this, keep the soil moist and damp so that the plant can grow ideally. I

f you are growing the cardamom plant into the pot in indoor spaces, then do ensure to keep them under the sunlight for at least six to eight hours.

Add fertilizers in time so that the plant can grow appropriately. Finally, detect the diseases of the cardamom timely and use preventive measures to get rid of them.

When the crop is ready to harvest, do it manually and sundry to seeds and then store it. In this way, you can keep the seeds for a longer time.

Would you like to grow a cardamom plant in your home garden following this guide? Do let us know in the comments section below. Also, if you know any tip that will help to grow cardamom plant healthy, share that with us as well.