What are Curcuma and how do you grow them?
Curcuma, also known as ornamental tumeric or Siam tulips, are native to Southeast Asia. They are a tropical plant that thrives in warm and humid conditions like the southeastern United States. But they don’t have to grow in these kinds of regions. We can give them an environment they’ll love in other ways, too!
Many of our customers have covered growing spaces that grow hot in the summer months (unbearably hot for some plants). But curcuma love these kinds of spaces. We planted some in tunnel plots on our farm, too.
We also looked to an unused indoor grow space to host a curcuma crop. In the winter, we force tens of thousand of tulips, daffodils, and amaryllis in a basement grow room. This space also hosts lilies in the spring and fall. But it was vacant in the summer time. So, we started up some curcuma.
We planted ours in late May and early June. Curcuma, like dahlias, take a couple of weeks to “wake up” and begin to sprout. Warmth helps, so we recommend getting them started in a similar way. We like to start our dahlias in an indoor space in small pots or trays. We did the same for our curcuma.
We used 1-gallon pots and a half and half combination of compost and soilless growing medium like ProMix. Curcuma like fertile, moist soil. And they are happy to be planted with the crown of the rhizome just at the soil surface. The “storage roots” hang below and are planted deeper. If storage roots break off during transport of winter dormancy, it is OK! Your curcuma will still grow and flower from the crown portion of the plant. We make sure that the pots do not dry out.
Even with a late start, our curcuma started blooming in mid-July. Curcuma take 90 to 100 days to bloom. We will get ours started earlier next year— closer to March or April. Some varieties are faster than others. From our collection we noticed that a variety called ‘Ribbon’ (offered in our wholesale shop) seems fastest to flower than other varieties.
Curcuma flower bloom in a range of colors from white, light pink, pink, dark pink, red, and green. We also see bicolor varieties.
Fun Fact: ABC customers are now growing and harvesting curcuma from Florida to Maine!
To harvest curcuma, grasp the flower stem near the soil surface and pull the stem up and off the rhizome. Harvesting in this manner encourages more growth and flowering. Curcuma produce multiple flowers per plant. Because curcuma are tropical, no cold storage is used. Harvested stems should be kept above 55F.
Similar to dahlias, curcuma can be divided during their dormant season. Their rhizomes are simple to divide, and they may be saved for sale or re-planting the following season. Curcuma roots prefer to be stored from 50-60F in the winter. We store ours in airtight bins with a mixture of peat and wood shavings. It’s a good idea to check on them regularly throughout the winter to make sure they aren’t getting moldy. Remember, it’s OK if you lose some of the dangling storage roots during the winter. The rhizome can still come back and bloom for you.
We offered 8 different curcuma varieties in 2024. Our curcuma are sourced from a woman-owned and run farm in Thailand. To view our availability or apply for a wholesale account use the button below. Have a question? Drop is a line and let us know in the comments!