Worth knowing:
The Tamarind, also known as Sour Date or Indian Date (Tamra = date and Hindi = Indian) is an evergreen tree with a greyish-black bark. The crust of young branches is hairy. Its pinnate leaves are folding in at night, but they don’t react to touching. The flower buds are red coloured. The perianth contains yellow sepals and three yellow and red coloured petals with a green frame. Only the three fertile stamens feature on their lower ends connate filaments. The fruits of the tree spring from the flowers in the form of cinnamon hulls or pods and are called Tamarinds. The fruit pulp (Pulpa) is rich in tartaric acid and is often used in the Indian, South American and African kitchen as a spice and in chutneys. That way it also became an ingredient for in Europe famous Worcestershire sauce.
Natural Location:
Originally the Tamarind comes from East Africa. From there it spread to India and became a crop plant in the dry regions of tropical and subtropical South-East Asia.
Cultivation:
Seed propagation indoors is possible throughout the year. To increase the germinability, you should place the seeds for about 12 hours in warm water for priming. Then, plant the seeds about 0,5 cm deep in moist potting compost and cover the seed container with clear film to prevent the earth from drying out. Don’t forget to make some holes in the clear film and take it every second or third day completely off for about 2 hours. That way you avoid mold formation on your potting compost. Place the seed container somewhere bright and warm with a temperature between 20°C and 25° Celsius and keep the earth moist, but not wet. Usually it takes only 10 to 14 days until germination.
Place:
The Tamarind prefers a full sunny place. During summer it can also be kept in a full sunny spot outdoors.
Care:
The Tamarind needs rather less watering. Just keep the plant always moist and avoid waterlogging in the saucer. Between April and October it is recommended to give fertilizer for tub plants every three to four weeks. If your plant doesn’t get enough water, it will cast the leaves to minimize the evaporation. Since the Tamarind is fast-growing and builds out deep roots, you should choose a bigger pot for cultivation straight away.
During the winter:
Younger plants are sensitive to cold. Older Tamarinds are more resistant and can be kept outdoors as long as there are no frosts. To prevent the usually evergreen tree from casting its leaves, it should be kept in a bright spot with a temperature of at least 15° Celsius during winter. However, if it still casts the leaves due to not enough light, your plant also needs to be watered accordingly less.
Picture credits:
- © © Lalithamba from India - CC-BY-SA-2.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © James Steakley - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © Tau?olunga - CC-BY-SA-2.5 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5
- © Forest & Kim Starr - CC-BY-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
- © J.M.Garg - CC-BY-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
- © Lalithamba from India - CC-BY-SA-2.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
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