Our Tulsi left us just over two years ago during the first winter in our new home. She was a six years old Tulsi and guess she couldn't stand less light and temperature fluctuations in our new home and during that winter she got spider mites and bacteria that I didn't manage to save her.
We didn't try growing a new one as soon after she left we found we were expecting a baby. Our baby is almost 16 months now and recently I had several questions to answer on this blog and started thinking it is time to sow Tulsi seeds again. It does not seem right for me to give advice on how to grow Tulsi at home unless I actually grow one at my home.
However, it is late to saw the seeds as the spring, as the best time to start a seedling, is long gone and winter is too close to have a chance of young seedling surviving the first winter in Melbourne as it would be too weak.
So last week our good friend calls me to say one of her friends who is leaving to India for a month or so needs someone to baby sit her Tulsi's while she is gone and she wouldn't go if she doesn't have someone to take care of her Tulsi's. As you might expect I was more than happy to take that service and she exchanged our numbers.
My wife was to pay her a visit and pick up Tulsi's during day and while chatting with her to organize pick up we found out she had two Tulsi's and one of them was torn apart by one of the boys living in the student home she lives at. One day she politely asked him not to smoke near Tulsi's as they are sacred plants and soon after he moved out of that student home and after moving all his possessions out he came back just to tore her Tulsi apart.
This was a surprising story to me. Why would you do this to any plant just to make someone feel bad escapes my understanding especially because the boy is from India and should know about the significance of Tulsi. Perhaps it was just a pastime to show the glory of Tulsi.
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| In the pot you can see the stem of original Tulsi |
Short time after she ended up with close to 50 Tulsi's growing roots in water waiting to be transplanted into soil which I am about to do in the morning and then add some pictures to illustrate what happened.
I explained her that she will have to give most of them away as she will otherwise in a year or so end up in a jungle of Tulsi's at her home and it might be almost impossible to take care of all of them in a small student room. You can see that even now they are taking one smaller kitchen table. I suggested she should start looking for devotees interested in taking care of Tulsi at home and this post might be helping her.
If you are reading this and you are in Melbourne and wanting Tulsi we might be helping her spread the glories of mother Tulsi and finding her new homes.
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| Roots out, ready for planting in a pot |
It also feels so special to have a part of Tusli growing at your home that was so potent to go through this ordeal so gloriously.
Here is a couple of quotes:
"Every home with a Tulasi plant is a place of pilgrimage, and no diseases, messengers of Yama, the God of Death, can enter it."
Skandapurana 2, 4, 8, 13 Padmapurana Uttarakhanda
"Vishnu, the Lord of the Three Worlds, takes up abode in the village or the house where Tulasi is grown. In such a house no one suffers calamities like poverty, illness or separations from dear ones." Padmapurana, Uttarakhanda, 6-24-31-32
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| I've transplanted 13 of them that had roots |
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| Soaking sun in a partial shade |
All glories to mother Tulsi!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI live in Melbourne and am looking for a tulsi plant. Are there any extra plants that you might have.
Thanks,
Radha
Namaste Radha,
DeleteUnfortunately I don't have any plants at the moment. What I can offer is to send you some seeds once our Tulsi provides them this spring.
Alternatively you might try the Amma temple in Dandenong VIC as I heard you can get Tulsi plants from their temple. Here is the link with their details: http://www.ammaaustralia.org.au/groups/amma-vic.html
To get roots, how many days shall i put thulsi stem in to water. Is it normal water right?
ReplyDeleteYes, normal water and depending how thick is the branch it might take several weeks. Only the bottom part has to be in the water. Leaves have to be out.
ReplyDeleteIf you can get rain water it might be even better. And I forgot to mention to change water once a week, especially if it's rain water from a tank as it might go bad otherwise. And wait until she has long enough roots before transplanting. If they are too short they might not catch
ReplyDeleteNice info thanks
ReplyDeleteHi Besko. I would like to contact you in regards to growing Tulsi in Melbourne. I have some beautiful juvenile tulsi plants growing here in Melbourne, and honestly I am a bit scared of the winter approaching. I really want to do my best for these plants, and would love if you could provide some tips about growing tulsi in Melbourne. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteNamaste Vikas,
DeletePlease excuse me, somehow I've misplaced the email and just realized I never replied to you.
Please read through the blog and you will get most of the information that you might need to take good care of your Tulsi.
If you have a more specific question please let me know and I'll answer it. Otherwise, blog has most of my knowledge shared with public.
Kind regards, Besko
Hi, I started a tulsi plant 3 months ago and didn't know about pruning or cutting back to grow a steadier, sturdier and bushier plant.
ReplyDeletemy plant is 3 months very tall but not very leafy, can i start cutting it now? can i cut until four leaves high and the remaining top portion be water rooted to develop into a new plant completely?
if i were to cut back now would the area i cut still develop into tow branches that would grow like as shown in your pictures or could it be too late to cut? i don't want to damage the plant in any way. Please advise if that is possible. thank you
Namaste Stephanie,
ReplyDeletePlease don't do any extreme cuts as she might die.
The example I had in this post was due to a person trying to be mean to our friend and he has literally torn apart one large Tulsi plant. That is quite extreme and we were amazed how Tulsi responded to her devotee love and kept living in those branches. I actually have kept one of those branches at our home and she is now a plant about 20 cm high and a bit too low but I couldn't do much about that fact.
In your case I would only do the normal cutting like I've explained in the blog about cutting Tulsi.
It is actually better if you let Tulsi grow a bit taller in the beginning.
This is because being grown at home and receiving mainly side light she has a tendency to grow mostly to the sides and having that tallnes in the beginning gives her strength to develop into a nice bushy plant.
If you just nib her bud on the top she will soon start shooting branches to the side. If she is next to window keep turning her one third of a circle clockwise each day to keep her growing to all sides evenly.
With all the shoots (future branches) she will develop in the future let her develop three pairs of leaves and then nib the fourth pair before this fourth pair grows to usual size.
If you keep doing this you would notice that over the next year she will become bushier as she will that way fill out properly.
You will do well. Now during winter be careful not to over water her. In the same time check her soil regularly a bit deeper by pressing finger to make sure her soil is still moist enough.
Good luck. Let me know if you need any other help.
Yours, Besko
Hi Besko,
DeleteI was not aware that that could potential damage the plant and i don't know what an extreme cut is classified as.
I just started this from seeds that I obtained overseas and i wasn't sure if it would grow in this area (i live in the usa) and luckily I got 8 separate tulsis to grow but didn't know i needed to cut for it to branch out and become full. it was growing very tall but i was waiting for branches and did research and found only cutting will produce branches. the tallest is 10 sets high while the rest are 8 high. I only cut two because i didn't know about potential damage but i fear that hopefully i didn't do damage. I cut two that where 8 sets cutting exactly in between so the potted half would branch out after 4 sets and am water rooting the top half. i don't know if its possible to send pictures. But the tulsi is very important to me. if i cut only the top tips of the one 10sets high will it be able to support growth and branches that high. please advise. thank you
How tall they are? About a feet, even feet and a half is perfect when you first cut them. To give you some perspective I've grown my first Tulsi for five years and she was almost a meter high and a meter circumference. You like it a bit taller in the beginning not to get her growing all to side.
ReplyDeleteThe more often you cut those nibs the better she will branch out.
I call extreme cut when you cut them in half or cut branch that is already brown in texture. The most I've ever cut is three set of leaves.
I usually cut tips while the stem is still green and soft. Once they start hardening I leave them. Each Tulsi has personality same like us humans.
Some are tall, some are short.
I would probably nib two to three set of leaves and let her branch. They should be just fine.
Thank you so much i was really worried as this is my first time but the two cuttings already rooted beautifully and the part they where cut from is slowly growing but i can see where and how they will branch.
Deleteso i think its safe to cut the remaining 6 but now the question i have is how much room is needed for best growth? my pot size is about 8inches in circumference and probably 8 inches deep and there are already 8 individual tulsi growing but they are all very close in distance. i started from seeds so i didn't know how many will take or not so all the seed i planted together and i didn't want to separate. is this pot big enough to support the roots and growth? should i place the rooted cutting in the same pot as all the tulsi are only on one half and the other half has room to place another tulsi or a should i plant in a different pot? Thank you for your advise.
Also i started another pot of tulsi seeds using 3 manjaris and its been 3 weeks. about how long should germination take and typically how many tulsi should i get from 3 manjaris?
sorry for all the question but your definitely very knowledgeable on the subject and have lots to learn from you.
Namaste Stephanie,
DeleteNice to hear that two Tulsies took roots.
I love how much enthusiasm you have in growing a lot of them.
My advice is to first stick with those you just planted for a year or two before you plant more. That is just my humble advice.
Unless you are planning to start a part time job of caring for all your Tulsi's and have a glasshouse in your backyard to facilitate all of them.
In reality Tulsi's grow quite fast if you take good care of them.
Once you plant those two cuttings in soil you would have 10 Tulsi's and when they grow lets say to about 10 inches circumference you would have to have 10 individual pots of the size you have now to give them enough soil to live a healthy life.
Would you have enough space near window for all of them or a heated glasshouse?
When they are in the summer season they grow quite fast and just cutting the shoots would take few hours each week.
If they ever get spider mites which is quite likely you would need to spend hours weekly to get them away and save your Tulsi's or use pesticides which makes plant not suitable to be offered or to eat it.
I usually start Tulsi's one seed in one pot, usually in a 4 inch (10cm) pot in which I keep her for a year. I transplant them into next size pot (5 inches or 12.5cm) just before next winter.
I've explained more about this in individual blog I titled 'First transplanting' which you can read to get more info.
I would suggest you gently transplant them all into individual pots as it would be hard to take care of all of them in the same time in one pot as they would grow as a bush. If they would get infested with spider mites then you would not be able to clean them all at once unless using pesticide which Tulsi is very sensitive to.
Separating them means you need 10 4inches pots to transplant them each individually and you need to do that before they grow too much roots as it will be a bit of a shock for them. Their roots are going to be damaged a bit while transplanted.
After transplanting them into individual pots please give them some seaweed fertilizer to help them take root into new pot.
I would suggest with the other 6 Tulsi's you have, only cut two set of leaves from top and don
t cut them into half and make more plants as you might be overwhelmed quite soon.
Re: Manjaris - If you look closely into manjari next time you will see that it is actually a set of small flowers. I've just counted one of manjaris on our Tulsi plant (I have one Tulsi plant only and that is my limit of comfort) and her manjari has 8 sets of 6 flowers each. (I only keep one manjari at a time for seed production to prevent draining her strength; please read my blog about manjaris.)
If you look at that flower once seeds are ready it will each have 4 small seeds inside. That means she will have 8sets of tiny flowers*6flowers each*4seeds each flower=192 seeds - INSIDE THAT ONE MANJARI.
I hope they don't all germinate as you will have to have a lot of friends to give them some of Tulsi's as that would really be a lot of work to take care of all of them.
If its been three weeks you should already see tiny seedlings.
Good luck with all and let me know if I can help.
Besko
that was very helpful. so for a year it should be ok after a year i can transplant them in different pots? hypothetically i know with 8 plants the roots might be intertwined and i really don't want to hurt the plant so what would happen in a year if i transplant all into a deeper and bigger pot? just curious as i would like advise before i do.
Deletei didn't know there were that many seeds in only one manjari but so far i only have 1 seedling but at the very edge of the pot so i fear it might not take.
i live in the usa, and so far i am growing them all in my house next to a window, we have central air conditioning so I put a plant light beside it and covered the area with a foil liner so the hear and light reflects better so far it growing great but when winter comes i don't know what to do because thats when in the past all the leaves have fallen and i am left with a barren stem which i believe is a dead plant. can i turn on a heater along with the light or what do you suggest. thanks for your help.
You should transplant them individually straight away, in small pots 3-4 inches size.
DeleteIn a year their roots would be too big and intertwined and would be too much of a shock to try and separate them. Winter is difficult.
Read my blog post about watering as that is the usual reason for leaves falling off. In short, too much water or too little water causes problem.
Constant soil humidity monitoring needed.
Spider mites also are the major cause for leaves to fall off. They suck the fluids from leaves and when they are too damaged they fall off.
It is winter in Melbourne now and I'm fighting major spider mites invasion to save my Tulsi and its been like that every single winter I had Tulsi. Read post about spidermites and watch my youtube posts with one of the ways to get rid of them.
I've placed most important things in posts.
Please read carefully through the whole blog and you will understand most important aspects of taking care of them.
I didn't use light but I keep my Tulsi on a sunny window and make sure room temperature is adequate. In winter we keep it 18.5 during night when we would ordinarily turn the heating off.
Artificial light is good in the winter thou.
Controlling temperature is important. She doesn't like being over a hot air exit (in case it is the floor under the window) as it dries her roots unnaturally. Read my blog post about temperature too.
I found she creates a bond with her carer and the more attentive you are to her state the more you will be able to understand what is happening to her. Take a few minutes to carefully observe her, talk to her and she will grow nicely.
Cheers, Besko
I attempted to separate her and when I turned the pot over I noticed all the roots where circled around the bottom and like it was in a circled and intertwined all over from the bottom to almost the surface. also her roots are very thin roots compared to other plants i have worked with so i am afraid of shaking to separate because she feels very very delicate. maybe because she is about 6 months old? with time maybe they will become thicker? the root system she has developed in the last 6 months is amazing to see but maybe its because its 8 different plants which is why i am seeing so much roots in the pot also its very tight so i place her back in the pot after feeling her and and would like your suggestion before i continue. would you suggests trying to separate or could i put her in a bigger pot? I have read two different articles one said to plant her in a pot with a depth of 10inches for best results and another source said that for multiple plants a deeper pot is needed but a very slow transition, like now its about 6 inches deep but don't increase more than 1 inch in depth and diameter at a time. My relative who also has a tulsi said since she is young she can be translated immediately from here 6 in deep about 8 diameter pot to the 10 inch deep about 12 inch diameter pot.
ReplyDeleteshould i separate or keep her together?
what is the deepest size pot that she can be in to spread her roots and grow to the maximum and still be healthy?
Thank You so much
Namaste Stephanie,
DeleteIt's hard to say, from what you said it now feels like they might be a bit too old to be transplanted. I've learned from experience that the the best way is to plant them individually just one seat in the pot.
I've learned that the younger they are the easier is to transplant them. I've also from experience learned that you can you can separate the roots if you're very gentle but the reality is the older they get the more intertwined all the roots will be and the harder it will be to separate them. It's up to you to make that decision. If you are confident enough that you could gently separate them you could do it or if not just leave them the way they are. They are still going to grow.
In regards to the pot and planting sizes my experience is that the best way is to gently increase the siz. That way you are maybe twice a year increasing the size wjile giving them a bit of new soil that is full of nutrients for them to then spread their roots into.
They go to the edges looking for more soil to expand. Obviously it's time for new pot in case you don't separate. One size bigger than current pot Would be my choice.
In case you decide to separate put in hem in smaller individual pots, give them good soil and a bit of liquid sea weed fertiliser straight after transplanting.
Good luck.
My Tulsiji was not watered for 25 days. A friend was supposed to care for her in my absence and she didn't even water her once. She has become weak and brown though some leaves still exist. Can I revive her. I don't mind pruning but don't know where and how? Can I send you pictures!? Your response will be most helpful.
ReplyDeleteNamaste M,
DeleteI would not prune her now.
All I would do is gently remove the dried up leaves and water her with some sea weed fertiliser. If she has some green leaves, she should be all right.
After initial full watering with fertiliser, water her a minimal amount daily to keep the soil gently moist but not too wet. Make sure you check it by pressing your finger into the soil next to her stem at least once a day and feel if it is moist. It is not hard. If it feels too wet, there is no need to water. If it is almost completely dry, add a small amount of water.
If she is small, one tea spoon might be enough.
That is because she went into what I would call an 'emergency mode' to save herself and if you now go straight to normal watering it will have the opposite effect of not being watered at all.