How to Grow and Use Plantain
Plantain (Plantago species) is not the cooking banana you might know as a plantain, but rather a small herb that’s often considered a lawn weed. It’s a low-growing pretty little plant with leaves in a rosette pattern. When it blooms, it sends up a flower spike that’s from 3 to 12 inches tall. Some variety of plantain grows on every continent on Earth, and all of the native peoples have used it for the same basic purposes of skin healing, and liver and kidney health.
Things You'll Need:
Plantain seeds or plants
Nursery pots or flats
Garden space
Compost or rich potting soil
Trowel
How to start plantain in your garden
1
If you look through herb seed catalogs, you'll find a source for plantain seed. If it grows wild in your neighborhood, you can dig up some plants and move them into your garden.
2
Start plantain seeds in nursery pots or flats and they will have a better survival rate, because they will be protected from slugs, snails and insects that like tender new growth. Fill your nursery pot or flat with a good quality potting soil mixed with some compost.
3
Because the seeds are tiny, scatter them on the surface of the soil in a pot or flat and then gently press them into the soil with your hand.
4
Give the pot or flat a good shower of water, being careful not to blow the seeds out of the pot with too strong a stream of water.
5
Put the newly sown seeds in filtered sunlight. Keep the soil evenly moist. Germination will occur within one to two weeks.
6
When young plantain seedlings have at least two sets of leaves, transplant them into the garden. Keep the soil moist until the plants show good signs of strong growth and begin to develop more leaves and grow larger.
7
You can make a simple poultice of plantain leaves and flowering tops by simmering sliced-up leaves in water for 20 minutes. When it cools, squeeze the liquid out of a handful of cooked leaves and then apply it to a burn, bite, or cut. Secure it with adhesive tape and leave it on as long as possible.
Tips & Warnings
Young, tender plantain leaves can be added to salads for a fresh, natural look and taste.
Plantain does like some moisture and tends to droop on hot, sunny days. Be sure to keep it moist when this happens.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2346345_grow-use-plantain-.html
Plantain (Plantago species) is not the cooking banana you might know as a plantain, but rather a small herb that’s often considered a lawn weed. It’s a low-growing pretty little plant with leaves in a rosette pattern. When it blooms, it sends up a flower spike that’s from 3 to 12 inches tall. Some variety of plantain grows on every continent on Earth, and all of the native peoples have used it for the same basic purposes of skin healing, and liver and kidney health.
Things You'll Need:
Plantain seeds or plants
Nursery pots or flats
Garden space
Compost or rich potting soil
Trowel
How to start plantain in your garden
1
If you look through herb seed catalogs, you'll find a source for plantain seed. If it grows wild in your neighborhood, you can dig up some plants and move them into your garden.
2
Start plantain seeds in nursery pots or flats and they will have a better survival rate, because they will be protected from slugs, snails and insects that like tender new growth. Fill your nursery pot or flat with a good quality potting soil mixed with some compost.
3
Because the seeds are tiny, scatter them on the surface of the soil in a pot or flat and then gently press them into the soil with your hand.
4
Give the pot or flat a good shower of water, being careful not to blow the seeds out of the pot with too strong a stream of water.
5
Put the newly sown seeds in filtered sunlight. Keep the soil evenly moist. Germination will occur within one to two weeks.
6
When young plantain seedlings have at least two sets of leaves, transplant them into the garden. Keep the soil moist until the plants show good signs of strong growth and begin to develop more leaves and grow larger.
7
You can make a simple poultice of plantain leaves and flowering tops by simmering sliced-up leaves in water for 20 minutes. When it cools, squeeze the liquid out of a handful of cooked leaves and then apply it to a burn, bite, or cut. Secure it with adhesive tape and leave it on as long as possible.
Tips & Warnings
Young, tender plantain leaves can be added to salads for a fresh, natural look and taste.
Plantain does like some moisture and tends to droop on hot, sunny days. Be sure to keep it moist when this happens.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2346345_grow-use-plantain-.html
