Patchouli adds a fresh, spicy scent to your home.
Patchouli oil is a centuries-old cosmetic product used as a perfume, a conditioner for oily hair and a fixative for other scents in soaps and candles. The essential oil may be expensive, but growing your own patchouli plant negates this expense. Even if you're not interested in distilling essential oils, the patchouli plant gives your home a light, spicy fragrance. It grows teardrop-shaped leaves and tiny white flowers that complement any d cor.
Instructions
1. Fill a 1 quart terracotta pot with a balanced mix of peat moss, vermiculite and pearlite up to about 1 inch below the rim.
2. Poke your finger about an inch into the soil mix. Place a single seed into the hole and cover it with soil. Don't pack down the soil. You may plant up to three seeds in one pot, spacing them about 4 inches apart.
3. Place a single layer of river stones in your flood tray. Place the pot on the flood tray and water the soil until the flood tray is about halfway full. Enough water should trickle into the tray to fill the flood tray completely. Water below the pot should keep the air around the pot moist and humid.
4. Place the pot in a sunny to partially shady windowsill. You can also place it in a room that gets bright, indirect sunlight for most of the day. Water the soil with about a cup of water each day; your patchouli plant must never dry out.
5. Replace the water in the flood tray every week. Standing water could grow fungus and algae that could kill your plant. Lukewarm or room temperature water works best.
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